Customer Reviews

The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Engimatic Agency

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The book is filled with some great historical accounts of the secret service. I especially liked reading about the origins of the agency and it's evolution.

I did not like the arm chair quarterback, hindsight being 20/20 attitude of the author. He consistently referred to assasination attempts as "failures" by the USSS. While their may have been mistakes made, no operation is executed perfectly.

And he spent way too much time on the Kennedy asassination. The author is a real conspiracy theorist.

Overall, it seems the author has a poor opinion of the USSS.

As my title hinted...."The book was somewhat disorganized but it covered the topic well!" I am a student of Presidential History in my retirement and looked forward to adding this book to my collection. As I type this, I have finished about 1/2 of the book. We have jumped from the early security of the President/White House up to the Reagan shooting in DC in the 1980's, but now, we are back to the early days of Monroe, Lincoln, Adams. There just seems no rhyme or reason for the lay out of this book. Sorry guys....it just doesn't cut it!

An excellent look at the history and daily workings and responsibilities of the U.S. Secret Service. Easy reading, interesting to the point where I did not want to put the book down. The author is to be commended for a first class book that goes behind the scenes and enlightens the average citizen about an agency that is so vital to national security but gets little recognition or appreciation. George T. Miller, Jr. (Edison, N.J., U.S.A.).

This review is based on the 2002 hardback edition of the book which has since been expanded in the newer paperback edition to cover the rapid evolution of the Secret Service since 9/11. This edition only touches on the post 9/11 period which gave the agency a greatly expanded mandate and where there has been greater potential for abuse in using the agency for political purposes.

The author's slightly pedantic style is a good counterbalance for the sometimes sensational nature of his material. The Secret Service began as an agency to catch counterfeiters during the tumult of the Civil War. The author shows how protecting the president was at first an informal arrangement that only became legal in the Truman Administration. One of the constant themes is Congressional cost-cutting versus the ever increasing protective mission of the Secret Service. The author is at his best in tracing this earlier history.

Even in this older edition, the inherent contradictions of the protective mission are clearly laid out. While earlier Congressional fears of an elite guard that could become a force in political affairs have not yet become true, the rapid expansion of the Secret Service's protective mission to include Presidents, their families, their staff, members of Congress, Presidential candidates and special events like the Olympics not only the strain the agency, easily cause this reader to wonder if this has inflated the protective mission beyond what is possible or prudent.

That the Secret Service continues to police the currency is also an interesting survival. The agency contends that rotating its officers between the protection detail and the counterfeiter detection force makes for a better agent. The author disagrees. I think he's wrong. Surely the hothouse atmosphere of the White House needs to be counterbalanced by this real law enforcement experience. The Secret Service has to struggle to remain non-political and to maintain a professional detachment from the politicians it protects. I think the author's facts allow food for thought but his arguments and conclusions are not fully reasoned.

One of the best chapters deals with the attack on President Reagan and the author's dissection of the strengths and weaknesses of the Service's response makes for gripping reading. This book often has a fascinating view of history and of the dilemmas faced in protecting the president. A politician's need to campaign is in direct conflict with the Service's mission to protect. The author has done a great job in reviewing these issues.

An example the President's duty conflicting with the Secret Service's duty was seen on 9/11 when George Bush, Jr. in following the instructions of the Secret Service agents protecting him virtually disappeared. One can understand the need to be prudent, but one can also argue that the nation also needed its leader to be visible and reassuringly in charge. Bush's failure to overrule his protective detail while Cheney took charge in the White House bunker looks in retrospect as a perfect metaphor for his entire Presidency.

Any serious student of history will be grateful to the author for the facts that he has assembled here, despite the flaws of presentation that might be found here. The most disappointing chapter is the JFK assassination where the author gets both weirdly conspiratorial and disorganized--this is his pet subject and sadly, he's not rational about it.

Since working at a Presidential Home for the National Park Service, I thought it was a good idea to read more about the Men and Women who guard the Presidents from Abraham Lincon to Barack Obama, and how the agency was created. The overview of the history of the Secret Serivice in this book is interesting and how it became from breaking up and persecuting Counterfitters (which it still does today), to eventually guarding the U.S. Presidents and the Presidential Families. The sad events of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy is told and how the Secret Service "dropped the ball" on that, as well as the assassination attempts of Presidents Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and Ronald Reagan are told and what should have been done to prevent these. The Secret Service has its shares of prima donna's, burnouts, and outstanding agents. Working for them certainly takes a toll on agents and their families. "Backroom" politics are a reality, long hours away from family is a common occurance, and rivalries between certain agents and their stations is a common thing to deal with. Overall, this is an excellent organization/department in the government, and they do an absolutely essential job in guarding the President. They don't receive the high visibility of doing a good job, or barely recognized for their important job. This book tells and shows the Secret Service in all their "good, bad, and the ugly" of it. The book also shows the highly professional nature of their job and the sacrifices it takes. I recommend this book to those who want to learn more about this "secretive" department and what the demands are to be in their elite status. Highly Recommended!

I picked up the hard cover 1st edition on sale and was hugely disappointed in the quality of editing. It's been mentioned, but the typos, the half-written sentences and the appearance of identical paragraphs in more than one chapter were painful. And distracting.

It sounds as though that's been taken care of in the second edition, so I'll comment on the content. The quality and quantity of research is impressive (though I'd have preferred for sources to be noted in-text), and the stories told are fascinating. The history of the organization and the unlikely dual purposes makes for a strange and interesting modern institution. Like others, I found the obsession with the JFK assassination derailed things a bit, but it's easily skipped and doesn't spoil the rest of the book. My only other complaint is that some information seemed extraneous - more the fodder of footnotes than relevant to the topic at hand. Melanson seems eager to shove every detail he collected into the main text which makes it a little slow.

Overall I think this is a better book for a Secret Service enthusiast than for someone looking for an entertaining history read.

And, seriously, I cannot stress enough how poorly slapped together the first edition is. It's impossible to finish the book with any respect remaining for the author, editor, or publisher.

I really liked this book. I now see how hard it can be for them and all the hard work they do. This book covers the history and why the service was made. I enjoyed reading this book.

For most of us the Service Service (a rather ominous sounding agency name in a democratic society) is best known as the security detail for the president and most foreign dignitaries, and maybe some know it also pursue counterfeiters. Stern, unsmiling, in black suits & sunglasses. (Clint Eastwood's "In the Line of Fire" (1993) did a lot to humanize the Service.) As a historian-type, gadfly, civil libertarian, civics junkie & polyhistor I came across the book and had to read it. For anyone interested or considering going into the Secret Service this should be a must-read. This is not a dissuation, but know what to expect being an agent--it is not an easy life. First it is a tough process. Second it is a storied agency. Third, it's had its moments (good and bad--the best are in the law enforcement part; unfortunately what people remember is when things go bad). It is a special kind of discipline to be an Agent, more about 'protect' than about (counter)-offense. Boredom vs. the anxiety of 'what if'. Meticulous detail work on preparation. It takes a special kind of discipline, and from reading about the other federal agencies, it takes quite a bit to be an FBI agent, but it takes something different (more?) to be a Secret Service Agent. I know I don't have the stuff, but my brother (CPA, former security officer, and aikido sho-dan, attention to detail, got stuff together, can put mind in 'pause') would have excelled at the fraud counterfeit investigation work. (I wish there was more on the work of forensics of counterfeiting--it may sound boring but I'm somewhat familiar because of a family interest in numismatics; my brother collected coins and our grandfather (also a CPA) had a large collection of silver dollars.) This is incredible work done by highly trained and dedicated people. As the historian type I actually do like them coming forward to support/verify *as a second or third sources* any stories historians are pursuing on presidential/high level persons (years/decades later, usually deceased or at least long since retired from public service and as documents and personal papers are being declassified & released after the usual 30+ years), but am thoroughly against having agents as 'listening bugs' for 'high crimes and misdemeanors' for oversight given the present & past atmospheres. (I think how the Jenna Bush fake ID was handled well, after all she was 'in custody' of federal law enforcement agents at all times.) Having worked with multiple agencies about bio-terrorism, this was interesting about their liaison/interface work with other agencies at all levels.

Again, this is a must read for anyone considering joining the Service. Also, there is a Uniformed Branch of the Secret Service (they are not called Agents) who also do protective detail work and around US Treasury facilities. After reading this I have a greater appreciation for these agents--now having to see through their sunglasses, when on that protective detail about who's just enthusiatic, who's just protesting, who's just angry, and who's actually about to ....

[Many years ago, I read my dad's copy of Bouton's "Ball Four" in [....]. So it was a look behind the curtain of baseball's 'clean image'. It was a funny book, and real people. Today I know more about baseball than most people, particular its history, statistics & sabermetrics, and a card-carrying member of SABR (Society for American Baseball Research). I consider baseball people the most quotable species on earth. While baseball, like most disciplines, has a seamy side (it's partly what gives it some color, not always the scandalous but stunts), it is not an indictment of the sport. Nor should what is seen behind the Secret Service's mystic dissuade anyone from pursuing a position. It is simply not an agency for those who are introspective, emotionally restless, or racked with doubt. Just know what to expect. It was a good read from beginning to end.]

As a proud former member of the United States Secret Service, I believe that this product is worth your time and money...and I also feel it is my perogative to inform everyone here that, while Vince Palamara is to be commended for his notable research acumen and getting many of my colleagues-and myself- to speak to him, he has also done so at the expense of many of their feelings, beliefs, and trust. In short, Vince Palamara believes the means justifies the ends.
So, imagine my horror when I turn on the television a few years back and I SEE the young researcher who promised myself and many others that he was not a journalist, stating facts, theories, and innuendo as the gospel truth. Emory Roberts, for one, cannot defend himself. I will concede that I have no good explanation for what transpires on the film Palamara shows-but does that have to lead to conspiratorial conclusions? Does it, Vince?
From what I gather, many members of the AFAUSSS, myself included, are quite upset with him, as well they should be.

Can we let sleeping dogs lie? Lee Harvy Oswald killed President John Kennedy, acting alone. Yes, my colleagues did not do their jobs as effectively as they could have or probably should have-but will that bring back the man? No. What useful purpose is served by defaming Kennedy's memory and all the still-living former agents with calling into question the very painful loss of said man, as well as their job performance.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it.
T.R., proud alumni/ past member of the folowing organizations:
MSU
Army 1957-1959
USSS 1961-1982

I ordered this book and never recieved it in the mail. I checked on it and it says it was delivered to my house which it WASN"T. Needless to say I am angry and will not be ordering anymore from you.