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Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey With Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford

Page 48

by Hill, Clint


  Secret Service agents Bill Duncan and Bob Taylor try to ensure President Nixon’s security when he gets on top of the car in Berlin, Germany, just weeks after taking office in 1969. AP Photo

  The day Elvis Presley showed up—unannounced—at the White House with a letter to President Nixon offering his services as a “Federal Agent at large.” Nixon Presidential Library & Museum

  I was very pleased when we finally allowed women to become agents in December 1971. Director James J. Rowley with the first five: Holly Hufschmidt, Laurie Anderson, Phyllis Shantz, Sue Ann Baker, and Kathryn Clark. U.S. Secret Service Photo

  Vice President Spiro Agnew exits the Baltimore Courthouse flanked by Secret Service agents Jerry Parr and Jimmy Taylor after admitting guilt to tax evasion charges, and announcing his resignation as Vice President. Oct. 10, 1973. Bettman/Corbis

  I was in the East Room of the White House to witness the swearing-in of Gerald R. Ford as the 38th President of the United States. Finally “our long national nightmare” was over. Aug. 9, 1974. Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library

  I was among the many members of the White House staff who watched as President and Mrs. Nixon departed the White House for the last time. Nixon daughters Julie and Tricia with their husbands in the background. Nixon Presidential Library & Museum

  Helping to clear a passageway for President Ford to exit a speech site in Chicago when I was assistant director. Courtesy Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library

  President Ford visits Secret Service headquarters shortly after taking office. (Left to right) myself, Dep. Dir. Pat Boggs, President Ford, Asst. Dir. Burrill Peterson, and Agent Bob Snow. U.S. Secret Service Photo

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  * * *

  We knew when we began writing this book that it was going to be an enormous undertaking. As with our previous two books, our overriding concern was to present a factual account to preserve history, while also abiding by the Secret Service pledge to be worthy of trust and confidence. We are extremely grateful to retired Secret Service agents Paul Rundle, Dick Keiser, Bill Livingood, Ron Pontius, Win Lawson, Jim Hardin, Johnny Guy, Bob Melchiori, Jim Burke, Walt Coughlin, Tom Wells, Ken Giannoules, Chuck Zboril, Toby Chandler, Ken Wiesman, Rad Jones, the late P. Hamilton “Ham” Brown, the late Jerry Parr; former agents Paul Landis, Jerry Blaine, and Sue Ann Baker; and Army helicopter pilot Pete Rice for graciously providing insight, perspective, and corroboration with Clint’s memories.

  We offer heartfelt thanks to Tom and Edwina Johnson for relating your own special memories of LBJ and allowing us to include them. We so appreciate your friendship and boundless generosity.

  Likewise, we are grateful to Sid Davis and Muriel Dobbin for sharing the wonderful story of the night President Johnson took them up to the Lincoln bedroom. To you and the rest of the esteemed group of former White House correspondents—Bill Sheehan, Marianne Means, George Watson, and Carl Leubsdorf—we sincerely appreciate being honorary members in your exclusive Washington lunch club, and for your ongoing support, friendship, and encouragement.

  Our research included visits to several presidential libraries—all of which have wonderful staffs dedicated to the preservation of history. Sifting through the enormous amounts of material would have been impossible without the help of the following people: at the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas—Tim Rives, Kathy Struss, and Valoise Armstrong; at the Lyndon B. Johnson Library in Austin, Texas—director Mark Updegrove, Margaret Harman, and Christopher Banks; at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum in Boston, Massachusetts—former director Tom Putnam, Laurie Austin, and MaryRose Grossman; Jon Fletcher at the Nixon Library in Yorba Linda, California; and Elizabeth Druga at the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library and Museum in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

  We are grateful to our bright, hardworking intern Katie O’Neill, who eagerly helps with a multitude of tasks both big and small. And a very special thanks to Wyman Harris for your ceaseless enthusiasm, keen historical perspective, and generous donation of time.

  This book would not have happened at all without the guidance and support of our outstanding team at Gallery Books/Simon and Schuster. To Mitchell Ivers, we can’t imagine a more dedicated editor, and we hope you know how much we truly appreciate your willing consultation and advice every step of the way. Thank you to Louise Burke and Jen Bergstrom for believing in us, and to Jen Robinson for your tireless efforts with publicity. To Natasha Simons, Jennifer Long, Theresa Dooley, Susan Rella, Alexandre Su, Lisa Litwack, Ella Laytham, Liz Psaltis, and Akasha Archer, we are grateful for each of your efforts behind the scenes to help make this a book of which we are very proud.

  Finally, we would like to thank all of the people around the world who have sent Facebook messages, tweets, and handwritten letters. Your support and encouragement means more than you can imagine.

  CLINT HILL is a retired United States Secret Service agent who will forever be remembered for his courageous actions in the presidential motorcade during the John F. Kennedy assassination. Assigned to protect Jacqueline Kennedy, Hill remained with Mrs. Kennedy and the children for one year after the tragedy. Proudly and humbly serving five presidents—Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford—Hill rose through the ranks of the most elite protective force in the world during the tumultuous time that encompassed the Vietnam War; the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; and Watergate. He retired in 1975 as Assistant Director, United States Secret Service, responsible for all protective forces. In 2012, he penned his remarkable memoir, Mrs. Kennedy and Me, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller.

  LISA McCUBBIN is the coauthor of the New York Times bestsellers Mrs. Kennedy and Me and The Kennedy Detail. An award-winning journalist, she has been a television news anchor and reporter, hosted her own radio show, and spent more than five years in the Middle East as a freelance writer. Visit her at www.lisamccubbin.com.

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  authors.simonandschuster.com/Lisa-McCubbin

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  ALSO BY CLINT HILL AND LISA MCCUBBIN

  Five Days in November

  Mrs. Kennedy and Me

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  INDEX

  * * *

  A note about the index: The pages referenced in this index refer to the page numbers in the print edition. Clicking on a page number will take you to the ebook location that corresponds to the beginning of that page in the print edition. For a comprehensive list of locations of any word or phrase, use your reading system’s search function.

  Adams, Eddie, 270

  Adana, 66

  Adenauer, Konrad, 43, 44, 45, 69, 133, 134

  advance security, 53–56, 99–100, 141, 222–23, 235, 236, 347

  Afghanistan, 24, 30–32, 346

  Agnew in, 353–54

  Eisenhower in, 30–32

  Agnew, Judy, 328, 331, 333, 349, 358, 406

  Agnew, Spiro T., 284, 299, 300, 311, 327–28, 367–68, 370

  Air Force Two and, 334, 347–57

  as governor of Maryland, 328

  illegal activities, 405–6

  as NASC chair, 338–42, 349

  resignation of, 406

  Secret Service detail, 319–23, 327–58, 367–68, 398, 406

  in Southeast Asia and South Pacific, 346–57

  speeches and gaffes, 328, 345–46

  Agra, 36–37, 38

  aircraft, 15, 19, 23, 24–25, 72, 105–6, 187, 240–41, 243, 256, 334, 3
99, 400

  commercial, 109, 410–11

  helicopters, see helicopters

  JetStars, 291, 293, 300, 314, 334, 400

  refueling, 59, 256

  turbulence, 62, 66

  U-2 spy incident, 65–70

  See also Air Force One; Air Force Two

  Air Force, U.S., 59, 62, 65, 240, 259, 260, 271

  Air Force One, 24, 416

  backup plane, 256

  Eisenhower and, 15, 19, 23–25, 32–33, 41, 45, 48, 55–60, 62, 68, 72, 76

  Ford and, 417

  Johnson and, 198, 227, 231, 234, 238, 241, 242, 249, 253–68, 271, 277, 297, 323

  Kennedy and, 105–6, 116, 118, 144, 146, 150–51, 156–59

  maintenance, 256

  Nixon and, 334–36, 341–44, 411, 414

  Air Force Two, 320, 334, 347–57, 420

  Alabama, 129, 205–6, 387

  Albert, Carl, 417, 419

  Aldrin, Buzz, 339–42

  Alexander the Great, 31

  Allen, George, 53, 55, 67

  Alliance for Progress, 111, 116

  Amalfi Coast, 118–19

  American Samoa, 231, 232, 257

  American Society of Newspaper Editors, 97

  Andes, 62

  Andrews Air Force Base, 25, 48, 57, 68, 143, 158, 184, 217, 240, 254, 256, 268, 282, 284, 286, 287, 335–36, 344, 347, 349, 399, 400, 404, 414

  Ankara, 27–29

  Eisenhower in, 27–29

  anti-Americanism, 61–62, 63, 111–12, 347

  Nixon and, 347, 350–56, 378

  antiwar movement, 208, 212, 223, 230–39, 253, 272, 303–5

  1971 Washington, D.C. riots, 378–79

  Nixon and, 329, 331–32, 345–37, 350–56, 363–70, 377–79, 394, 395, 398–99

  Apollo 1, 247–48

  Apollo 9, 339

  Apollo 10, 339, 349, 351

  Apollo 11, 339–42

  Arab-Israeli conflict, 250

  Argentina, 58, 61–62, 230

  Eisenhower in, 61–62

  Arlington, USS, 341

  Arlington National Cemetery, 161, 163, 165, 174, 189, 247–49, 306

  John Kennedy buried at, 161–65, 247–49, 294–95, 316

  Robert Kennedy buried at, 293–95, 316

  Armed Forces, U.S., 8–10, 109, 122, 164, 165, 194, 270–72, 353

  Armstrong, Neil, 339–42

  Army Intelligence School, 9

  Associated Press, 95, 270, 278, 413

  Athens, 41–42, 99, 102–4

  Eisenhower in, 41–42

  Kennedys in, 99–100, 103–4, 139

  Atlanta, 280, 285

  Atlas missile, 58

  Atoka, 139, 142

  Auchincloss, Hugh, 108

  Auchincloss, Janet, 108, 175

  Augusta National Golf Club, 19–21, 49, 51, 84

  Austin, 141, 184, 192, 253

  Australia, 30, 231, 232, 234–40, 286, 287, 346, 355

  Agnew in, 355–56

  Johnson in, 244–40, 255–59

  automobiles, 15, 27, 31, 41, 44, 47, 55, 75, 76, 101, 112, 116, 127, 133, 163, 187, 221–22, 350, 360–61

  armored, 330–31, 360, 375–76

  bulletproof, 44, 112, 177, 198–99, 331, 332

  follow-up cars, 134, 144–45, 152, 153, 155, 187, 238, 300, 331

  4-B, 44, 46, 59, 61, 63, 82, 101

  German, 133

  Halfback, 144, 152, 153, 331

  Johnson and, 187, 190, 194, 198, 213–14, 217, 225–26, 231, 244, 299, 313

  1963 trip to Texas, 141–60

  Secret Service on back of, 142, 144, 145, 152–55, 173, 237, 426

  see-through roof, 44, 59, 101, 118

  SS-100-X, 112, 118, 134, 142, 144, 145, 151–55, 198–99, 231, 233, 237, 238, 313, 331

  SS-800-X, 331, 343

  See also motorcades; specific vehicles

  Ayub Khan, Muhammad, 28–30, 261, 265

  Azores, 266, 267

  Bagram Airport, 30

  Baldrige, Tish, 100, 101

  Bali, 355

  Baltimore, 9, 283, 284, 327–38, 335, 344–45, 369, 370, 406

  Baltimore Colts, 344–45

  Baltimore Sun, 211

  Bangkok, 242, 353

  Barbara Anne, 78, 106

  Barker, Bernard, 393

  Bartlett, Jim, 192

  Baudouin, King of Belgium, 164

  Baughman, U. E., 84, 87, 93, 319, 371

  Bayar, Celal, 27, 28

  Bay of Pigs invasion, 96–98, 103, 124–25

  Beall, George, 405

  Beatles, 236

  Behn, Jerry, 116, 118, 136, 137, 156, 162

  Beijing, 380

  Belgium, 164, 333

  Benito Júarez International Airport, 227

  Benny, Jack, 253

  Bergstrom Air Force Base, 184, 243, 400

  Berkshire, Bill, 367–68

  Berlin, 23, 44, 997, 103, 109, 164, 333

  divided, 109, 134

  Kennedy in, 134, 135

  Berlin Wall, 103, 109, 134, 135

  Bernstein, Carl, 397

  Betancourt, Rómulo, 112

  Bethesda Naval Hospital, 159, 242, 309, 420

  Bichpuri 38

  Bismarck Tribune, 95

  Blaine, Jerry, 134, 135, 430

  Blair House, 286

  Blake, Art, 413

  Blaschak, Walter, 14

  Bloody Sunday, 205

  Boggs, Hale, 171, 172

  Boggs, Pat, 376, 377, 381, 384, 388, 393–94, 402

  Bogotá, 113

  Bonn, 134

  Boring, Floyd, 71, 131, 134, 142

  Bork, Robert, 407

  Boston, 136, 137, 175, 203, 282, 346

  Bourguiba, Habib Ben Ali, 42

  Bradlee, Ben, 139

  Bradlee, Tony, 139

  Brandt, Willy, 134, 164

  Brasilia, 59

  Brazil, 58–60

  Eisenhower in, 59–60

  Bremer, Arthur, 387

  Brigade 2506, 96–98

  Brooks Air Force Base, 144–45

  Brown, Ham, 364, 365

  Brussels, 333

  Buchanan, Pat, 345

  Bucharest, 343

  Buendorf, Larry, 421–22

  Buenos Aires, 61–62

  Bundy, McGeorge, 121, 207

  Bundy, William, 260–61

  Bunker, Ellsworth, 262

  Bureau of Special Services and Investigations (BOSSI), 81

  Burger, Warren, 410, 415

  Burke, Jim, 389–91

  Burke, Robert, 403

  Burkley, George, 157, 292

  Burning Tree Country Club, 15, 18, 21

  Burns, John, 223

  Butterfield, Alex, 388–91, 401–3, 407

  Camargo, Alberto Lleras, 113

  Cambodia, 109, 364

  Camp David, 15, 66, 95, 98, 250, 361, 405, 410, 411

  Cam Ranh Bay, 241–42, 259–64

  Canada, 15, 24

  Canberra, 234–36, 257–58, 355

  Cape Canaveral, 57–58, 141

  Cape Kennedy, 247, 339, 340

  Capitol, U.S., 163, 164, 197–99, 329, 330, 333, 366, 367, 377

  Captain Philip, 240

  Caracas, 111–13

  Carlson, Bill, 266

  Carmichael, Stokely, 281

  Caroline, 89, 94, 175

  Carpenter, Scott, 130

  Carrasco Airport, 62

  Carswell Air Force Base, 146, 150, 151

  Casablanca, 47–49

  Casals, Pablo, 111

  Castro, Fidel, 23, 62, 77, 85, 96–98, 112, 124, 216

  Catholic Church, 26, 83, 92, 113, 135, 136, 163, 164, 174, 231, 268, 284, 292, 293, 306

  “Cause and Prevention of Violence and Assassination,” 293

  CBS, 233

  Ceausesçu, Nicolae, 343–44

  Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 65, 77, 170, 226, 356, 394

  Bay of Pigs invasion, 96–98, 103, 124–25

  U-2 spy incident, 65–70, 71

 
; Cernan, Eugene, 349, 351

  Chaffee, Roger, 247, 248

  Chamber of Commerce, 149

  Chapin, Dwight, 300, 367

  Charles, Prince of Wales, 258

  Checkpoint Charlie, 134–35

  Chiang Kai-shek, 74

  Chicago, 78, 203, 230, 370, 376–77

  1968 Democratic National Convention, 303–6, 395

  race riots, 282, 283

  Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, 10

  Chicago Tribune, 362

  Children’s Detail, 119, 142, 277

  of Johnson children, 188–89

  of Kennedy children, 119

  Children’s Hospital, 136, 137

  Chile, 58, 62

  China, 74, 379–80

  Communist, 74

  Nixon and, 379–80, 383–84

  Chisholm, Shirley, 388

  Chou En-lai, 383

  Christian, George, 279, 305, 307

  Christiansen, Jake, 8

  Christina, 139

  Ciampino Airport, 25, 265, 266

  Citroën bubbletop, 101

  Civil Rights Act (1964), 197, 201, 202, 285

  civil rights movement, 85, 197, 202–6, 328

  Johnson and, 181, 197, 201–6, 230, 278–85

  Kennedy and, 129, 142

  King assassination, 278–85, 328

  1968 riots, 279–85, 297, 303, 328

  Selma march, 203–6

  Civil War, 11, 56, 206, 212, 241

  Clark Field, 72

  Cleveland, 203, 230

  Cleveland, Grover, 129, 363

  Clifford, Clark, 273, 309

  CNN, 278

  Coast Guard, 106

  code names, 95

  Cold War, 65, 68, 71, 103, 121, 129

  U-2 spy incident, 65–70, 71, 77

  Collins, Mike, 339–42

  Cologne, 133, 134

  Colombia, 113

  Colorado, 3–6, 9, 10, 11, 13, 79

  Columbine III, 19, 72

  Communism, 23, 40, 44, 62, 71, 74, 77, 85, 96, 111, 129, 176, 177, 207, 343, 419

  Cuban, 96–98

  “domino effect,” 216

  East German, 134–35

  Soviet, 44, 71, 77, 85, 96, 103, 121–25, 134

 

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