In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect

This is a book in two halves; both unexpected and interesting if disappointing for different reasons. In the first part it appears Kessler got many agents to talk about the secrets the learned from the Presidents they served and many of these are ascribed by name to the agents that divulged secrets from Kennedy (who has a room for assignations with Monroe and got alerts when Jackie was coming home) to the Obamas (Barak still smokes as of this writing. While thee revelations, almost salacious are interesting, it is disappointing to learn how easily it appears to have been to get agents to reveal secrets. We also learn of the adulteries of LBJ, the human sides of Ford and Carter and what unruly imps the Bush twins were.

The second part is show more how since post-9/11 the Service was rolled into Homeland Security it lacks in funding, is spread too thin also investigating modern day financial crimes, and suffering under effective indentured service (unfair transfer and overtime policies) driving away talent so that in the so-called War on Terror our heads of government have no better protection then when Lincoln's security office left Ford Theatre for the saloon. show less

A well thought out book - amazing that the one organization that seems to have it all together - simply does not!!
Loved the insight into each of the protectees. So much that goes on we still do not know because the agents are professional but it was great to read those tidbits that bring so much clarity to the administrations.
Would love to have an updated book though the last couple of administrations - partly to hear some of the "gossip" but to know if there has been any change in the organization.

Very interesting were the parts where the agents talked about how they were treated by the presidents and their families that they protected. Less interesting, but more important were the interspersed chapters discussing the extra workload put upon agents with more protectees assigned, but no increase in budget to cover more agents, and other ways in which their protectees are more at risk now because of bad decisions in the agency. I suppose this is meant to be a warning that changes need to be made, and I hope that such has been the case since this book was published in 2009.

This book reads like a "tell-all" and reveals rumors and innuendo about protectees of the Secret Service. Author also grinds away at political issues as well as resource issues that all government agencies face. For example, he says that retention is low, but fails to prove it with a single statistic, using narrative to solicit approval. I enjoyed the listen until about an hour left when the author began to summarize all those issues and he sounded severely biased at that point.

An interesting book by Ron Kessler who has a fairly impressive background. A bit dated when I read this but lots of good info on what the Secret Service does and how they deal with many obstacles. There are profiles on the Presidents going back as far as Kennedy. The behind the scenes tales of their mannerisms and quite frankly with some, pettiness, is quite entertaining.

Kessler delves often into the difficulties agents face with the long hours and grueling schedules and how it impact their personal lives greatly. There is quite a bit of lobbying for reforms in the service and how laxness in administration is cause for concern as we have witnessed. A fairly wide sweeping perspective on this most important security force and the show more challenges it faces. show less

This books has surprising depth. The first part of the book seems to be an exercise in genuflection to the agents and reveled in sordid gossip about presidents and their families. To get an idea of the first half of the book's flavor the phrase "well endowed" is used frequently to describe lovers of presidents and one president himself. It is interesting to know what people were like. At times the agents come across as small minded and petty.

But the last part of the book is he most interesting and revealing. Kessler outlines in undeniable detail the poor treatment of agents and mismanagement of the service. He shows how budget restraints and increased duties have stretched the secret service thin and left protected people at risk. He is show more especially critical of the decision to speed crowdsi nto venues without passing through metal detectors to please political staffers wanting big crowds.

There is a bit of Republican bias. to be sure. He tangentially shows that agents had no knowledge of Bill Clinton having affairs, but doesn't refute the rumors either. But. later he states it is impossible for people to hide their affairs from agents.

Excellent book. show less

Offers some interesting tidbits about presidents past and present. No earth shattering revelations here, but Kessler seems hell bent on shaking up the Secret Service suggesting that it's poorly run organization will one day soon lead to disaster. Not the most elegant of writers, but workmanlike.