If you’ve ever seen the footage of President Kennedy’s assassination in 1963, known as the Zapruder film- you probably remember seeing a man in a black suit running towards the presidential limo, where Mrs. Jacqueline Kennedy was clutching on the back of the limo, seconds after the shots were fired. That man was Secret Service agent Clint Hill, and at the time, he was assigned to First Lady Jackie Kennedy’s security detail.

This nonfiction book was written by Hill and tells incredible tales of his time as a secret service agent guarding Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon and their families. You know the saying, “I’d love to be (or have been) a fly on the wall, while so and so is (or was) happening”? This book gives you kind of the opportunity to do just that, give you a look into public things, as well as private things that happened during these administrations, both the highs and the lows.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and marveled at not just at the things that happened, but also at the things that Agent Hill experienced, or got to see. Being a secret service agent on a protective detail might sound like it would be a boring job to have most of the time- and it can be at times. But imagine all the places that an agent on a presidential detail gets to go to- other countries and meeting (or at least seeing if not meeting) important people all over the world. Without giving away too many details of the book, let me give you some examples. For instance, Agent Hill traveled with President Johnson to Vietnam during the Vietnam war, to meet with the troops. Can you imagine how intense such trip could be for an agent protecting a President in a potentially hostile country? He also got to travel with Jackie Kennedy to Europe on vacations, both during her time as First Lady, and after.

If you enjoy history and are curious for a closer look into events that happened publicly and privately, check this book out!