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

by Clint Hill, Lisa McCubbin Hill

Overview

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Kennedy and Me and Five Days in November reflects on his seventeen years on the Secret Service for 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 traumatic events. Clint Hill was there, on duty, through Five Presidents.

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 the twentieth century, 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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781476794143
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Publication date:	05/02/2017
Pages:	464
Sales rank:	42,777
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Clint Hill (1932–2025) was the New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Kennedy and Me; Five Days in November; Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford; and My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy. A United States Secret Service Agent from 1958 to 1975, Clint Hill was assigned to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and was in the motorcade in Dallas on November 22, 1963, when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. For his courage and swift actions that day, Hill received the nation’s highest civilian award for bravery. Starting out as a Special Agent, Clint Hill served as Agent in Charge of the First Lady Detail, the Vice Presidential Protective Division, the Presidential Protective Division, and when he retired in 1975, he was Assistant Director responsible for all protective activity. Find out more at ClintHillSecretService.com.

Lisa McCubbin Hill is an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author. She is the author of the acclaimed biography Betty Ford: First Lady Women’s Advocate, Survivor, Trailblazer and coauthor (with Clint Hill) of the New York Times bestsellers Mrs. Kennedy and Me; Five Days in November; Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford; and My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy. She met Clint Hill while writing her first book, The Kennedy Detail: JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (with Gerald Blaine). Previously, Lisa was a television news anchor, reporter, and talk-radio host. Visit her at LisaMcCubbin.com.

Read an Excerpt

Five Presidents

As a Special Agent in the United States Secret Service, I had the honor and privilege of serving five presidents—Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald R. Ford—three Republicans and two Democrats. From my unique vantage point, I had the rare opportunity to observe the human side of these men—the most powerful men in the world—as each dealt with the enormous responsibilities and unforeseen challenges thrust upon them, and how their individual characters and personalities affected grave decisions.

My seventeen years in the Secret Service spanned the period that encompassed the U-2 spy incident; the Cold War; the Cuban Missile Crisis; the assassinations of President John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; the civil rights movement, riots and burning of major U.S. cities; the Vietnam War; Watergate; and the resignations of Vice President Spiro T. Agnew and President Nixon. In less than two decades, America went from being unquestionably the most respected and admired nation in the world to a country whose image had become tarnished by violence, scandal, and deceit.

It is interesting to note that of these five presidents, only Eisenhower had a normal run as president—elected by the people and serving two full terms. Kennedy was elected in 1960 by the slimmest of margins, and his term lasted just one thousand days, cut short by an assassin. Suddenly, the vice president became president. Johnson was reelected the following year, but when the demands of the office and the casualties of the Vietnam War became more than he could bear, he chose not to run for a second term. Nixon was elected in 1968, and again in 1972, but in the wake of the Watergate scandal, he became the first United States president to resign, in 1974. A year earlier, when Nixon’s vice president, Spiro Agnew, resigned in disgrace, Nixon appointed Gerald Ford as vice president. Thus, upon Nixon’s resignation, Ford became president, never having been elected to the office.

It was a turbulent time, and there I was, in the middle of it all.

As with our two previous books, my talented writing partner, Lisa McCubbin, and I have attempted to bring history to life through my experiences. While Mrs. Kennedy and Me focused on my interactions with Jacqueline Kennedy, and Five Days in November detailed those tragic days surrounding the assassination, the Kennedy section in this book focuses on my observations of and interactions with President Kennedy. There is unavoidably some overlap, but the recollections of my years with Eisenhower, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford are revealed here for the first time.

There is no doubt that the assassination of President Kennedy was a defining moment for me, and it would affect me on many levels for the rest of my life. I was thrust onto the pages of history, but it has often bothered me that I would be remembered solely for my actions on that one day. For there was much that led up to that moment, and much that followed.

Like the five presidents I served, there were many things that influenced the decisions I made, the actions I took, the man I became.

It has indeed been an extraordinary journey.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Walking Beside History ix

Part 1 With President Eisenhower

1 The Secret Dead Body 3

2 The White House Detail 13

3 The Eleven-Nation Tour 23

4 The South American Tour 51

5 Spying on the Soviets 65

6 The Asian Trip 71

7 The 1960 Presidential Campaign 77

Part 2 With President Kennedy

8 On the First Lady Detail 87

9 Palm Beach 91

10 Traveling with the Kennedys: Europe 99

11 Hyannis Port 105

12 Traveling with the Kennedys: South America and Mexico 111

13 The Cuban Missile Crisis 121

14 1963: Great Expectations 127

15 Triumph and Tragedy 133

16 The Trip to Texas 141

17 Dallas 149

18 The Funeral 161

19 The Year After 167

Part 3 With President Johnson

20 The LBJ Ranch 183

21 Inauguration 1965 197

22 The Civil Rights President 201

23 A President's Burdens 207

24 Traveling with LBJ: Honolulu and Mexico City 221

25 Traveling with LBJ: Down Under 229

26 1967 247

27 1968 269

28 Loyalty 297

29 Last Days with LBJ 313

Part 4 With Presidents Nixon and Ford

30 Vice President Spiro Agnew 327

31 Beware Greeks Bearing Gifts 349

32 A Visit from Elvis 359

33 1971 375

34 1972: The Beginning of the End 383

35 A White House in Turmoil 397

36 The Unraveling of a Presidency 409

37 History Takes Its Toll 415

38 60 Minutes 425

Epilogue 431

Acknowledgments 433

Index 435

Editorial Reviews

04/01/2016
Former Secret Service agent Hill, with journalist McCubbin (both, Mrs. Kennedy and Me), expands on his previous books that detailed his time protecting John and Jacqueline Kennedy with this logbook-esque memoir of serving in five presidential administrations from 1958 to 1975. Starting as a young agent during Dwight Eisenhower's second term, Hill was impressed by the aging president's stamina and ability to work in a daily round of golf no matter his schedule. With Kennedy's election in 1960, Hill was reassigned to the president's wife, Jackie. This is how he came to jump onto the presidential motorcade during the Kennedy assassination—a heroic action immortalized in the infamous Zapruder film. Suffering from undiagnosed PTSD, Hill nevertheless stayed on to guard Lyndon Johnson, Spiro Agnew, and Gerald Ford, witnessing turbulent elections, assassinations, and the effects of the Vietnam War and Watergate along the way. The best moments are the surprising, intimate ones with the presidents and their families (the author's own family gets passing mentions), but the book lags when recapping well-trodden historical events and figures and cataloging the crowd sizes during the seemingly endless foreign trips. VERDICT An eloquently written travelog through midcentury America from the periphery of political power. Best for casual readers of U.S. history.—Chad Comello, Morton Grove P.L., IL

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