In the President's Secret Service

Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect

By: Ronald Kessler

Narrated by: Alan Sklar

Secret Service agents, acting as human surveillance cameras, observe everything that goes on behind the scenes in the president's inner circle. Ronald Kessler reveals what they have seen, providing startling, previously untold stories about the presidents, from John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as about their families, Cabinet officers, and White House aides.

Kessler portrays the dangers that agents face and how they carry out their missions---from how they are trained to how they spot and assess potential threats. With fly-on-the-wall perspective, he captures the drama and tension that characterize agents' lives. In this headline-grabbing book, Kessler discloses assassination attempts that have never before been revealed. He shares inside accounts of past assaults that have put the Secret Service to the test, including a heroic gun battle that took down the would-be assassins of Harry S. Truman, the devastating day that John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas, and the swift actions that saved Ronald Reagan after he was shot. While Secret Service agents are brave and dedicated, Kessler exposes how Secret Service management in recent years has betrayed its mission by cutting corners, risking the assassination of President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and their families. Given the lax standards, "It's a miracle we have not had a successful assassination," a current agent says. ,p>Since an assassination jeopardizes democracy itself, few agencies are as important as the Secret Service---and few subjects are as tantalizing as the inner sanctum of the White House. Only tight-lipped Secret Service agents know the real story, and Kessler is the only journalist to have won their trust.

©2009 Ronald Kessler (P)2009 Tantor

Entertaining BUT....

The book was a good listen. Less on tactics, etc... and more on Presidential Gossip.

Great Book!

This is a very interesting read. Mr.Kessler's books are all descriptive and full of Secret Service facts.

Interesting and Made Me think

I appreciate the candor the book offered, and I also find it fascinating to have some things I was curious about discussed in terms of the nuts and bolts of how things are done by the Secret Service. I'd have liked to see more of that, but I am not offering up a complaint. Hearing what is good, what is bad, and what is interesting, as long as it's proven, is something that I feel is quite important.

Too much whining

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The first part is fairly interesting, describing the structure, history, and some anecdotes. But it degenerated into whining about not enough funding, and repetitive complaints about "Management" who does this or that and is out of touch and is ruining the service.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

More actual anecdotes and much less repetitive whining. He keeps saying the same things, the same complaints in the same words, ad nauseum

Which character – as performed by Alan Sklar – was your favorite?

none stood out

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

depends if all the whining is in it

Any additional comments?

This had the potential to be a very good book. Too bad the author chose to display his dissatisfaction with "Management" to the extent he could not stop complaining about it.

one of the best books

One of the best books I have listened to in a long time. If you want an inside look at the leaders of our country get this book.