About face

by James E. Kennedy

This is the enormously moving, intimate saga of a gay man, James E. Kennedy - a former captain and lawyer in the Army's Judge Advocate General Corps - who found himself in the hypocritical position of having to prosecute and discharge gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers. For four years he led a monklike secret life in the Army until he could no longer live with the Army's double standard toward gays. The son of a Colonel, he resigned his commission and abandoned his career as an Army officer. Joining the Clinton Transition Team, he used his legal training and Army law experience to help draft an executive order for President Clinton that would change the discriminatory policy that had cost him his career.