Product Description

Joseph Petro served for twenty-three years as a special agent in the United States Secret Service. He spent eleven of those years guarding presidents and vice presidents; for four of them he stood by the side of Ronald Reagan. Here he provides an original and fascinating perspective on the Secret Service and the inner workings of the White House, as well as a little-seen view of world leaders.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2258147 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-02
• Format: Large Print
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 503 pages

From Publishers Weekly
A readable and frequently engaging memoir of the author's 23 years in the Secret Service focuses on his time in the personal protective detail, guarding President Reagan and his family. In detailing his four years in that capacity, Petro burnishes the image of the Reagans as personally agreeable, even admirable, and easy to deal with in a professional context. A particularly moving part of the book deals with the Geneva Summit at which Reagan and Gorbachev substantially thawed the Cold War, and the author's perspective on some of Reagan's mediagenic faux pas shed further light on a much-discussed aspect of the Great Communicator. The Reagans were not the only VIPs that fell into Petro's sphere—the Quayles didn't like being protected and did like vigorous sports (such as whitewater rafting, during which Marilyn Quayle once fell out of the raft). The author provides hints of tactical and ethical principles of the protection detail, as well as the internal politics of the Secret Service. He finishes with one of his most demanding jobs, protecting Pope John Paul II through a 10-day, 114-stop tour of the United States. This is a thoroughly readable narrative of professionalism in action in a delicate sphere of activity; notably, while this is Petro's first book, it is his college roommate Robinson's 19th.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Former Secret Service agent Petro protected Henry Kissinger, Nelson Rockefeller, Gerald Ford, Walter Mondale, Ronald and Nancy Reagan, Dan and Marilyn Quayle, and Pope John Paul II. His memoir of 20-plus years standing post or watching crowds is replete with anecdotes arranged to show what the Secret Service does. Petro stresses the friction inherent between safety and public visibility, and illustrates that point by recounting the negotiations that occurred between those being protected and the men and women with the earplugs and impassive visages. Petro introduces this main topic with an account of his arrangement of a Reagan trip to a baseball game, and sustains it though various settings, whether an international summit conference or a restaurant. More personally, the author confides his recruitment to the Secret Service and his investigations, such as infiltrating John Kerry's antiwar group. True to the Secret Service's ethos of confidentiality, Petro shies from gossip but imparts just enough to imply his opinions of the people he guarded, which is the part that will be of most interest to his readers. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
"This is a thoroughly readable narrative of professionalism in action in a delicate sphere of activity."
-- Publishers Weekly (Publisher's Weekly )

Customer Reviews

A Dignified Look at a Solemn Charge.
Mr. Petro was on The O'Reilly Factor discussing his book, which whetted my appetite for this truly fascinating account of life inside "The Service."

From the opening pages, this work is a dignified account of a solemn duty, and the reader can sense that Mr. Petro took his charge with the utmost of seriousness. There is not one ounce of sanctimony in his tenor. He considered each assignment a sacred duty to protect, whether they were friend (Ronald Reagan) or foe (Arafat), whether he agreed with them politically (Dan Quayle, or The Pope), or not.

What I love about this book is that Joseph Petro does not spend close to 300 pages patting himself on the back, displaying faux modesty making statements such as "I don't consider myself a hero." He's honest without being mawkishly sentimental (such as what one can see daily on Oprah).

A subplot to this book harkens the reader back to a time when our leaders displayed a respect for the office they held, and carried themselves with a dignity that was commensurate with that office. In picture after picture you see this dignity reflected in the posture and demeanor of Joe Petro.

This book is not only a tribute to the many courageous men and women of The Secret Service, it is also a tribute to the fine American who shared his life as he stood next to history: Agent Joseph Petro.

Fascinating
There are no bits of sensational gossip in this book, and this is one reason that it is so enjoyable. Petro is clearly a stand-up kind of guy and I can see why he became so trusted in the Secret Service. It is quite interesting to see the human side of the agency (politics, competition, back-stabbing, etc.). One otherwise might tend to imagine the agents as kind of stiff. I was also impressed by his explanation of the way that protection is afforded the president via three concentric rings of coverage. This is a fast and easy read; well written and edited.

The Best Book Ever Written About the Secret Service
This is almost certainly the best book ever written (or likely to be written) about the Secret Service. It is also one of the best books ever written about Ronald Reagan. Special Agent Petro goes into terrific detail about how the Service protects the President, and how he and others protected Reagan. From practicing assassination attempts to battling with the French, the Japanese and the Canadians about how far the Service must go to keep the President safe, this book is both a credit to the Secret Service and a must read for anyone who wants to know how one vital component of the White House functions.