The Kennedy Detail Reader's Review

By 

Barbara A. Benedict "beagleboy" (Everett, WA)

The Kennedy Detail was about the 1963 Assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 3, 1963 from the point of view of the Secret Service members of that date. The book was excellent and it showed the effect it had on the members of the Secret Service. We only see the Secret Service at the time if the president's appearance. It starts way before that date with surveillance, motorcades, etc. The president's death had a profound effect on the Secret Service members but they had a new president to guard and to help Mrs. Kennedy bring her husband back to Washington. The Secet Service members had to keep going and not deal with what they had seen. Some members had immediate reactions and some went on for years to figure out what they were feeling. This was written by a member of the of the Secret Service who left to take a job at IBM and after he retire he corresponded with other members of the Secret Service. One of the saddest stories is about Clint Hill who jumped on the car to stop Mrs Kennedy from trying to capture the president's brain matter. While being interviewed by Mike Wallace for 60 Minutes, Clint Hill was struggling to deal with those memories but he did and lived out the last years of his life in peace. This was a wonderful book and I thoroughly enjoyed it.