Within Arm's Length: A Secret Service Agent's Definitive Inside Account of Protecting the President

by Dan Emmett Narrated by Kevin Foley

Overview

Dan Emmett was just eight years old when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The events surrounding the president's death shaped the course of young Emmett's life as he set a goal of becoming a U.S. Secret Service agent-one of a special group of people willing to trade their lives for that of the president, if necessary.



Within Arm's Length is a revealing and compelling inside look at the Secret Service and the elite Presidential Protective Division (PPD). Using stories from some of the author's more high-profile assignments in his twenty-one years of service, Emmett describes the professional, physical, and emotional challenges faced by Secret Service agents. Included are never-before-discussed topics such as the complicated relationship between presidents, first ladies, and their agents; the inner workings of Secret Service protective operations; and the seldom-mentioned challenges of the complex Secret Service cultural issues faced by an agent's family.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

06/23/2014
In this deep look at the Secret Service's operations, Emmett, a veteran agent of more than two decades, examines the recent history of the agency responsible for protecting those in the White House. A native of Gainesville, Georgia, as a child he was impressed by the lone Secret Service agent shielding the mortally wounded President Kennedy and his wife with his body on that fateful day in Dallas. He became a Marine before joining the agency in 1983. Some of the most noteworthy passages in the book address the making of an agent, their rigorous training, and the numerous postings in regional offices. Emmett makes note of the routine investigations the Secret Service conducts and the tense protection roles provided for the president and vice president while offering anecdotes about guarding Presidents George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. The agents also serve as caretakers for former presidents and their families, even when the subjects indulge in dangerous behavior after leaving office. Emmett's engaging account is a reminder of the constant threats this esteemed agency faces and the effort each agent puts into their work. (June)

From the Publisher

Controversial.” —Inside Edition

“This book is a must-read for anyone anticipating a job in government security services or police administration.” —Abraham Bolden, first African American Secret Service agent assigned to PPD

“I found Within Arm's Length to be an honest window into the long, at times exuberant, and often difficult career of a Secret Service Agent.” —Josh King, Polioptics

“Within Arm's Length is, without question, the best book ever written about the Secret Service.” —Vince Palamara, author of Survivors Guilt

“Very moving!” —Jake Tapper, CNN correspondent and New York Times bestselling author of The Outpost

“The book is great!” —Tom Sullivan, FOX News

“[A] fascinating book.” —Shannon Bream, FOX News

“[It] is a treat for readers wanting to know what is behind those sunglasses.” —NewsOK.com

“Emmett's book, which succeeds in making vivid the life and culture of the anonymous, earpiece-wearing men and women clustered around the president, will be popular with readers who are interested in the Secret Service as an organization and those who protect the president.” —Library Journal

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"Controversial." —Inside Edition

CNN correspondent and New York Times bestselling a Jake Tapper

Very moving!

first African American Secret Service agent assign Abraham Bolden

This book is a must-read for anyone anticipating a job in government security services or police administration.

Kirkus Reviews

2014-05-07
The story of the men and women who swear to lay down their lives for the president.Emmett presents himself as the epitome of the Secret Service: patriotic, motivated and self-serious; his intention here is to "[capture] the unique culture of the organization." Following an officer's commission in the Marines, he secured entry into the Secret Service through sheer persistence, fulfilling a childhood dream rooted in the traumatic memory of the Kennedy assassination. He even married a fellow agent, with whom he has a combined 42 years of service. Although all agents customarily spend several years investigating crimes like check fraud, Emmett pushed for a transfer to the Counter Assault Team, the counterterrorism unit that follows the presidential motorcade: "Of all the agents in the Secret Service," he writes, "these men's motives for being there were perhaps the purest of all." With CAT, Emmett was on unusual high-risk protective missions, such as going to Haiti with Vice President Dan Quayle. Yet the author claims the unit's unique capabilities went unappreciated by the agency's meddlesome upper management, a consistent theme throughout the book. Following CAT, Emmett moved to the Presidential Protective Division. Emmett clearly presents the logistics, training and equipment that comprise the PPD agent's working life, testifying to the long hours and physical privations beneath the glamour. However, he's clearly unwilling to tell tales out of school about presidents George Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, all of whom he personally protected (although he discusses the security nightmare created by Clinton's love of jogging), and too often the narrative is generalized and anecdotal rather than specific. Emmett's personalized perspective is that of a martinet, generally scornful toward those he encounters (excepting presidents, Marines and fellow agents) and frequently complaining about "political correctness" and media scrutiny compromising the Secret Service.A sternly narrated account that captures the grim, insular nature of the American security state at its most elite levels.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170895786
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	08/26/2014
Edition description:	Unabridged

Videos