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    The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence
    The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence
    The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence
    Audiobook17 hours

    The Kennedy Detail: JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence

    Written by Gerald Blaine and Lisa McCubbin

    Narrated by Alan Sklar

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Even today, almost five decades after John F. Kennedy was slain, the public continues to be captivated by the "Kennedy Curse" and new theories about what really happened on that fateful day in 1963. For nearly fifty years former Secret Service agent Clint Hill has lived with the unimaginable guilt of losing a president on his watch and has obeyed an honor code of silence, refusing to contribute to any books about the assassination. Until now.

    Hill was just eight feet from President Kennedy when bullets pierced the president's head right before his eyes. Covered with blood, Agent Hill pushed Jackie Kennedy into the back seat. Clinging to the trunk of the open-top limousine as it sped away from Dealey Plaza to Parkland Hospital, he slammed his fist in anger, as he looked back to the agents in the follow-up car. His eyes, filled with despair, told them what they already knew.

    Including contributions from over forty agents who were on the Kennedy Detail from November 1960 to November 1963 and those who knew them, never-before-published letters written by Jackie Kennedy in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the bizarre unpublished story about a film Jackie made in September 1963 with the on-duty Secret Service agents about an assassination of the president, and the original November 18, 1963, Tampa security report from the author's personal files, which conspiracy theorists have long claimed was destroyed by the Secret Service, The Kennedy Detail provides an unfiltered look at the events surrounding this pivotal moment in American history.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 17, 2010
    ISBN9781400189694
    Author

    Gerald Blaine

    As a Special Agent of the Secret Service on the White House Detail, Gerald “Jerry” Blaine had the privilege of serving three U.S. presidents during one of the most tumultuous times in American history.  After resigning from the Secret Service following John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Blaine embarked on a career path with IBM Corporation and became a leading expert in high-level security, lecturing worldwide on the use of computers in Criminal Justice and Intelligence. In 1990, Blaine retired from IBM and joined ARCO International Oil and Gas in Dallas, Texas as the Director of International Security, Government Relations and Foreign Affairs. After retiring from ARCO in 1999 Blaine spent four years with Hill & Associates, an Asian-based consulting company, as a Senior Consultant, and finally retired from the corporate world in 2003.  He now lives in in Grand Junction, Colorado with Joyce, his wife of more than fifty years. The couple has two children and four grandchildren.

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    Reviews for The Kennedy Detail

    4.5/5

    24 ratings13 reviews

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    • 5/5
      very interesting and fast paced and thought provoking. I highly recommend this book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      This is a book about the Secret Service agents that were working at the time of the Kennedy assassination. Some were protecting Kennedy, some were protecting Jackie, some protecting John-John, some protecting Caroline.The true selflessness of these agents is inherent of the field that they are in. They must be willing to take a bullet if it is possible to protect the people that they are assigned to protect.This was enlightening and fascinating to read. True heroes, to me.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      I received this book as a LT Members Giveaway. This is an inside look at the men who protected the President and his family. It not only covers the assasination, but also gives us a look at the day to day lives of these men throughout their service to Kennedy and how they interact with each other and those they protect. Even though we've heard so much about the Kennedy assasination over the years (I was 16 when it happened), there is information in this book that has never been released. Very interesting read. I highly recommend it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Fifty-one years ago President Kennedy was assassinated. For many years the Secret Service have maintained their silence about that day. Their job was to protect the president, and they had failed. Their feelings of loss and failure had to be buried because they still had a job to do, they had to protect the new president. Since most of what happened in their job was confidential they couldn’t even talk to family members about their feelings.

      There is much controversy concerning the assassination of John Kennedy. Was it conspiracy? Was there more than one shooter? Did Oswald even fire a shot? Just this week there is a show about a mafia hit man who confessed to shooting John Kennedy from the ‘grassy knoll’. These theories are briefly mentioned along with the belief that the Dallas police got the right guy, but the focus of this book is the Secret Service agents, the men who had to be “Worthy of Trust and Confidence”.

      With the personal accounts of other agents, made possible because of the extensive records they were required to keep and most of the agents saved we learn many intimate details about the president, first lady and agents. The agents had to adjust to fit the new personality of the presidents. Eisenhower was a former military man who treated the Secret Service agents as if they were soldiers standing post. He didn’t take unnecessary risks and ran things with military precision. Kennedy was completely different. He was the youngest man elected president, he had a wife and young children. He was popular and loved interacting with people. Which caused many security headaches for the Secret Service.

      These facts are all brought out in great detail in this book. Along with many personal details witnessed only by Secret Service agents such as Kennedy’s last words to his young son when leaving Washington and why the President and First Lady were in a convertible on the motorcade. Overall I was impressed at how the Agents balanced being considerate of people’s feelings while never losing sight of their responsibilities and maintaining their professionalism.

      It also helps us to understand the great stress they were under, how they had to adjust instantly from protecting Kennedy to protecting Johnson. How they had to keep secret everything they witnessed while on the job, and how the agents had to work so closely as a team. Also the extreme feeling of guilt they carried with them after the assassination, even the agents who weren’t in the motorcade felt some sense of guilt.

      If you are a conspiracy theorist you will probably not like this book, if you are interested in the life and death of JFK, or want to learn about the inner workings of the presidency and the secret service, this is the book for you.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Captivating, interesting and worth time spent reading this story from the perspective of the secret service men, many of whom were impacted by the assignation of President John F. Kennedy on a fateful day of November 22, 1963 in Dallas, Texas.Clint Hill was forever haunted by the fact if he would have been able to run a few seconds faster, he could have made it to the limo containing the President. He then would have taken the second and third bullets shot from the book depository, and the President would live. Well written, and of important note is the fact that it was JFK who told the agents to give a wide berth in following or surrounding the cars. Kennedy believed that he was not particularly liked in Texas, and thus wanted to be visible to those watching the President.This was the first time Jackie Kennedy accompanied her husband on a tour. In detail, we learn of her bravery in accompanying her husband into the hospital, holding his head and in shock, praying for the best outcome.This is the story of before, during and after. The impact on the nation and the ensuing far-fetched manifold conspiracy theories as well as those who believe they failed to protect the President, is told in a clear, undramatic fashion.
    • 5/5
      Excellent Read. Very interesting look inside the Secret Service. I'm a child of the 60's and I almost couldn't get thru the chapter dealing with the assasination! Even after all these years it still is heartbreaking. But as hard as it was for we the general public, it is almost unbearable to read of the aftermath in the closed world of the agents. To think that in 40 some odd years they had never discussed even among themselves the feelings of failure, the sadness, the truths is unbelievable.I would recommend this one especially to those whose hearts were broken in 1963
    • 5/5
      Learned details about the assassination I'd not heard before. Thanks!
    • 4/5
      Breaking more than four decades of silence, Secret Service Agent Gerald Blaine has compiled government documents, agent stories and his own personal account of November 22, 1963 to give readers an inside look at what happened the day President Kennedy was assassinated. The book is written in four sections: The Men, The Job, That Day, and Our Lives which fills in the picture of the president’s life in the early 1960s and the small intimate detail of agents who sole job it is to protect the president from harm.

      Retired Secret Service agent Clint Hill had been to Dallas just twice in his life. The first time was the day he flung himself on President John F. Kennedy's car a moment after the fatal shot was fired 47 years ago. In 1990, he returned to Dealey Plaza and finally come to terms with what had happened. Hill says "I know exactly where it was and what happened at that moment. ... I still can see the president's head being blown apart, being blown wide open. I can see him lying on Mrs. Kennedy's lap in the back seat of the car as I lay above them trying to get to Parkland Hospital. ... It'll never go away."

      These men served their country, not for the low wages, but for inner reasons. Their lives were intertwined with the First Family, spending more time with Caroline and John than their own children. Their wives and children were bonded together in an effort to make up for the time their husbands were away. The agent life style deprived them of regular meals, regular sleep and taxed their inner resources.

      I was only nine years old when President Kennedy was assassinated but I remember being let out early from school and our teachers were crying and clinging to each other. This is certainly not an in-depth look at the events that happened in Dallas that day but more of an autobiographical remembrance from a group of men we know little of, even today. When I was done reading it, I downloaded the documentary from the History channel and found it very interesting as well. You not only see the young agents but a lot of footage of the Kennedy family during the years preceding the assassination. I found it more interesting that I expected when it was selected by my local book club as their January read.
    • 5/5
      I liked this book because it told you about how the secret service works and it also told you things about the Kennedy family like Jackie smoking secretly and made them seem like everyday normal people and not just the icons they were known as. It was also the first time I had read a written account about the day of his assasination not just viewing video of what was shown on the news.
    • 5/5
      The Kennedy Detail by former agent, Gerald (Jerry) Blaine with journalist Lisa McCubbin, is a fascinating book which explains in detail the workings of the Secret Service during the Kennedy administration. The daily life of the Secret Service agents covering the Kennedy family is shown. One is impressed by the amount of work the agents had; they often worked numerous hours per day without time for eating meals or getting sufficient rest. They had very little time with their own families.The Secret Service followed a strict code of behavior which included not criticizing decisions made by Kennedy or his political advisors – some of which made guarding the President extremely difficult. This account describes both the advance preparations which went into various trips of Kennedy, particularly to Florida in mid-November 1963 followed by the fatal trip to Texas, and how these preparations were carried out.Kennedy’s assassination was considered to be a failure of the Secret Service. The toll which this event had on the lives of some of the agents is described. Clint Hill, the agent responsible for guarding Mrs. Kennedy, who climbed on the back of the presidential car following the shots, did not reach closure until many years later when he visited the museum in the building from which the shots had been fired, and realized that he could not have saved the President.
    • 5/5
      The Kennedy Detail is well-written and believable book about the presidency and assassination of John Kennedy. The book is written in third person so it can be read as a book from the perspective of many of the Secret service agent. Though we see alot of Mr. Blaine in the story, it is the inclusion of Clint Hill's story that infuses the story with personal drama. It was enjoyable to read a story of this event in which the only motive was to present a personal account of what happened that day.
    • 5/5
      The Good Stuff * Compelling and authentic and extremely classy (no tell all gossip book here) * Touching first hand accounts of the relationship between JFK and his staff and his family * Good selection of photographs including a lovely candid one of JFK and his kids on Halloween * The scene between JFK and his son is very touching when you realize this is the last time they will ever see each other. Made me cry -- for once at least I wasn't in a public place when I read it * Enjoyed the little glimpse into how compassionate and how all to human JFK and his wife were * The obvious love and respect that the agents had for each other and for their "boss" * honestly just really interesting to learn about the inner workings of the Secret Service and of the men whose job it is to protect the president - just plain fascinating * Extremely detailed descriptions of the days before and after the assassination * The descriptions of the agents grief and their obvious feelings of survivors guilt and shame are very moving * Touching stories about the relationship between the agents and JFK's kids before and after the assassination * Why are you still reading my ramblings just go get the book - you know you want to.The Not so Good Stuff * Jumps around a little and I got lost a couple of times -- but hey I am a sleep deprived mom, you guys might not notice as much * Sometimes I was a little frustrated with all the minute details - see above note * Also, (and you should know one of my history teachers, Mr Centa was a HUGE conspiracy theorist and I had to attend tons of his presentations in high school so this stuff has been ingrained in me - I can't tell you how many times we had to see the Zapruder film) I sort of balked at the obvious plea for us to put our full trust in the findings of the Warren Commission (See the last quote in next section)Favorite Quotes/Passages"The publishing of motorcade routes was a constant battle between the Secret Service and the president's political advisers. From the Secret Service standpoint, informing the public about the president's movements in advance was like inviting the fox into the hen-house, while the political folks looked at is as a necessity. From their views, the whole point of the motorcade was for JFK to be seen by as many people as possible.""Tolerance implies no lack of commitment to one's own beliefs. Rather it condemns the oppression or persecution of others - John F. Kennedy""Meanwhile, Godfrey was fuming. He couldn't wait to get out of the country. He turned to Rowley and said, "The Italians haven't changed since the last time I was here. The only difference is, now we can't shoot at 'em""I would be very pleased if the results of the Warren Commission and its investigation would be accepted as the final word. However, I know that the researchers, writers, and filmmakers who continue to question those findings will never accept those as the truth. The information presented by the majority of these people is theory, not fact. They were not witnesses to the assassination; have little or no knowledge of protective procedures; did not know the dedicated agents on this assignment; and simply were not in our shoes that day in Dallas."What I Learned * Fascinating details about the day to day challenges faced by members of the Secret Service * How few Secret Service were actually in charge of protecting the president and how this has changed since * Too many interesting historical tidbits to mention -- just go buy the book -- or of course ask your friendly neighborhood Librarian for a copy * John F. Kennedy was the first Catholic to be elected president -- seriously I couldn't believe it either * How little these guys actually got paid to put their lives on the line and how horribly boring it could be * Really would have hated to be married to one of these guysWho should/shouldn't read * I'm thinking serious conspiracy theorists will be totally put off by this one -- that's right Fox Mulder and Dr. Jack Hodgins this book is not for you (And cannot forget about you Mr Centa) * History buffs and those interested in the Secret Service will definitely enjoy * Definite must have for Kennedy junkies4.5 Dewey'sPurchased this from Indigo on recommendation from Captain Awesome of Indigo Jeremy Cammy
    • 5/5
      Absolutely fabulous. These agents truly give their whole lives to the job of protecting the President and his family. This book starts from a few weeks before the assassination to many years after it. Their story brings you closer to every member of JFK's immediate family. I found out personal details that I was not aware of that added to much to my view of their live. This book takes you to the heart of Dealy Plaza and puts you right in the heart of the assassination. A great history of the JFK and his family and a great history of the Secret Service.