President Bill Clinton and Gen. Colin Powell Talked about Gays in the Military..

[Frodo]

...according to recently released documents.  And apparently Generals Colin Powell and Carl Mundy talked him out of ending the military's longstanding ban on letting gays and lesbians serve in the armed forces when the topic was broached in January 1993:

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/10/clinton-documents-gays-in-the-military-111784.html?hp=r2

And thus was born the 'don't ask; don't tell' policy that was originally a compromise. 

[Mordecai]

I didn't realise it was Powell who was pushing back against integration, that's pretty interesting.

It seems like milquetoast policy now but I guess recent events have vindicated it as being a good move in broader historical terms.

Edit: And it's really interesting to see how liberal Gore was on the issue in private.

[Oswald Acted Alone, You Kook]

We already know that DADT was fair for its day and people in the military abused it as an excuse to go on witch hunts.