Fall to Grace

For Jim McGreevey, August 12, 2004 was, in his words, "a train wreck." That was the day the New Jersey governor, after his affair with a man was exposed in the media, famously announced his resignation and declared himself "a gay American" on live TV. After his political downfall and the ugly divorce that followed, McGreevey found himself stripped of the trappings of his former life, and at an existential crossroads. In Act One of his life, as he calls it, he married twice, fathered two daughters, and reveled in the power and perks of political office. Fall to Grace chronicles Act Two, in which an older, grayer McGreevey is living a simpler life, and is in the midst of a spiritual quest that has led him to a deeply rewarding place. For Alexandra Pelosi's camera, McGreevey opens up about how the political limelight fed his ego and addiction to adoration -- an addiction that ultimately "brought no more permanent happiness than heroin provides a junkie," he says from a large suburban home he shares with his partner and several dogs. People with this need, continues McGreevey, are often drawn to politics, Hollywood or the ministry, which is now where he aspires to be.

• documentary