Ronald Kessler is the New York Times bestselling author of The Secrets of the FBI, In the President's Secret Service, and The CIA at War. A former Wall Street Journal and Washington Post investigative reporter, Kessler has won eighteen journalism awards, including two George Polk awards, one for national reporting and one for community service. He was named a Washingtonian of the Year by Washingtonian magazine. Kessler lives in Potomac, Maryland with his wife, Pamela Kessler.
“Rips the lid off the inside world of Secret Service agents and the
presidents they protect.” —New York Post
“[A] fascinating exposé . . . high-energy read . . . amusing,
saucy, often disturbing anecdotes about the VIPs the Secret Service
has protected and still protects.” —USA Today
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.
"Rips the lid off the inside world of Secret Service agents and the
presidents they protect." -New York Post
"[A] fascinating expose . . . high-energy read . . . amusing,
saucy, often disturbing anecdotes about the VIPs the Secret Service
has protected and still protects." -USA Today
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 expose,
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.
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