The Kennedy Detail

JFK's Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence

By: Gerald Blaine, Lisa McCubbin

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Length: 17 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

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 50 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 40 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them, never-before-published letters written by Jackie Kennedy in the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the bizarre unpublished story about a film Jackie made in September 1963 with the on-duty Secret Service agents about an assassination of the president, and the original November 18,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.

©2010 Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbin (P)2010 Tantor

Critic reviews

"An important contribution to Kennedy assassination literature because it presents in riveting detail the assassination from the agents' perspective and describes the lifelong emotional burden the agents endured when their best efforts were not enough." ( Library Journal)

Finally, enough back story to satisfy me

This is a great book. The book was told from personal perspectives of the Secret Agents protecting the Kennedy family. It offers insight into the relationships which developed between the Kennedy's and the Secret Service as well as the inner workings of the Kennedy White House. It also detailed the difficulties encountered as the Secret Service tried to provide protection. I found it very interesting and informative …sort of an inside view of a line of business I know nothing about (secret service agents) while, at the same time, listening to the back story of that era and of the events leading to and surrounding the killing of President Kennedy. As anyone else who was alive at that time, I remember exactly where I was and how I felt, at age 17, upon hearing the devastating news. I feel that this book is one that most people, who are remotely interested in that event, would enjoy reading – it’s as though I finally know some details about it, which I didn’t have before, and I am satisfied with the accounting.

you gotta stick with it

it took a long time to get to the day of the assasination. but it was worth it just to get to the 60 minuutes interview. it makes one wonder what a leader like this might have accomplished had his life not been cut so short.

I love this book. It was very compelling!

What made the experience of listening to The Kennedy Detail the most enjoyable?

I really enjoyed the performance. The reader's voice was very well suited to the book. I appreciated that Gerald Blaine wrote the book in third person. I feel that it flowed better as a third person narrative than it would have in first person.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked the personal anecdotes about President Kennedy and his detail. I liked the story about Agent Hill's interview with Mike Wallace. I found the video on the internet, and I found that the version penned by Gerald Blaine was quite descriptive.

What about Alan Sklar’s performance did you like?

Great voice! I think Mr. Sklar added a lot to the experience for me.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

I was very disturbed by the descriptions of the assassination. It was more than just the gruesome detail. It was more that I had grown to love President Kennedy in the chapters leading up to the assassination. Seeing JFK from the perspective of the men who regretted that they did not and could not give their lives for him gave me an appreciation for the loss that the nation felt. I actually felt the shock described of seeing a friend alive and talking one minute and seeing his head blown open the next. This country lost a great man that day in Dallas. I hope to never experience that loss in my life-time.

Interesting GLimpse at the Kennedy White House

The autobiography of secret service agent Gerald Blaine who was a member of the Kennedy detail. A very interesting read, though the book by Clint Hill is more readable.

Must read!!!

What a lovely compilation of many great accounts. The only thing I didn't like as well was the narrator. Some of his annunciation was a little sharp to the ear, but overall was just fine. And the book, regardless was a must read!

Exceptional Book

Totally enjoyed this book. Good to finally have the real truth come out. I don't remember it as I was too young. Plus, I'm feeling guilty as I'd never thought much about the Secret Service. God Bless them all.

A must "read" in my opinion

This was an amazing book. I am glad this book was written before time steals away all the Kennedy detail agents. After reading the book I downloaded off the internet the Clint Hill / Mike Wallace interviews and nearly cried watching them myself. I first got interested in Kennedy when "JFK" the movie (Costner) came out when I was in high school. My parents where disgusted by the movie and concerned that this history/fiction movie would taint the events and grief and lose objectivity of John Kennedy's death. I must say that until I read this book, I was a strong believer that there must have been some sort of conspiracy. After this book, I don't believe in a conspiracy, just amazed and fascinated on how this event really changed the whole world in ways we will probably never know. Thanks to Jerry Blaine and Clint Hill for writing this book and sharing their personal experiences. Thank god we have people like them still in this world. Clint if you ever read this, your a great man, never doubt that, you inspire me.

Five for the Secret Service ... but

I have problems with the narrator. Alan Sklar's voice is as deep and rich as melted dark chocolate sauce, but I can't forgive him for calling Caroline (Kennedy) "Carolyn". I'm sorry, but obvious mistakes distract and annoy me til I lose the story in anticipation of the next blooper. If it's worth telling, writing about, and getting recorded, then it's worth BEING READ CORRECTLY. And mispronouncing the first name of one of the leading characters takes away from the whole story for me.

Sklar needs to listen to some more Kennedy speeches before he attempts the accent again.

Towards the end of the book there's enough emotion for any three Dickens novels. When tough guys get sentimental they can be downright maudlin, so no need for any exaggeration on the part of the narrator.

That being said (or should I say "bemoaned"?), I have to add that this is a highly detailed and believable story of some of America's finest men in impossible situations where they're expected to jog in dress shoes and perform at 110% while being deprived of sleep, food, and family. And then they live in silent torment for not being perfect under impossible conditions.

It's a wonder good people still serve in the Secret Service, because according to another book about the Service, conditions haven't improved overmuch,

Interesting...a tad repetitive

Like many, I've read tons of literature on the assassination, Kennedys, etc. so it was interesting to hear the secret service side of things. I thought the book got a tad repetitive the last few chapters. Agents under stress, felt like failures, hard time adjusting. I got it the first 3 or 4 times.

Still, enjoyable.

Compleetly Awesome

This was one of the best books I've read this year. The details and back story on the agents make the narration of the assassination come to life in such a way that you are emotionally tied to the event. I cried like I was living it, and this took place 20 years before I was born. The book was so blunt in its description of love and disdain for different characters by different agents that I cant imagine it being anything but the god honest truth.