First published 2009
Ronald Kessler breaks through the Secret Service's wall of silence after interviewing over one hundred current and former agents. These elite protectors, who pledge to take bullets for presidents, function as human surveillance cameras in the White House inner circle. They witnessed everything from John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson through George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Kessler exposes previously unknown assassination attempts and shares insider accounts of attacks that tested the Service. He recounts the gun battle that stopped Harry Truman's would-be killers, the devastating day Kennedy died in Dallas, and the quick response that saved Ronald Reagan after he was shot. The agents reveal how they train, spot threats, and carry out their missions under constant danger. Yet Kessler also exposes how recent management failures have compromised security, risking the lives of Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and their families through corner cutting and lax standards. As one current agent admits, it's miraculous no recent assassination has succeeded. The book offers readers exclusive access to the most secretive agency protecting American democracy.
Genres: history, politics, non-fiction, biography-memoir, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: exclusive-access, insider-account
Setting: White House, Dallas
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
288 pages · Hardcover · Crown Forum