Five Presidents My Extraordinary Journey Withã¢â‚¬â¦ Clint Hill Review

A Secret Service agent discusses the challenges of protecting commanders-in-chief during turbulent times

Although Hugger-mugger Service agents are largely anonymous to the public, Clint Hill stands out because of his presence at the assassination of President John F. Kennedy on November 22, 1963. The photos of him reaching out to assistance the wounded president and protect the starting time lady in their limousine are well known and powerful.

But Hill's career was much more than that. His protective piece of work from the late 1950s to the mid-1970s was various and exhibited single-minded professionalism through what was 1 of the more turbulent periods of the 20th century. Now he has chronicled those years in a new book, Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journeying with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford.

This is the third book written by Hill with journalist Lisa McCubbin. Previous ones centered on the Kennedy years, showtime his Mrs. Kennedy and Me — he headed her Secret Service particular — and and then Five Days in November, an account of the assassination and the president'southward funeral. Readers of these two earlier books see a much broader dimension to Hill in this new volume as he grows from a novice agent to a veteran supervisor.

Five Presidents reads similar a Forrest Gump account of some of the most challenging moments of the nation in modern times. When Eisenhower toured the world as a goodwill ambassador at the tiptop of American power and popularity, Clint Hill was there. But he also was a witness to the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassination, of course; the agonizing events of the Vietnam War era; civil rights struggles; Watergate and the resignation of a president; and the ascent of an unelected president.

When he retired in 1975, the country had undergone vast alter. The reader becomes privy to presidential history as seen through the eyes of a largely non-judgmental observer. Although at times the capacity appear to be chronological accounts of a diary or Loma's personal notes, the volume is very readable, oftentimes insightful, and often humorous.

The most compelling department deals with Lyndon Johnson. There have been many books highlighting his demanding personality and fashion — the "Johnson Treatment" — merely Hill presents a narrative from the perspective of an agent whose service came to be valued by LBJ. His accounts of the president beingness impatient, impetuous, and oblivious to others' needs are amusing.

Serious episodes, particularly related to Johnson, appear too, but perhaps none so much as those involving the Vietnam War. Loma portrays a man anguished about the war, caught between his anti-communist views and the pain of sending young men into combat. It'south already a well-reported story, but he includes poignant moments, such as Johnson's visits to a local Catholic church building, seeking guidance and solace.

Hill was in charge of the protective particular for Vice President Spiro Agnew, and he presents him as a personable human with little pretension — even if he winced at the disgraced vice president's over-the-tiptop political speeches. In 1 touching vignette, Agnew, while Colina was back in Washington, paid an unexpected visit to Hill'southward elderly female parent in Minot, North Dakota.

Although Hill, the dutiful public employee, avoids politics in his account, it is articulate that he had little respect for Agnew'due south boss, President Richard Nixon. Nixon is seen as suspicious of the Underground Service, often unwilling to heed their impartial advice, and heading an unscrupulous White Business firm staff. Despite all this, Loma presents an entertaining business relationship of the time Nixon met Elvis Presley at the White House in 1970.

Much of the data on guarding President and Mrs. Kennedy has been told at greater length in Loma'due south previous two books. Merely what remains a strong theme throughout Five Presidents is the peachy toll that the Kennedy assassination had on Hill'south career and life. Essentially suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, he suffuses the stories with flashbacks or incidents which remind him of that tragic day and how he might have prevented it.

While the book regales the readers with stories of five presidents and how they were protected, this is really a memoir of a human who did his chore, a tough and demanding 1, with great dedication. But it came at a price: his years in the Secret Service — the long hours, his absence on holidays and special occasions, and his lack of a normal routine — took a heavy cost on his family life.

That reality, which he clearly acknowledges, coupled with the trauma of the Kennedy assassination, made his government service bittersweet. And yet, for this pocket-sized-town male child who traveled the globe, met world leaders, and worked for presidents, the experience was unbelievable. As he sums up at the terminate of the volume, "It was the best damn job in the globe."

Joseph A. Esposito has had lifelong interest in government and history sparked when he met Senator John F. Kennedy in 1960. He served in iii presidential administrations and currently teaches history to higher undergraduates. He is working on a book,The Dinner of the Century: President and Mrs. Kennedy Host America'due south Greatest Intellectuals, dealing with the dinner for Nobel laureates and others at the White House in 1962.

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