Protecting the President: The Inside Story of a Secret Service Agent

by Dennis V.N. McCarthy, Philip W. Smith

Describes the rigorous training designed to eradicate an agent's instinct for self-preservation, the intolerable stress of the job, the grueling hours, and more

Genres: Nonfiction

221 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1985

Reviews

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I never knew that the Secret Service was actually organized to protect against counterfeiting, and that it wasn't until much later that they started to protect the President and other notable people in politics. This book taught me that, and a little more.

Dennis McCarthy was a member of the Secret Service for over twenty years. He joined at the age of thirty and mainly worked with presidents Nixon and Reagan and did a few other assignments as well, including a bit in the counterfeiting realm of things. He actually was there the day Reagan was shot, and this is a big part of the book. He explains what happens that day, and how the Secret Service worked to protect Reagan in the aftermath. He also spends a little time explaining how Nixon was protected and some of the excursions they made with him. In between these stories are short stories of protecting other political figures, some history of the secret service, and some time spent protecting the family of the Presidents.

McCarthy definitely has an interesting tale to be told. I like the way he explained how he did certain things and it wasn't prideful, but he didn't make himself appear in the shadows as well. He took his due where it was earned. The thing I don't like about him though, was how he mentioned his numerous infidelities and tried to blame it on the job and the travel and the stress of protecting the President. I'm sorry, but that's just you being a lousy person, not a side effect of having a stressful job. If you can't tell already, I'm not too fond of cheaters. Moving on to the other people mentioned in the book, it was neat to see an inside look at the Presidents and how they acted around the White House "staff". It was pretty interesting to see who was easy to work with and who wasn't.

I thought the history of the Secret Service included in the book was very informative and definitely a good addition. It was nice to get some background on the job itself in addition to hearing about McCarthy's time spent protecting the Presidents. And it was placed into the book so nicely that it was a seamless transition from history, to actual experiences of McCarthy. This book does deal with a little violence because of the shooting and assassination attempts, etc., but it isn't overly descriptive and definitely isn't glorified. And the book was intriguing enough to keep me interested the whole way through. I wanted to hear the next story and have to say that I largely enjoyed most of them. There were a few, like when he talks about the overseas that weren't as interesting because there wasn't as much detail and I couldn't get immersed into them as well.

Definitely an interesting book if you're at all interested in the Secret Service. You learn a lot and get some behind the scenes looks at what it's like to protect the President.

Protecting the President
Copyright 1985
213 pages

Review by M. Reynard 2012

More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com

[Megan · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is the most stressful job in the world, astronaut, brain surgeon, or being the President? How about protecting the President in the Secret Service, that is what Dennis V.N. McCarthy did for many years and this book, he wrote, holds all of the journeys and adventures he had while working for the President. Dennis worked under Presidents Lyndon B. Johnson through Ronald Reagan. I wanted to read this book because it looked very interesting and it looked like something I would like. This book had many different stories of what his service to the President looked like. One theme in this book is adventure, it has so many different and interesting stories that the author has witnessed first hand. I like a book with some action and parts that will surprise me and this book held up to my expectations. This book is for anyone who wants an interesting new topic that is not mainstream. I would recommend this book to others who are looking for something that will surprise them and something that is not your average book.

[DianeR · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this might be a well-written peek behind the scenes of various Presidents' lives. It IS a peek, but it's written at about the 5th grade level. Did someone at Crown Books really edit this? Really? Hard to believe. So now I know Jimmy Carter was a jerk to his Secret Service agents, LBJ was unbelievably crude, and Hillary Clinton was one person for the public but was angry and sarcastic, hard on her staff when the cameras weren't visible. I didn't finish it, and if I could give this book no stars, I would.

[Cindy Prevost · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned a lot about the secret service and the private lives of the presidents. I think the author's purpose in writing the book was to make the public aware of the poor conditions under which the secret service works.