Purchase

Amazon

Barnes & Noble

Books-A-Million

Indie BookShop

Ripped Bodice

Add to Wish List

Also by Ronald Kessler:

The First Family Detail, August 2014
Hardcover / e-Book
The Secrets of the FBI, August 2011
Hardcover
In the President's Secret Service, August 2010
Hardcover
In the President's Secret Service, August 2009
Hardcover
The Terrorist Watch, November 2007
Hardcover
Laura Bush, April 2006
Hardcover
A Matter of Character, December 2004
Trade Size (reprint)
The CIA at War, September 2004
Trade Size

IN THE PRESIDENT'S SECRET SERVICE
By: Ronald Kessler

Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect

Crown
August 2009
On Sale: August 4, 2009
288 pages
ISBN: 0307461351
EAN: 9780307461353
Hardcover
Add to Wish List

Non-Fiction

Never before has a journalist penetrated the wall of secrecy that surrounds the U.S. Secret Service, that elite corps of agents who pledge to take a bullet to protect the president and his family. After conducting exclusive interviews with more than one hundred current and former Secret Service agents, bestselling author and award-winning reporter Ronald Kessler reveals their secrets for the first time.

Secret Service agents, acting as human surveillance cameras, observe everything that goes on behind the scenes in the president’s inner circle. Kessler reveals what they have seen, providing startling, previously untold stories about the presidents, from John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson to George W. Bush and Barack Obama, as well as about their families, Cabinet officers, and White House aides.

Kessler portrays the dangers that agents face and how they carry out their missions–from how they are trained to how they spot and assess potential threats. With fly-on-the-wall perspective, he captures the drama and tension that characterize agents’ lives.

In this headline-grabbing book, Kessler discloses assassination attempts that have never before been revealed. He shares inside accounts of past assaults that have put the Secret Service to the test, including a heroic gun battle that took down the would-be assassins of Harry S. Truman, the devastating day that John F. Kennedy was killed in Dallas, and the swift actions that saved Ronald Reagan after he was shot.

While Secret Service agents are brave and dedicated, Kessler exposes how Secret Service management in recent years has betrayed its mission by cutting corners, risking the assassination of President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and their families. Given the lax standards, “It’s a miracle we have not had a successful assassination,” a current agent says.

Since an assassination jeopardizes democracy itself, few agencies are as important as the Secret Service–nor is any other subject as tantalizing as the inner sanctum of the White House. Only tight-lipped Secret Service agents know the real story, and Ronald Kessler is the only journalist to have won their trust.

Media Buzz

Hard Ball with Chris Matthews - April 16, 2012
Today - April 16, 2012
Today - November 30, 2009
Early Show - August 4, 2009
Inside Edition - August 4, 2009
Daily Show with Jon Stewart - August 3, 2009