Elk County Forum

I was nosing around our library and ran across Ronald Kessler's "In the President's Secret Service."  As I started to read it, I found Mr. Kessler has turned out a great many books over the years, all non-fiction.  This was a little unusal for me because, when it comes to books, I tend to prefer novels to non-fiction.  The reason is that novels are the work of writers, whereas non-fiction is written by people whose strength lies in research, not in writing with any sense of style.   

Anyway, one of the intriguing things to me was how Kessler managed to get past and present agents to go so candidly on record.  After all, there is a reason they call it the Secret Service and not the Blabbermouth Society.  It didn't take me too long to figure out the carrot Kessler employed as motivation.  It seems that the agents are sick and tired of being treated like an abused stepchild.  Because so many agents have taken early retirement, either to make more money in the private security sector or to join a better run organization such as the FBI, the agents who remain are angry about being spread too thin.  Additionally, being patriots, they fear that the end result of the Service being undercut is that assassinations are almost inevitable. 

Through interviews with over 100 secret service agents from the past and present—dating all the way back to John F. Kennedy—Kessler paints a picture of what our presidents are like when no one is looking.

They're always watching.  We learn from the agents Kessler interviews that John F. Kennedy was a serial adulterer (no big surprise there) and that Lyndon Johnson was essentially a serial adulterer and a lunatic.  "If Johnson weren't president, he'd be in an insane asylum," said one former secret agent who sometimes was on Johnson's detail.  Secret Service agents found Richard Nixon strange and unsociable.  Agents described Gerald Ford as friendly but cheap, often tipping caddies at exclusive country clubs a dollar if anything at all.

It seems that those who head up the Service are reluctant to complain that their ranks have been so seriously depleted that they are cutting dangerous corners.  Also, the agents feel that far too often, they are shown no respect by those they are sworn to protect, and that they are treated like gofers and babysitters.

Unfortunately, while the trade-off resulted in agents betraying confidences they had vowed to keep, it resulted in Kessler's turning out a book that, aside from the gossip, often reads like a plea to Congress for additional funds and manpower.  Others may feel differently, but I felt like the book was twice as long as it needed to be and as redundant as a Sham-Wow! commercial.

Some of the presidents and their families come off well, others come off as... well, pretty much the way you would probably guess.

The Obamas both get high marks, as does Cindy McCain, but not her husband.  It seems John was irascible, short-tempered and just plain rude.  So, apparently, it wasn't just Sarah Palin he treated like dirt.

Although it's not mentioned in the book, I still recall the first time I fully understood what a punk John Kerry was.  You may recall the incident as it got alot of pulp as it happened during the 2004 campaign, on one of his skiing vacations.  It seems he took a tumble on the slopes and, no sooner did he get up, than he began bawling out a Secret Service agent for having gotten in his way.  I recall thinking that instead of being grateful that these guys were prepared to take a bullet for him, he couldn't resist getting on the case of a man who hadn't really chosen to freeze his ass off on a mountainside.  I suppose if a Secret Service agent had been shot while trying to protect the man who resembles the front end of a horse and who behaves like its butt end, Kerry would have expected to get a Purple Heart for being in the general vicinity.

Not too surprisingly, the Clintons had similar manners.  Hillary, we're told, never once in eight years said "Thank you" to a member of the Secret Service.  When referring to the secret service, Hillary alway started out with the "F" word.  The woman has quite a mouth of her according to the agents..

Vice President Al Gore was exceedingly obnoxious to his agents according to Kessler.   Gore, while chastising his son over a mediocre report card, indicated the Secret Service agents in the room, and said, "If you don't straighten up, you won't get into the right schools, and if you don't get into the right schools, you could end up like these guys."  The "guys" Gore was referring to were his secret service agents!

Of all the kids who have called the White House home over the past few decades, Chelsea Clinton gets the highest marks, while Amy Carter gets the lowest.  On one occasion, she crushed a package of soda crackers, dumped them on the floor and told her Secret Service agent to clean them up.  When the agent complained to her father, Jimmy Carter told him to do as he'd been told.  "It's your job."

I don't suppose anyone will be too shocked to learn that Carter was the biggest PHONY of them all.

Kessler discloses that Carter "would regularly make a show of going to the Oval Office at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. to call attention to how hard he was working for the American people."  In fact, "he would work for half an hour, then close the curtains and take a nap," Robert B. Sulliman Jr., who was on Carter's detail, told Kessler.  "His staff would tell the press he was working."

Neither Jimmy nor Rosalynn would speak to the agents.  Jimmy wouldn't even say "Hello" or "Good morning."  Because image was everything to Mr. PeanutHead, if there were photographers around when he was getting on or off an airplane, he would insist on toting his own carry-on bag, but it would be EMPTY!  On one occasion, disgruntled agents deliberately left Carter's luggage in the trunk of his car at an airport, and Carter "was without clothes for two days."   Sort of reminds me of all those photos of Carter posed holding a hammer at those Habitat for Humanity building sites.  I was always willing to lay odds that the hammer was a prop and had never struck a nail.

Agents told Kessler that Jimmy Carter treated them and others who served him with utter disdain.  "Inside the White House, Carter treated with contempt the little people who helped and protected him," and told agents not to look at him or speak to him.... even to say hello..... when he went to the Oval Office, Kessler disclosed.

"For three and a half years, agent John Piasecky was on Carter's detail.... including seven months of driving him in the presidential limousine.... and Carter never once spoke to him, he says.

At his home in Plains, Ga., Carter once tried to attack and kill a small dog with a bow saw.  Agents had befriended the stray dog, a terrier, and given it the code name Dolphin.  When the dog ate some food Carter's wife, Rosalynn, had put out for their Siamese cat, Carter "got the bow saw off a woodpile near the family room patio" and "tried to kill the dog," one agent who was there told Kessler.  Dolphin dodged the attack, but Carter insisted that agents remove the dog from Plains.  The orphan dog was given to the press corps.

As president, Carter needed to have the "nuclear football" at hand to enable him to take action in case of a nuclear attack.  But the president... code-named Deacon... refused to allow a military aide with the nuclear football to stay in a trailer on his property in Plains.   The aide had to stay in Americus, a 15-minute drive from Carter's home, a top military official confirmed to Kessler.  "Because of the agreed-upon protocols, in the event of a nuclear attack, Carter could not have launched a counterattack by calling the aide in Americus," Kessler writes.  "By the time the military aide drove to Carter's home, the United States would have been within five minutes of being wiped out by nuclear-tipped missiles."

Carter was "moody and mistrustful" and sought to micromanage everything, agents told Kessler.  He insisted that aides ask him for permission to use the White House tennis courts — even when he was traveling on Air Force One.

Early in his presidency, Carter proclaimed that the White House would be "dry," and only wine, but no liquor, would be served at state dinners.  The word was passed to get rid of all the booze on Air Force One, at Camp David, and in the White House.  But on the first Sunday the Carters were in the White House, they ordered up Bloody Marys before going to church.

As the Carter administration drew to a close, Carter and his staff became more paranoid.  They believed that people were stealing things and eavesdropping on his conversations in the Oval Office.

Before going on a fishing trip in Georgia one morning, Carter accused a Secret Service agent of stealing fried chicken stewards had prepared.  In fact, White House aides Jody Powell and Hamilton Jordan had eaten the chicken.

The Carters never really understood the Secret Service's role, Kessler asserts.  He reveals that Carter told the Secret Service that Rosalynn objected to agents and uniformed officers being armed inside the White House.  Rosalynn said guns made the Carters' daughter, Amy, "uncomfortable."  Agents explained that in the event of an attack, they would be useless if they were not armed.  The president relented.

After leaving the White House, Carter made a show that he was going to save the taxpayers' money by not keeping the Secret Service.  But he soon brought agents back when he discovered that having federal agents along got him express service at airports and the like.

Carter's oddities continued after he left office, Kessler reports.  Carter occasionally stayed in the townhouse the General Services Administration maintains for former presidents in Washington.  Photos of former presidents adorn the walls of the townhouse.  GSA managers found that when Carter stayed at the townhouse, he would take down the photos of Republican presidents Ford and Nixon and put up a half-dozen large photos of himself.  "He didn't like them [Ford and Nixon] looking down at him," GSA manager Lucille Price told Kessler.  "We would find out he would put photos of himself up," and then "take the photos of himself back with him."

His son, James Earl "Chip" Carter III, would pick up women at bars in Georgetown by asking them if they wanted to have sex in the White House.  Sounds a lot like Jack Kennedy and Bill Clinton, doesn't it?

The man who sent Carter packing from the White House could not have been more different according to accounts from agents.  Ronald Reagan would constantly interact with his secret service agents and other staffers who worked for him.  He was apologetic when he would take secret service agents away from their families on holidays.  While Carter would make secret service agents pay for any leftover food they consumed after White House parties, we are told Reagan would insist the secret service eat leftover food (without charge, of course).   Reagan, it seems, not only enjoyed riding horses and shmoozing with the agents, but he would employ army jets to transport children who needed to travel for kidney transplants.  He was also known to write checks for $3,000 or $4,000 to people with hard luck stories.  Unlike liberal politicians, who are only generous with taxpayers' money, he would simply say to those who knew the truth, "Don't tell people. I've been poor myself."


All the Bushes, but especially Barbara and Laura, were well-liked by the people whose job was to protect them and their families.  George H.W. Bush also comes across as eminently decent.  Bush 41 and Bush 43 felt so guilty about taking the agents off to Crawford, Texas, at Christmas time, they began spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in Washington, so that the agents could be home to celebrate with their own families.  "Both Bushes 41 & 43 and their wives are very thoughtful, and they think outside their own little world.  They think of other people," one agent commented to Kessler.

President George W. Bush is painted as an affable character behind the scenes. "He does not look comfortable in front of a microphone," one agent explained to Kessler.  "With us, he doesn't talk like that, doesn't sound like that.  He's funny as hell."  Bush 43 was also depicted as "down to earth" and "caring." 

Kessler's book does raise a serious question: Should those charged with protecting the president be chatting about what they saw behind the scenes, especially when the protectee is still alive, or worse, still in office?  If presidents have to worry about their secret service agents squealing about them to the press at every turn, it will make our presidents want to put as much distance as possible between them and their agents and thus ultimately compromise presidential security.  This is not a desirable outcome to say the least.

On the other hand, secret service agents have a unique view of history and there is something to be learned about our presidents from the stories agents tell.  It may be argued that the agents owe a duty to history to tell us what they saw on their watch so we can get a fuller understanding of those who lead us, foibles and all.  This argument is especially compelling after a president has passed away, or at the very least, left office.

These are difficult issues to wrestle with, but the fact is that the book has been written. What's done is done.  If you get a chance, you might as well take a peek inside.  And perhaps the best thing about the book is that it might make future presidents behave decently to those who are sworn to take a bullet for them, even if they might not in a million years vote for them. After all, Kessler might write a sequel some day.

Very interesting, Warph.  Some things in life are taken for granted and I know that in my mind the Secret Service are the guys that protect the president, etc.  It has never occurred to me that they would have their own "war stories" to tell.  Articles such as yours prompt me to look up more information which I did and learned a lot.  I also wonder if a book such as this is that genuine given the fact the agents of the Secret Service carry a high secret classification, meaning that they are forever to keep their mouths shut about whatever they see or hear.  It makes for an interesting line of thinking.  I am going to look more into this.  Thanks for posting this and making the old man think today.

On another note, do they actually have a library in the nineteenth hole?

Larryj

Thanks for this interesting post.

Warph, a great post. Not to much different that what I would have thought each President would have been like. I know the Bush family is all very people oriented and they were all  big on community service in Midland.

I could share some Kennedy stories but I must not. Someday perhaps I can, but not yet. A few of the players are still alive.

Quote from: larryJ on November 16, 2009, 08:39:57 AM
Very interesting, Warph.  Some things in life are taken for granted and I know that in my mind the Secret Service are the guys that protect the president, etc.  It has never occurred to me that they would have their own "war stories" to tell.  Articles such as yours prompt me to look up more information which I did and learned a lot.  I also wonder if a book such as this is that genuine given the fact the agents of the Secret Service carry a high secret classification, meaning that they are forever to keep their mouths shut about whatever they see or hear.  It makes for an interesting line of thinking.  I am going to look more into this.  Thanks for posting this and making the old man think today.

On another note, do they actually have a library in the nineteenth hole?

Larryj

Actually we have three.... one large and two small ones, all at different locations here at the Eagles Nest.  Nope, no library at the Hole... whoops, I take that back....  We do have a fine and very informative "Bartenders Bible" .... would that qualify?

We now know that Barack Obama's codename is "Renegade," Michelle Obama is "Renaissance," John McCain is "Phoenix" and Cindy McCain is "Parasol." But how much do you know about other Secret Service codenames? Take this 10-question quiz to find out... but be quick... it will self-destruct in 30 seconds.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php#quizDesc


Secret Servive code names, past and present:


PEOPLE:

CALICO ELEANOR MONDALE
CAMEO JOAN MONDALE
CANNONBALL REAR ADMIRAL J.A. CHANEY
CAVALIER  WALTER MONDALE
CEDAR  MENACHEM BEGIN
CENTURION THEODORE MONDALE
CHESSMAN  WILLIAM MONDALE
CHRISTOPHER  BEBE REBOZO
CLAM CHOWDER RON NESSEN
CLAW HAMMER  ALEXANDER HAIG
COPPERTONE  ROSE KENNEDY
CRYSTAL CHASSIAH BEGIN MILO
DAILY  PRINCE CHARLES
DANCER  ROSALYNN CARTER
DASHER  JIMMY CARTER
DEACON JIMMY CARTER
DECKHAND  JEFF CARTER
DERBY  JACK CARTER
DIAMOND  CHIP CARTER
DIGGER JAMES CARTER IV
DRAGON  WALTER MONDALE
DUCHESS  SARAH CARTER
DUSTY  JASON CARTER
DYNAMO AMY CARTER
EAGLE  BILL CLINTON
EVERGREEN  HILLARY CLINTON
FADEAWAY  SECRETARY OF STATE
FAN JET JOHN BLOCK
FENCING MASTER SECRETARY OF TREASURY
FINLEY  SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
FIREPLUG SECRETARY OF LABOR
FIRE TRUCK  JAMES EDWARD
FISTFIGHT  SECRETARY OF HEW
FLAG DAY SPEAKER, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FLIVVER  WILLIAM FRENCH SMITH
FLOTUS  THE FIRST LADY
FLYING FISH SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
FOOTPRINT  SENATOR STROM THURMOND
FOREFINGER  JAN PIERCE
FORWARD LOOK NEIL BALDRIGGER
FOXCRAFT  TERRELL BELL
HALO  POPE JOHN PAUL II
HAWKEYE Z. BRZEZINSKI
HERCULES (NUMBER) COUNTER-SNIPER RESPONSE TEAM MEMBER
HOTSHOT DUTY OFFICER, WHCA
INSTRUCTOR  EUGENE MCCARTHY
KITTYHAWK  QUEEN ELIZABETH II
LANCER JOHN F. KENNEDY
LOCK MASTER JIMMY CARTER
LOTUS PETAL  ROSALYNN CARTER
MIRACLE JOHN ANDERSON
NAPOLEON  FRANK SINATRA
PASS KEY  GERALD FORD
PESO  SUSAN FORD
PINAFORE BETTY FORD
POTUS  PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
PRINCIPAL  PRINCE CHARLES
RADIANT DORIA REAGAN
RAINBOW  NANCY REAGAN
RAWHIDE  RONALD REAGAN
REDFERN QUEEN ELIZABETH II
REDWOOD  GARY HART
RELIANT  RONALD P. REAGAN
RHYME MAUREEN REAGAN
RIBBON  PATTI REAGAN DAVIS
RIDDLER  MICHAEL REAGAN
ROSEBUD  MAUREEN REAGAN
SCARLET KELE ANDERSON
SCORECARD  DAN QUAYLE
SEARCHLIGHT  RICHARD NIXON
SHEEPSKIN GEORGE BUSH
SNAPSHOT  HOWARD BAKER
SNOWBANK  BARBARA BUSH
SNOWSTORM GEORGE BUSH
SPRINGTIME  MAMIE EISENHOWER
STAIRCASE  FIRST FAMILY DETAIL OFFICER
STARBURST JOHN ANDERSON
STARDUST  JOHN ANDERSON
STARLIGHT PAT NIXON
STRAWBERRY  ROSEMARY WOODS
SUNBURN  TED KENNEDY
SUNDANCE ETHEL KENNEDY
SUNSHINE  MARILYN QUAYLE
SUPERVISOR  DAN QUAYLE
SWORDFISH PHILLIP CRANE
THUNDER  JESSE JACKSON
TILLER  DOROTHY BUSH
TIMBERWOLF GEORGE BUSH
TRANQUILITY  BARBARA BUSH
TRAPLINE  NEIL BUSH
TRIPPER J. BUSH
TUMBLER  GEORGE BUSH, JR.
TUNER  MARVIN BUSH
UNICORN PRINCE CHARLES
VICTORIA  LADYBIRD JOHNSON
VOLUNTEER  LYNDON JOHNSON
WELCOME  J.R. HALDEMAN
WHALEBOAT RON ZIEGLER
WISDOM  J. EHRLICHMAN
WOODCUTTER  HENRY KISSINGER



Places:

ACROBAT ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, MARYLAND
ANDY  ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, MARYLAND
BACKSEAT  SECRET SERVICE MOTORSCOOTER UNIT
BAGPIPE  SECRET SERVICE LIASON UNIT
BAMBOO  PRESIDENTIAL MOTORCADE
BANDBOX  SECRET SERVICE WHITE HOUSE UNIT
BASEBALL  SECRET SERVICE TRAINING DIVISION
BEEHIVE  SECRET SERVICE TECH DEVELOPMENT DIVISION
BELLHOP ONE  SECRET SERVICE ELIPSE MOTORSCOOTERS
BELLHOP TWO  SECRET SERVICE WHITE HOUSE MOTORSCOOTERS
BIGTOP SECRET SERVICE TREASURY SECURITY DIVISION
BIRDSEYE  DEPARTMENT OF STATE
BLACKBOARD  SECRET SERVICE PROTECTIVE INTELLIGENCE DIVISION
BLACKTOP  SECRET SERVICE FOREIGN MISSION UNIT
BLOWTORCH SECRET SERVICE EXECUTIVE PROTECTION COMMAND POST
BLUEPRINT  SECRET SERVICE TECH SECURITY DIVISION
BOARDWALK  SECRET SERVICE FOREIGN MISSION DIVISION
BOOKSTORE  WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
BRIMSTONE  REAGAN RANCH, CALIFORNIA
BROADSIDE  NYC VIP PROTECTION COMMAND POST
BUCKEYE CAMP DAVID, MARYLAND
BUCKSHOT  NYC SPECIAL COORDINATION CENTER
BULLDOG  DC VIP PROTECTION COMMAND POST
BUNGALOW  SECRET SERVICE FOREIGN MISSION SUBSTATION
CABLEBOY ADVANCE TEAM (CARTER)
CACTUS  CAMP DAVID, MARYLAND
CANDLESTICK  VIP PORTABLE COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND POST
CARBINE  CCT ANACOSTIA NAVAL AIR STATION, DC
CARNATION CCT, FT RITCHIE, MD
CARPET  ARMY GARAGE, WHITE HOUSE
CARTWHEEL  NSA, FT. MEADE, MARYLAND
CEMENT MIXER WHITE HOUSE SITUATION ROOM
CHALLENGER PRESIDENTIAL NIGHTWATCH
CHANDELIER  DEPARTMENT OF STATE
CHECKERBOARD  ADVANCE TEAM (CARTER)
CHECKMATE ADVANCE TEAM (CARTER)
CLOUDBURST  WHCA, ANACOSTIA NAVAL AIR STATION
CLOVERLEAF  VICE PRESIDENT'S RESIDENCE
COACH HOUSE DULLES AIRPORT, WASHINGTON DC
COBWEB  VICE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE
COMPANION  BLAIR HOUSE, WASHINGTON DC
CROSSBOW WHCA OP'S DESK
CROWN  WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS CENTER
CURBSIDE  NATIONAL AIRPORT, WASHINGTON DC
DRIFTWOOD  CARTER HOME, GEORGIA
ELM CAMP DAVID, MARYLAND
FIRESIDE SECRETARY OF STATE RESIDENCE
FOG HORN  STATE DEPARTMENT SECURITY DIVISION
HANDSHAKE  SECRET SERVICE OFFICE
HEADLIGHT  SECRET SERVICE GARAGE, WASHINGTON DC
HILL TOP TREASURY DEPARTMENT
HORSEPOWER  WHITE HOUSE PRESIDENTIAL PROTECTIVE DIV
HUDSON  NIXON OFFICE, NEW YORK
LIGHTFOOT  MADISON HOTEL, WASHINGTON DC
LIZARD SECRET SERVICE MOBILE COMMAND POST
MAGIC  HELICOPTER COORDINATION COMMAND POST
PACEMAKER  VICE PRESIDENT'S STAFF
PAVILLION  VICE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE
PENINSULA  NEW SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
PINCUSHION  RAYBURN OFFICE BUILDING, WASHINGTON DC
PLAYGROUND HELICOPTER PAD, PENTAGON
PORK CHOP  OLD SENATE OFFICE BUILDING
PROFESSOR  LONGWORTH BUILDING, WASHINGTON, DC
PUNCH BOWL CAPITOL BUILDING
RIDGELINE  REAGAN RESIDENCE, CALIFORNIA
RINGSIDE  MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, NEW YORK
ROADHOUSE WALDORF ASTORIA, NEW YORK
SANDSTONE  REAGAN RESIDENCE, CALIFORNIA
SHOTGUN  NEW YORK CITY COMMAND POST
SKYMASTER ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE COMMAND POST
STORE ROOM  TRUMAN LIBRARY, MISSOURI
STORM KING  NIXON RESIDENCE, NEW JERSEY
TOOL ROOM VICE PRESIDENT'S OFFICE
TOWER  ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, MARYLAND
VOLCANO LBJ RANCH, TEXAS
WAREHOUSE  SHERATON CENTER, NEW YORK
WINDSTONE  REAGAN RESIDENCE, CALIFORNIA


OBJECTS AND EVENTS:

ANGEL AIR FORCE ONE
CALIBER PORTABLE COMMUNICATIONS PACKAGE
CARAVAN VP FOLLOW CAR (CARTER)
CARBINE ONE PORTABLE COMMUNICATIONS PACKAGE
CARGO MRS. MONDALE'S CAR
CAROUSEL AIR FORCE TWO
CHARIOT MONDALE VEHICLE
COWPUNCHER AIR FORCE ONE
DOG POUND PRESS AIRCRAFT
ELECTRIC NATIONAL EMERGENCY COMMAND AIRCRAFT
FALCON   PRESIDENT'S AIR COVER AIRCRAFT
FULLBACK   STATE DEPARTMENT SECURITY VAN
HALFBACK   PRESIDENT'S FOLLOW VEHICLE
HEDGEHOG   FIRE TRUCK
HOLLY ARMY   HELICOPTER
HORSEHIDE   AMBULANCE
HUNTSMAN   NEW YORK CITY SURVEILLANCE HELICOPTER
KNEECAP   EMERGENCY ESCAPE AIRCRAFT
MARINE ONE   PRESIDENT'S HELICOPTER
MARINE TWO   VICE PRESIDENT'S HELICOPTER
NIGHTHAWK   PRESIDENT'S HELICOPTER
PATROLLER    VICE PRESIDENT'S HELICOPTER
PIVOT MEDEVAC   BETHESDA, MARYLAND
ROADRUNNER   WHCA COMMUNICATIONS VAN
SATURN    VICE PRESIDENT'S AIRCRAFT
SIGNATURE    PRESS HELICOPTER
SOFTPACK  A SHOTGUN
STAGECOACH  PRESIDENT'S LIMOUSINE
TRACER               VICE PRESIDENT'S LEAD VEHICLE
TRACKER             VICE PRESIDENT'S FOLLOW VEHICLE
TRAIL BREAKER    VICE PRESIDENT'S OFFICIAL LIMO
TREASURE SHIP    AIR FORCE TWO
WHEELS DOWN    PRESIDENTIAL AIRCRAFT HAS LANDED
WHEELS UP         PRESIDENTIAL AIRCRAFT HAS TAKEN OFF