Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #693521 in Books
• Published on: 2009-08-18
• Formats: Audiobook, MP3 Audio, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: MP3 CD

Features

• ISBN13: 9781400163120
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.

From The Washington Post
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com A few blocks from the White House, on the busy corner of H and 9th streets, stands a bland, unnamed, nine-story office building. On a wall in the lobby, large silver letters spell out the words "Worthy of Trust and Confidence." That is the motto of the Secret Service, and the anonymous tan-brick building is the agency's headquarters. "The phrase," said former director Lewis C. Merletti, "is the absolute heart and soul of the United States Secret Service. . . . And it must never be compromised." Lest they forget, all agents have the motto emblazoned on their IDs. But in light of an odd decision by the current director, Mark Sullivan, the motto should be changed to "Have You Heard This One?" During the Bush administration, hoping for some good, ego-enhancing publicity, Sullivan broke with his agency's long-standing policy of absolute silence and allowed Ronald Kessler to get an earful. The chief Washington correspondent for Newsmax.com, which bills itself as "the #1 conservative news agency online," Kessler had written very positive books about CIA Director George Tenet, first lady Laura Bush and President George W. Bush, and Sullivan was probably hoping for the same treatment. Hearing that Sullivan had given Kessler his blessing, scores of current and former agents -- Kessler claims more than 100 -- agreed to talk to him. But rather than use that wealth of information to write a serious book examining the inner workings of the long-veiled agency or the new challenges of protecting the first black president, the author simply milked the agents for the juiciest gossip he could get and mixed it with a rambling list of their complaints. Trashing their motto, these agents seem to relish throwing dirt on their former protectees, especially Democrats. But it is all boring and familiar. Agents Chuck Taylor and Larry Newman, like tattling schoolboys, breathlessly rant about JFK's escapades more than 40 years ago, in particular one with secretaries nicknamed Fiddle and Faddle wearing T-shirts in the White House pool. "You could see their nipples," snickers Taylor. Other agents tell of Lyndon Johnson's "stable" of women and how he liked to get drunk at his ranch and then "whiz out on the front lawn." Even Vice President Spiro Agnew, according to another agent, was escorted to various hotels for affairs. "We felt like pimps," he said. But the best he could offer for proof was that "he looked embarrassed." Richard Nixon was "the strangest modern president," say Kessler's agents, and his successor, Jerry Ford, was nice but "cheap." Former agent Robert B. Sulliman Jr. was angry because Jimmy Carter would get to the office about 6 a.m. and "do a little work for half an hour, then close the curtains and take a nap" without informing the press of his breaks. The busy, self-important agents also disliked tardiness, which is one reason they couldn't stand Bill Clinton or Al Gore. Former agent Dave Saleeba waited impatiently for Vice President Gore one day, only to discover him "eating a muffin at the pool." The book's inane and endless anecdotes never rise much higher. A conservative lot, the agents found President Ronald Reagan "a down-to-earth individual;" his successor, George H.W. Bush, "a great man, just an all around nice person"; and George W. Bush "down to earth, caring." Agents, Kessler says, loved to "chop wood" with the younger Bush and appreciated "the fact that Bush is punctual." Otherwise, apparently, they might have been forced to fire him. Kessler never asks the agents anything substantive, such as if they had any insights into how the Bush White House involved the country in the Iraq war. Throughout the book, many of the current and former agents come across as little more than disgruntled rent-a-guards, complaining about their shifts, their assignments and their pay while traveling on Air Force One and walking the halls of the West Wing. They also have larger issues. They complain that on occasion, such as during campaigns, staff members order metal detectors shut down to accommodate large crowds -- tens of thousands of people sometimes -- surging into stadiums and other large venues to hear candidates. They fail to see how close we have already come to a fortress society and that candidates occasionally choose to assume the risk as the price of democracy. The agents complain that they, too, are put at risk. But for all their talk of danger, there are few jobs in law enforcement as safe as that of a Secret Service agent. None have been killed during an assassination attempt in more than half a century, and few have been wounded. It is far more hazardous to put on a Bureau of Indian Affairs or Park Police badge. What is truly dangerous is the kind of National Enquirer-style gossip in Kessler's book. In the future, without "trust and confidence" in their agents, presidents will want to keep them at a distance, out of spying range -- and out of safety range, when split seconds may count. And with President Obama, such concerns may be especially acute. "Once Obama became president," Kessler says, "the Secret Service experienced a 400 percent increase in the number of threats against the president, in comparison with President Bush." Two weeks ago, outside an Obama town hall meeting in Maryland, a man held a sign reading "Death to Obama" and "Death to Michelle and her two stupid kids." And last week, at an Obama event in Phoenix, a dozen gun-toting protesters -- including one with an AR-15 assault rifle on his shoulder and a handgun in his holster -- lingered nearby.
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review
From USA TODAY, Reviewed By Don Oldenburg, Special for USA TODAY

The recent news report that corner-cutting at the U.S. Secret Service has put President Obama's life at greater risk may be the most attention-grabbing disclosure emerging from Ron Kessler's latest book. But there's a lot more in this fascinating exposé, which penetrates that federal agency's longstanding mission and tradition of sworn secrecy.

Never mind that the book's title is stiffer than the Secret Service's public persona — dour-faced agents wearing pressed suits, dark sunglasses and earphones, scouring crowds for potential threats. Inside the covers, Kessler's lively narrative is loaded with details of how the federal agents, authorized to protect the president and other national leaders, get the job done — and sometimes don't.

But what fuels this high-energy read isn't Kessler's investigation of the Secret Service's training, procedures and strategies — from guaranteeing the safety of the president's food to analyzing daily threats. Instead what turns these pages are the amusing, saucy, often disturbing anecdotes about the VIPs the Secret Service has protected and still protects. The secrets, in other words.

Some of it would border on tabloid sensationalism if it hadn't come directly from current and retired agents (most identified by name, to Kessler's credit). Of course, you'd expect the salacious stories of John Kennedy's libido, but the less-told tales of an often-drunken and philandering Lyndon Johnson caught with his pants down are shocking. Family-values champion Spiro Agnew had his hotel-room peccadilloes, it seems, and nice Jimmy Carter his animosities. Richard Nixon's peculiarities? Beyond excess.

Anecdotes of hard-to-handle members of the first families abound here as well, including Jenna and Barbara Bush's bar-hopping, Hillary Clinton's angry clashes with low-level White House employees, and Nancy Reagan's cold, controlling habits.
Balancing the sordid tales are the kinder stories of presidential humanity — like George H.W. Bush and an agent searching for hidden cookies in the middle of the night, Miss Lillian Carter delivering a six-pack to the Secret Service boys (dutifully refused), and Ronald Reagan mailing checks for thousands of dollars to needy strangers.

So why the all the blabbing from zip-lipped agents? A respected journalist and former Washington Post reporter, Kessler somehow instills trust even in wary civil servants and federal bureaucrats.

He did when researching such government-insider books as The Terrorist Watch and The CIA at War. He has done it again by persuading the Secret Service to cooperate, making this an insightful and entertaining story.

Copyright 2009, USA TODAY. All Rights Reserved.

About the Author

Customer Reviews

RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "AGENTS WERE TOLD TO TAKE A BULLET FOR THE PRESIDENT & KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT ABOUT HIS PERSONAL LIFE"
Today the Secret Service is in charge of protecting the President... the Vice-President... former President's... world leaders... big events... and even the Pope. Things have come a long way since April 14, 1865 when President Lincoln's bodyguard on duty outside the president's box at Ford's Theatre "was Patrolman John F. Parker of the Washington police. Instead of remaining on guard outside the President's box, Parker wandered off to watch the play, then went to a nearby saloon for a drink". And of course John Wilkes Booth assassinated Lincoln that night. Author Ronald Kessler then leads the reader not only through the growth... both in size... and responsibility... of the United States Secret Service... but he also brings to light... almost limitless Presidential peccadilloes... character traits... and faults... that are almost beyond an average citizens imagination. The revelations in this book go way... way... past the JFK-Marilyn Monroe sexual liaisons... which is almost accepted common knowledge by multiple generations. We're talking about JFK bedding multiple women at the same time... with the security of a Secret Service team with Jackie... giving alerts to JFK if she was on the way back... while he was in the pool with two buxom women wearing nothing but wet T-shirts. We're talking about Lyndon Johnson having multiple sex partners... and even being caught in the act on the couch by Lady Bird Johnson... thus leading an irate LBJ to request a red warning light in his office and other areas that could be activated by agents to alert him when Lady Bird was on the way. LBJ would even have women on his ranch while Lady Bird was home... and simply get up at night and go into a different room for sex.

What makes this book so astounding is that ninety-per-cent of the quotes regarding these transgressions... are attributed directly to *NAMED-AGENTS*! With the "secrecy" of the Secret Service... the reader would think... the agents would have been sworn to a life of "OMERTA"... the code of silence. But I guess times have changed both for the Mafia... and the Secret Service. The agents... through the author... pull no punches in any area you could think of. They openly state that LBJ "was uncouth, nasty, and often drunk." They say President Ford was the cheapest guy they ever saw... they say Nixon was the "strangest modern president, Jimmy Carter was known as the least likeable. IF THE TRUE MEASURE OF A MAN IS HOW HE TREATS THE LITTLE PEOPLE, CARTER FLUNKED THE TEST." One agent said "the Carters were the biggest liars in the world"... especially when it came to booze. Agents "considered Nixon's son-in-law David Eisenhower, grandson of former President Dwight Eisenhower the most clueless person they had ever protected." What I've listed here is a miniscule tip of the iceberg of presidential depravity that engulfs the reader's senses like a flash flood annihilating an ant hill.

Interspersed with the White House decadence is a myriad of examples of assassination planning and attempts. Some thwarted in advance by the Secret Service... and some simply failing by pure luck. This book will have two extremely powerful... uncontrollable effects on potential readers. One... you literally will not be able to stop reading it... and two... you will have to talk to someone... to share this overflowing amount of formerly secret... deliriously... salacious... historical... scuttlebutt.

A UNIQUE LOOK AT THE SECRET SERVICE THRU HISTORY
IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE
Four and a half INFORMATIVE Stars!! Loaded with historical data and trivia that is very informative and in some cases very personal, Ronald Kessler's book ultimately delivers an overview of the history of the Secret Service from early presidential administrations right up to the 21st Century status of the Secret Service that is somewhat troubling. Beyond that we get tidbits of confirming gossip on people such as JFK, LBJ, Spiro Agnew, and others that are extremely unflattering. There is more on recent and current presidents, families, and staff that will titillate those who want inside stories, however brief. There are some stories that are also 'laugh-out-loud' funny.

The author says early 'pre-Secret Service' attitudes toward presidential protection probably got 3 presidents shot before the era of heavy protection arrived. Heavy presidential protection was added almost as an "after thought" to crime-busting duties of the Secret Service following those 3 incidents. Then came the advent of expansions and refinements such as the White House Police. We even get a look into their secretive headquarters. The author covers a number of revelations such as: the "biggest gunfight in Secret Service history"; Nixon's unusual private life; more disturbing information on what happened before, during, and after the JFK assassination; the "Fiddle & Faddle" threesome mistresses; the midnight peacock; secret amphibious vehicles; LBJ's unbelievable antics; Carter's quirks, and so on, right up to the Obama administration which the author says is more of a challenge than the others for one particular somber reason. This is a rather brief, eye-opening, and unforgettable look at the Secret Service that, while not definitive, certainly extends the Secret Service body of literature. Highly Recommended. Four and a half RIVETING Stars!! (This review is based on a Kindle download ("text-to-speech" is disabled). Also available as an MP3 CD, Audio CD, and in Hardcover.)

Honoring the agents and also a great gossipy read
"In the President's Secret Service" is something of a guilty pleasure for those interested in learning more about our nation's presidents and first families and those agents who protect them. Yet it also pays tribute to those agents who put their lives on the line every day for their charges, and also seeks to highlight deficiencies in the agency that desperately need to be addressed. Kessler interviewed a number of active and retired agents in order to describe the dangers the agents and their charges face from a myriad of threats and seeks to personalize the history of this agency that often serves in the shadows and in silence for very obvious reasons. In an age when citizens are critical of the government and it's agencies it is refreshing to read about these genuinely selfless individuals who are literally willing to take a bullet in their line of duty.

Secret Service agents are a favorite topic for fiction and for Hollywood, but their portrayal there is often stilted and two dimensional rather than the nuanced portrait Kessler reveals. Agents endure considerable abuse and difficulty with supreme diffidence and their demonstration of duty, honor, and valor that emerges is very much what you would find in the Armed Forces. Along the way Kessler gives readers a healthy amount of anecdotes about Presidents and their families and how they interacted with the agents assigned to protect them. These stories are by turns funny, interesting, and sometimes downright disturbing. Rather than being a distraction from the more serious messages of the book they help to provide levity when needed. Many of these stories give readers greater insight into the agents and their charges, particular how those protected react to having someone shadow their every move. "In the President's Secret Service" is also rather topical as it focuses primarily on the more recent history of the service and recent presidents, primarily from George H. W. Bush to President Obama, but it also does occasionally touch on earlier Administrations.

"In the President's Secret Service" is a lively page turner that will certainly inspire confidence in the agents, but Kessler also points out alarming deficiencies in how the agency presently operates and how cutbacks have potentially weakened the effectiveness of their protections. Kessler exposes these weaknesses in the hope of shaming the agency and the branches of government to rectify them. Considering the stakes involved and our ongoing "War on Terror" lets hope that this book is reaching the right people!