With great candor, former Secret Service agent, Clint Hill tells of his career as a special agent who worked security details for five different presidential administrations. He reveals much about the personalities of the men in charge of our country from the 1950s to the 70s. Eisenhour's love of golf is at the forefront with Hill accompanying him to various courses toting a golf bag complete with a rifle. Hill also details his private hell over the Kennedy assassination because of his feeling of guilt that he didn't get to the car fast enough to take the bullet for President Kennedy even though he threw himself over Mrs. Kennedy to protect her. (He was in charge of the First Lady's security detail.) At the time PTSD did not have a name or any kind of treatment so Hill suffered in silence until being forced to resign from the Secret Service for reasons of mental and physical health during the Ford Administration. This revealing "60 Minutes" interview shows just how bad it was for Hill even a dozen years later. Aside from this, the book is full of tales of trips with the Presidents including a hastily planned whirlwind round-the-world trip with Lyndon Johnson which culminated in everyone, including a pajama-clad President, shopping for gifts on Christmas Eve in the PX at a military base in the Azores. Johnson's time in office was the most challenging for the service because of the President's insistence on doing things his way, especially at the LBJ Ranch. The actions of President Nixon revealed a man who was seriously disturbed in a number of ways. And in spite of having to resign in disgrace, Spiro Agnew comes off as a sincere and nice person. This book provoked laughter, shock, and tears which occasionally was a problem as I listened to the audio book while driving. My only complaint was the narration by George Newburn. The frequent mispronunciation of names, e.g. Sander Vanocur and Chou En-lai/Zhou Enlai, was annoying
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