This week’s reviews focus on the behind the scenes stories of presidents in Clint Hill’s “Five Presidents” and Doris Kearns Goodwin’s “An Unfinished Love Story.”
Sunday Books and Culture is edited by Vanessa Sekinger
FIVE PRESIDENTS; My Extraordinary Journey, with Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford
By Clint Hill with Lisa McCubbin
Published by Gallery Books (May 2, 2017)
Paperback $11.79
Audiobook $19.68
Reviewed by Tammy Byram
I was scrolling through Facebook when I came across a post written by a podcaster I enjoy and his tale of enjoying a conversation in a bar with a random man named Clint Hill, who had retired from a fascinating career as a Secret Service Agent (1958-1975). For me, that’s a pretty cool job just in general, but it turned out that he served during five presidencies right smack dab in the middle of the 20th century. Early to mid-20th century is this history major’s love language!
Five Presidents is Hill’s look back on his long career serving in the orbit of this powerful quintet and getting a front row seat for some of the most tense events in American history. As he writes, “It was a turbulent time, and there I was, in the middle of it all.”
Hill spends a significant amount of time on the first three sections of the book on his time during the presidencies of Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon Johnson, and the fourth is dedicated to Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. (It should be noted that he was on presidential detail for Eisenhower and Johnson; he was assign
ed to protect Jackie Kennedy during her husband’s presidency, Spiro Agnew during the Nixon years, and he was assistant director of the Secret Service during Ford’s tenure.)
In the world of Secret Service, Hill is well known for climbing into the Kennedy limousine in Dallas on that fateful day in November 1963. He makes it clear in the book’s introduction that his purpose is to relay his recollections of the events and his interactions with these five men.
He writes:
From my unique vantage point, I had the rare opportunity to observe the human side of these men – the most powerful men in the world – as each dealt with the enormous responsibilities and unforeseen challenges thrust upon them, and how their individual characters and personalities affected grave decisions.
And that really is the book in a nutshell. It’s another perspective on some of the main characters of America’s twentieth century, where the focus is less on politics and more on impressions of powerful people and their eccentricities. I love that human side of a story, and it’s also interesting to learn of the logistics and difficulties of keeping these huge personalities safe.
While the excitement (and exhaustion) of the job is certainly the focus here, Hill does lament that it did come at a cost; in the background of this career, his marriage and family life were eroding. This is one of many decisions Hill admits has haunted him. I was so engrossed in his recollections that I also picked up his other books: Five Days in November, which details the tragic days surrounding the Kennedy assassination and Mrs. Kennedy and Me, a personal look back at his years protecting Jackie Kennedy and her children, Caroline and John.
Tammy Byram is a high school librarian who spends too much time on her back porch reading, looking for inspirational quotes, and scheming ways to get to the beach!
AN UNFINISHED LOVE STORY: A Personal History of the 1960s
By Doris Kearns Godwin
Published by Simon and Schuster (April 24, 2024)
Hardcover $20.99
Audiobook $19.68
Reviewed by Chuck Sekinger
In her new book, An Unfinished Love Story, Doris Kearns Goodwin adds another essential person to her list of key people in American leadership, who she calls “My Guys” (included are Abraham Lincoln; the Roosevelts, both Teddy and FDR; the Kennedys, both JFK and RFK; and Lyndon Johnson). The latest addition to the list was her late husband, Richard “Dick” Goodwin.
I have always wondered about the “Goodwins” and Doris Kerns Goodwin, and this book has put that issue to rest. The title Unfinished Love Story represents not only their marriage of 43 years, and the project of writing this book together using over 80 boxes of Dick’s original drafts of political speeches over the Kennedy and Johnson era (including a shattered billy-club from the 1968 Democratic Convention) but also their great love for the USA and the critical role of the 1960’s in our American story.
Dick Goodwin was from a middle-class family in Brookline, Massachusetts, raised Jewish, went to Tufts University, served in the U.S. Army in post-WWII France, was the president of the Harvard Law Review, and clerked for Justice Felix Frankfurter. After college, Dick worked as staff a member on the House Congressional Subcommittee on Legislative Oversight, where he was principally responsible for exposing rigged nationally televised game shows in the 1950s such as “The $64,000 Question” (Robert Redford made a movie about that called Quiz Show based on Dick’s work).
All of the above got Richard Goodwin noticed in the political circles of the 1960s in Washington, D.C. He soon became part of JFK’s campaign staff speech writing team mentored by Ted Sorenson and laid claim to being the youngest member of the “New Frontiersmen.” As Assistant to Special Counsel to the President, Dick was assigned to the Task Force on Latin Affairs called the “Alliance for Progress” after the Bay of Pigs invasion, where he had a secret meeting with Cuban revolutionist Che Guevara (they shared a love for cigars).
After finding life in the Kennedy Administration State Department rather boring, Dick made room for himself in the formation of the Peace Corp where he worked for Sarge Shriver. JFK was quoted as saying, about Dick’s abandonment of the State Department for the Peace Corps, “Whatever you feel like doing is okay with me.” That is if Dick continued with his speech writing duties.
Another assignment he had in the Kennedy Administration was to work with Jackie Kennedy on a project to save ancient Egyptian art that was in jeopardy with the building of the Aswan Dam on the Nile. Many of these saved artifacts are on display in US museums today. He became very close to Jackie Kennedy and after the JFK assassination, Dick helped plan the funeral and was instrumental in making the “eternal flame” operate at the Arlington National Cemetery gravesite on the first day of the funeral.
Dick went on to work in the Johnson Administration as speech writer and is often cited as the author of the phrase “The Great Society” which was formed because of a skinny-dipping White House swimming pool meeting between LBJ, Bill Moyers, and Richard Goodwin (yes, you can’t make this stuff up). Dick also became a campaign speech writer in the 1968 Presidential campaigns of Eugene McCarthy and RFK. His last presidential campaign speech was drafting Al Gore’s acceptance and concession speeches which the later was famously used and is a model that another failed presidential hopeful should have used (look it up, Donald you may need this again).
Doris Kerns Goodwin is master storyteller and had the benefit of having her husband alive (for most of time) to narrate the contents of his life’s work all contained in these 80 some boxes that were left untouched for decades in their attic. This is a great read for anyone interested in knowing how we got to where we are in American politics today and where we should be going.
Local Obituaries
To view local obituaries or to send a note to family and loved ones, please visit our website at the link that follows.
Support Award-winning, Locally Focused Journalism
The FXBG Advance cuts through the talking points to deliver both incisive and informative news about the issues, people, and organizations that daily affect your life. And we do it in a multi-partisan format that has no equal in this region. Over the past month, our reporting was:
$8 a month supports great journalism
- First to report on a Spotsylvania School teacher arrested for bringing drugs onto campus.
- First to report on new facility fees leveled by MWHC on patient bills.
- First to detail controversial traffic numbers submitted by Stafford staff on the Buc-ee’s project
- Provided extensive coverage of the cellphone bans that are sweeping local school districts.
- And so much more, like Clay Jones, Drew Gallagher, Hank Silverberg, and more.
For just $8 a month, you can help support top-flight journalism that puts people over policies.
Your contributions 100% support our journalists.
Help us as we continue to grow!
Support FXBG Advance for $8 a month
