Reading Mrs. Kennedy and Me in the Time of Trump

I could have chosen a stranger time to read Mrs. Kennedy and Me by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin than this week as the Trump impeachment hearings went live. This inside story from the Secret Service agent who protected the wife of President Kennedy shows what the presidency used to be like. It is hard to believe such protocol, decorum and restraint ever ruled the office of the President when seeing today’s players.

Not Exactly What He Imagined

Though Hill is disappointed to learn he will be on the First Lady’s detail, which he sees as a demotion from his previous role guarding President Eisenhower, he says nothing to his boss. It is clear he takes his job seriously and the job is as much about following orders as it is about protecting the President and his family. He does what he is told without question even though he imagines himself attending tea parties, fashion shows, and ballets, but quickly learns Jackie Kennedy will not be that kind of First Lady.

Though the public couldn’t get enough of her, Jackie Kennedy hated being the center of attention. She didn’t like having Secret Service around her and wanted her children to…