In The President's Secret Service

In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect

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.

About the Author
Ronald Kessler is the New York Times bestselling author of The Terrorist Watch, The Bureau, Inside the White House, and The CIA at War. A former reporter for the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal, he has won sixteen journalism awards. Kessler lives in Potomac, Maryland, with his wife, Pamela.

My Take

This interview is very interesting for a couple reasons. First, Mr. Kessler describes, in more detail than what one might have known, how JFK and LBJ (why the initials) specifically did not have the highest of moral character—and assuredly we can throw Mr. Clinton in with them too. Mr. Carter was not as genuine as many have thought him to be, his private self being much different than his public self. Then on the other hand with Reagan and the Bushes we have Presidential men, the best example of statesmanship we've had in a generation.

Contrast the values, the positions, the ideas, the principles, and the character of these two groups of men. Dispense with party affiliations for a moment and observe how beliefs and character are so closely related.

The second observation is how people in high office interact with others. Note for example how the charismatic faces were just fronts with the first group and genuine with the second. Some people enjoy being around others and some dislike it. What does it say about the soul of a man if he truly finds pleasure in the company of others regardless of their station when he himself has a position of immense power and prominence?

Now, in conclusion, what type of men promote liberty and individual worth? Men who themselves have good character and values. Men who lack virtue will look upon others with contempt and see fit that they do not have the freedoms which would allow the vice ridden man, like himself, to ruin his life. A real man who has developed character, like President Reagan did, will look on man kind with respect and love. He will seek to promote liberty and encourage his fellow man to become great and use that liberty to achieve great things. Let this be a lesson in how to measure the stature of a man who seeks to lead.