Five Presidents

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Kennedy and Me and Five Days in November comes a revealing Secret Service memoir that offers a rare behind-the-scenes view of presidential protection and life inside the White House of five US Presidents—Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford. The assassination of one president, the resignation of another, and the swearing-in of the two who followed those unprecedented events: Secret Service Agent Clint Hill was there on duty through five administrations. After an extraordinary career as a Special Agent on the White House Detail, Clint Hill retired in 1975. His career spanned the administrations of Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford. A witness to some of the most pivotal moments in 20th-century America, Hill lets you walk in his shoes alongside the most powerful men in the world during tumultuous times in America’s history—the Cold War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the Vietnam War; Watergate; and the resignations of Vice President Spiro Agnew and President Nixon. It was indeed a turbulent time—and through it all, Clint Hill had a unique insider perspective. His fascinating stories will shed new light on the character and personality of each of these five presidents, as Hill witnesses their human sides in the face of grave decisions. From the laughter and quirks of Eisenhower’s golf outings, to the heroic urgency of Dallas on November 22nd, 1963, to Johnson’s White House besieged by protest, to Nixon’s meltdown and Ford’s fraught ascension, this book brings history to life as told through the eyes of the man whose job was to keep the man in office safe. If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to walk in the shoes of a Secret Service agent or to peer into the inner corridors of presidential power, this is the book for you.