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For the first time, the true story of the events leading up to and following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, from the perspective of the Secret Service agents who were there.
The Kennedy Detail
JFK’s Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence
By Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbin
Foreword by Clint Hill
Where were you at 12:30pm on November 22, 1963? A single question that unifies all Americans who were alive at the time, its significance is greater still for the thirty-four Secret Service agents who were on President Kennedy’s detail when he was assassinated.
In THE KENNEDY DETAIL: JFK’S Secret Service Agents Break Their Silence (Gallery Books; November 2, 2010; $28.00), Jerry Blaine – one of those thirty-four men – sets history straight on what really happened that afternoon, as well as in the months leading up to and following the assassination. Written along with award-winning journalist Lisa McCubbin, this account includes contributions from most of the Secret Service agents who were on the Kennedy Detail, and draws upon their daily reports, expense accounts, personal notes, and verbal first-hand accounts. A close-knit brotherhood of agents who collectively suppressed the trauma of that day, the writing of this book has helped heal the wounds of failure and guilt that they have lived with for nearly fifty years.
Clint Hill, the agent who jumped on the back of the car in the midst of the shooting and pushed Jackie down into the back seat, has not contributed to any books on the assassination, until now. As Hill writes in the Foreword, “I don’t talk to anybody about that day…It is only because of my complete faith and trust that Jerry Blaine would tell our story with dignity and unwavering honesty that I agreed to be involved.”
While THE KENNEDY DETAIL adds another volume to one of the most prolifically discussed aspects of our country’s history – between the conspiracy theories and countless revisionist histories – it is the only authoritative account of the events of that day from the men, like Clint Hill, who were there to guard the president’s life. With access to information from this privy vantage point, Blaine and McCubbin are able to disclose a variety of behind-the-scenes stories related to the assassination. Specific points of discussion include:
· The never-before-published story of how Blaine came within a split second of shooting President Lyndon B. Johnson just hours after JFK’s assassination
· What happened the day prior to the assassination when a Fort Worth hotel refused to register an African-American Secret Service Agent
· Details of a never-before-revealed meeting the morning of JFK’s funeral, in which Secret Service Chief James Rowley ordered the agents to keep quiet about an important fact relating to the assassination
· Circumstances that led Jacqueline Kennedy to accompany her husband on the political trip to Texas
· Details surrounded JFK’s November 18, 1963 trip to Tampa and how the events there contributed to the activities in Dallas four days later
· The plethora of conspiracy theories that have been posited over the years, including the authors’ conclusion that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone
· How the assassination forever changed the role of the Secret Service, and how the modern day agency has adapted to new threats and is responsible for more people than ever before
· JFK’s meetings with Marilyn Monroe
As Blaine writes, “Every man on the Kennedy Detail would re-live those six seconds in Dallas a million times over. For the rest of their lives, they would be defined by the assassination of JFK, questioned and blamed for failing to achieve the impossible.” This is their story, and it is essential reading for anyone seeking to more fully understand what happened on November 22, 1963.
Both Jerry Blaine and Clint Hill are available for interviews about THE KENNEDY DETAIL, and they will be in New York City in November. The Discovery Channel’s show based on the book airs on November 22nd at 9 PM e/p.
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About the Authors
Gerald Blaine had the privilege of serving three U.S. presidents as a Special Agent of the Secret Service on the White House detail. After his resignation following John. F. Kennedy’s assassination, he embarked on a career path as an expert in high-level corporate security. He retired in 2003 and now lives in Colorado with his wife of more than fifty years.
Lisa McCubbin is an award-winning journalist who has worked for three major television news networks. In the aftermath of the attacks on 9/11, McCubbin provided compelling reports as a foreign correspondent in Saudi Arabia. She splits her time between the Middle East and Colorado.
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THE KENNEDY DETAIL • Gerald Blaine with Lisa McCubbin
Pub date: November 2, 2010 • ISBN: 9781439192962
Price: $28.00 • Hardcover • Gallery Books
www.kennedydetail.com
Gallery Books is an imprint dedicated to publishing a wide variety of must-read books on a wide array of topics. The imprint was designed to showcase established voices and to introduce emerging new ones—in both fiction and nonfiction, and across a variety of genres. Some of Gallery Books’ bestselling titles include Are You There, Vodka? It’s Me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler, Still Alice by Lisa Genova, sTori Telling by Tori Spelling, and Oh My Dog by Beth Stern. Upcoming titles include I Know I Am, But What Are You? by Samantha Bee, Gunn’s Golden Rules by Tim Gunn, I Remember You by Harriet Evans, and Lisa Genova’s new novel, Left Neglected.
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