Jeff Lawton is an agent of SINTRAC.
The acronym SINTRAC has two different meanings, according to Lawton. To those in the know in the Intelligence Community, it stands for Security Intelligence Research Action Corps while to anyone outside that select group who might have heard it, i.e. those in "commerce and industry", it means Special Industrial, Technical, and Research Consultants.
Whatever one is used, the agency is an organization devoted to protecting the United States and its allies against the dangers of Communist aggression, no matter where it might be found either in the States or overseas. Heading up the agency is Bettina Bundy, going by the title of "Number One", being "the woman who had indoctrinated him with the fierce singleminded purpose of SINTRAC's cause".
Lawton, who goes by the nickname of Jeff but who is called Geoffrey by his main love interest, is a black man working in a "white man's world" (not actually put that way but implied in numerous spots). He has been an agent with SINTRAC for a good number of years and is now 34 years old.
Lawton's cover is as an advertising executive in a large company, Delmar, Sandhurst & Corby, in Chicago. He has a devoted secretary named Ruth who caters to his every need both at the office and at her apartment, unconcerned what others might thing though she is white and he is black (in '69, that was not a common sight). Lawton got the position initially via Bundy who was close to and influenced the head of the ad agency to hire him. That was several years before when Lawton needed a cover. Now Lawton has proven to himself and his bosses that he could easily thrive in that business without her backing because he understood well what drove people to buy things.
In fact, he has thought on more than one occassion that he would likely have been quite successful as an ad man and happy as well if it wasn't for the need for danger that often took hold of him and made any sedentary job inadequate. He is close to several of his clients and enjoys the challenge of bragging about their businesses as though they were his own.
Still, he loves and relishes the excitement that came from the constant battle SINTRAC provided in its struggle against "Red" aggression so while he does like being an ad man, he loves being a field agent a whole lot more.
Lawton is a huge fan of the Windy City having been born and raised there. His parents had a small house in the neighborhood of Trumbull Park before a racist decided having a black family amongst them corrupted the area and firebombed the place, killing both. That understandably left Lawton with intense feelings and shaped his attitude towards inequality.
It also makes him really not tolerant to those who are not tolerant to others. And he has the skills to prove it.