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The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency
The Secret Service The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency
Author: Philip H. Melanson, Peter F. Stevens
Pulling the veil off a highly visible, yet tight-lipped federal agency, acclaimed scholar Philip Melanson has created the first definitive history of the Secret Service. With 8 pages of photographs, rigorous research and interviews with former White House staffers, retired agents, Service training dropouts, and the first female agent on the pres...  more »
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ISBN-13: 9780786710843
ISBN-10: 0786710845
Publication Date: 10/1/2002
Pages: 374
Rating:
  • Currently 3.5/5 Stars.
 1

3.5 stars, based on 1 rating
Publisher: Carroll & Graf Publishers
Book Type: Hardcover
Other Versions: Paperback
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
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hardtack avatar reviewed The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency on + 2540 more book reviews
While a very interesting book on the history of the Secret Service, it was published in 2002 while Bush was president, the author also offers many of his own opinions throughout.

I had hoped for more history about the agency's primary mission to control counterfeiting. While this was often mentioned, there was not much detail about that mission.

One of the author's opinions I really disagreed with was his thought that if the Secret Service had really done a good job of providing security in Dallas, Kennedy would not have been killed. As a result, Kennedy would have completed his term of office, Johnson would not have been his running mate in the next election---pretty much confirmed by others political historians, and Robert Kennedy would have run after his brother's second term. Then Nixon would never have been elected, resulting in no Watergate and would have shortened the Viet Nam war.

He apparently forgot Kennedy got us into the Viet Nam War to prove he wasn't soft on Communism, after he was embarrassed by his Bay of Pigs fiasco. And it was Nixon who got us out of Viet Nam. Plus, 16 years of the Kennedys in office would have changed our country, due to their lack of morals and political corruption. Just read "The Dark Side of Camelot," which the author also references.
reviewed The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency on + 105 more book reviews
I was hoping for a voyeuristic look at the life of a Secret Service agent. While not entirely void of tales and tidbits, this book was dry, reflective and scattered. (This may be for lack of sufficient material) The 3rd chapter of the book is a harsh critique of the Secret Service failures during the Kennedy assassination. This kind of set the tone for a book that is more an assessment of the agency than an entertaining compendium of stories.

2 stars out of 5


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