The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency [Paperback]

Philip H. Melanson (Author), Peter F. Stevens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

Explosive and revealing, this history of a highly visible yet traditionally tight-lipped federal agency by Philip Melanson, acclaimed scholar of political violence and governmental secrecy, explores the long-hidden workings of the Secret Service since its inception in 1865. Rigorous research, photographs, and extensive interviews with former White House staffers, retired agents, Service training dropouts, and the first female agent on presidential detail uncover little-known, frequently astonishing facts about the Service’s role in traumatic national events of the past century, notably among them the assassination of JFK and the shooting of President Reagan. Included, too, are revelations about presidential demands on the agency; alcoholism, divorce, and burnout among agents; the Service’s inexplicable failure to develop profiles of potential assassins; and its institutionalization of the gender gap. Assailing the public image of the Secret Service as a highly professional apolitical organization, Melanson examines the often-detrimental influence that politics privately exerts on the agency, epitomized by Kenneth Starr’s efforts to use agents’ testimony against President Clinton in the impeachment hearings. Nor does Melanson overlook the profound new challenge facing the Secret Service, now a branch of the Homeland Security Department, in a post-9/11 world where brazen new assassination methods and terrorist plots proliferate.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This comprehensive, sometimes critical and often dry history explains how the Secret Service grew out of the Treasury Department in 1865, with the original mission of protecting American currency against counterfeiters. Melanson, an expert on political violence and government secrecy, and Stevens (The Voyage of the Catalpa) show how, late in the century, the Service gradually (and initially without congressional authorization) expanded its mission into presidential protection. Opponents of the expansion thought assigning a guard to the president would give him the trappings of monarchy, making him less accessible to the people. The most compelling chapter examines the failure that continues to haunt the agency: the 1963 assassination of President Kennedy. The authors analyze what went wrong in Dallas: Kennedy's limo driver reacted too slowly to the first bullet, failing to take evasive driving action so as to avoid the second, fatal shot. Moreover, according to the authors, Kennedy's death was a failure of intelligence-sharing between the Secret Service and the FBI. Following the assassination, the authors argue, the agency "began a pattern of lies about its fatal missteps in Dallas." All aspects of the agency's work are covered extensively: recruiting, training, intelligence gathering, the often-tense relationship between the agency and the people it tries to protect. President Johnson, in particular, rebelled against Secret Service restrictions, once literally pissing on an agent. This is a worthwhile book for assassination buffs and those with an interest in the inner workings of government.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Initially created to combat counterfeiters of U.S. currency, the Secret Service is far better known for protecting presidents. This latter task, as Melanson and Stevens note in their informative history of the organization, was not technically legal until 1951, when Congress authorized it following the foiled assassination attempt on Harry Truman the previous year. The expansion of the Secret Service since then, combined with the increase in threats and actual attacks on presidents and presidential candidates, supplies the book's grist. In search of lapses by the Secret Service, the authors make reasonable critiques of poor protection of John Kennedy and then proceed to score the service for its failure to protect George Wallace in 1972 and Ronald Reagan in 1981. They then turn to the topic of safeguarding the White House and to the recruitment and training of agents, and maintain a balanced tone in discussing the personal relations between agents and their presidents. Occasionally speculative, the authors generally seem fair-minded, earning their work a solid recommendation for the law-enforcement shelf. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf Pub (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786712511
• ISBN-13: 978-0786712519
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (21 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,496,682 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing and inaccurate, July 13, 2003

By A Customer

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This review is from: The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency (Hardcover)

This is a book written about the history of the Secret Service. The author covers from the beginning of the agency to current day. The problem with this book is that it has many inaccuracies.

For example: The book lists individuals who are or were at one time receiving protection from the Secret Service. The author o doesn't seem to be aware that the Secret Service is still protecting LadyBird Johnson. The book also incorrectly states that Hillary Clinton's code name is "eagle". Chapter 7, which is about the internal setup of the Secret Service, is completely inaccurate. The author states in a footnote that some information may be outdated and that the Secret Service would not respond to the author's queries. So he still goes ahead and just makes up how he thinks the agency is set up based on interviewing agents that worked in the 70s and 80s. If you are going to read this book, skip chapter 7. It's more wrong than right. The book also gives the number of agents assigned to the Presidential Protective Detail that is not anywhere near the truth. The book talks about what the author calls, "the Secret Service's Watch List" and Watch Office. Disregard this information too. There are many, many more inaccuracies.

The problem with the book is that the reader does not know what is accurate and what is not. The author was too busy writing about unsubstantiated gossip instead of fact. He could have saved himself a lot of time and found out legally, what is the authority of the Secret Service and where does it come from. The author covers that for the Secret Service back in the 1860s, but he never mentioned it for today's Service.

The book also covers a lot of time second guessing incidents from the past. Although hindsight is 20/20, I don't have a problem the second-guessing. But I do have a problem with him not understanding laws and individual's rights. The author doesn't seem to understand that law enforcement cannot detain nor can they search anyone without cause.

In summary, I found the overall history of the Secret Service interesting. But inaccuracies, typos and the author's misguided opinions ruin this book. Lucky to get 2 stars.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A Good Read with Speed Bumps, May 22, 2005

By 

John P Bernat (Kingsport, TN USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency (Hardcover)

The spirit was willing, but...

The idea: write a concise, frank, engaging history of the US Secret Service.

The obvious barriers: well, it's secret. Research might be a wee problem. Getting "the truth" a huge issue...

Less obvious: having a weak or incompetent editorial/fact checking staff. The editing here is just awful: typos, internal inconsistencies, needless repetition that slows down the narrative pace.

Frustrating: this could be an endlessly fascinating story, but you hit speed bumps. I kept envisioning all the agents standing on the running boards of the presidential limo getting pitched off when...

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not So Hidden, March 24, 2004

By 

John G. Hilliard (Toronto Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency (Paperback)

I think the most important a perspective reader needs to know is that this book is about 95% Presidential protection and only 5% law enforcement regarding counterfeiting. For me that was great, because that is about the breakdown I wanted. With that out of the way there were a few issues I had with the book. First off there are parts that are dry and repetitive. If that does not bother you then the in depth view of the Kennedy assassination might push you over the top. I admit I was interested in this area as much as the next guy, but the author did get really into the weeds on protective issues that broke down that day. It just stopped adding value after some time and got close to a sermon. The author also had something against the Hersh book on Kennedy and kept bring it up.

The only other thing that disappointed me with the book is that they really did not cover much about the procedures and processes they use. Ok I know they can not give away all the secrets, but why could the author have not given me more detail about Presidential motorcades, hey those are public. What I did like is that the author was not shy about details about the Presidents and their families. I really liked the personal gossip bits tossed in here and there. The sections that covered which Presidents and First Ladies did not like protection and what they did to avoid it was interesting. The updated information after 9-11 was also a nice bit of info.

Lastly, I thought the author did a good job presenting a book that covered politicians that did not slip into one political side or another. The author was very even handed and I have no idea his political leanings are. He was also surprisingly hard, at times, on the Secret Service. As the book goes on it is apparent that the author has a very positive view of the Service, which makes his criticism seem all the more accurate. Overall, the book was interesting and well put together. I do agree with other reviews here that there were some typos and parts that drug a bit. It does deliver a nice overview of the Secret Service.