RACY NEW TELL-ALL UNCOVERS PREZES' SECRET SERVICING
A new book rips the lid off the inside world of Secret Service agents and the presidents they protect. "In the President's Secret Service," written by New York Times best-selling author and Newsmax chief Washington cor respondent RONALD KESSLER, out Aug. 4, is based on exclusive interviews with more than a hun dred current and former agents.
AWAY from the cameras and inside the cloistered White House world, presidents show their true selves to the men and women who are sworn to protect them, and what they see is not always pretty.
John F. Kennedy
Secret Service agents assigned to John F. Kennedy soon learned that he led a double life. He was the charismatic leader of the free world. But in his other life he was the cheating, reckless husband whose aides snuck women into the White House to appease his sexual appetite.
According to Secret Service agents, Kennedy had sex with Marilyn Monroe at New York hotels and in a loft above the Justice Department office of then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, the president's brother.
"He had liaisons with Marilyn Monroe there," a Secret Service agent says. "The Secret Service knew about it."
Former Secret Service agent Robert Lutz remembers a gorgeous Swedish Pan Am flight attendant who was on the press plane that was following Kennedy on Air Force One. She seemed to take a liking to Lutz, and he planned to ask her out to dinner. The detail leader noticed that they were getting chummy and told the agent to stay away.
"She's part of the president's private stock," he warned Lutz.
Besides one-night stands, Kennedy had several consorts within the White House. One was Pamela Turnure, who had been his secretary when he was a senator, then Jackie's press secretary in the White House. Two others, Priscilla Wear and Jill Cowen, were secretaries who were known as Fiddle and Faddle, respectively.
"Neither did much work," says former agent Larry Newman, who was on the Kennedy detail.
They would have threesomes with Kennedy.
One afternoon, Kennedy was cavorting in the pool with the young women when Secret Service agents on Jackie's detail radioed that she was returning to the White House unexpectedly.
"Jackie was expected back in 10 minutes, and JFK came charging out of the pool," says agent Anthony Sherman, who was on his detail at the time. "He had a bathing suit on and a Bloody Mary in his hand."
Kennedy looked around and gave the drink to Sherman.
"Enjoy it; it's quite good," the president said.
Lyndon Johnson
If Secret Service agents found Kennedy to be reckless, Lyndon B. Johnson was uncouth, nasty and often drunk.
At one point, Lady Bird Johnson caught him having sex on a sofa in the Oval Office with one of his secretaries. Johnson became furious at the Secret Service for not warning him.
"He said, 'You should have done something,' " recalls a supervisory agent. Johnson ordered the Secret Service to install a buzzer system so that agents stationed in the resident part of the White House could warn him when his wife was approaching.
Johnson had a "stable" of women with whom he had sex, including some who stayed at the ranch when Lady Bird was home, another former agent says. Air Force One crew members say Johnson often closed the door to his stateroom and spent hours alone locked up with pretty secretaries, even when his wife was on board.
"Johnson would come on the plane and the minute he got out of sight of the crowds, he would stand in the doorway and grin from ear to ear and say, 'You dumb sons of bitches. I piss on all of you,' " recalls Robert M. MacMillan, an Air Force One steward. "Then he stepped out of sight and began taking off his clothes. It was not uncommon for him to peel off his shorts, regardless of who was in the stateroom."
Johnson's drinking fueled his outbursts, including one episode when an aide had just been served a beautiful slice of rare roast beef by Air Force One stewards.
Johnson grabbed the tray and said, "You dumb son of a bitch, you are eating raw meat."
Johnson then brought the food back to the galley and said, "You two sons of btiches, look at this. This is raw. You gotta cook the meat on my airplane. Don't you serve my people raw meat. Goddamn, if you two boys ever serve raw meat on my airplane again, you'll both end up in Vietnam."
Richard Nixon
The Secret Service found Richard Nixon and his family to be the strangest protectees.
"He never held hands with his wife," a Secret Service agent says. The couple slept in different bedrooms. Unknown to the public, Pat Nixon was an alcoholic who tippled martinis. By the time Nixon left the White House, Pat "was in a pretty good stupor much of the time," an agent on Nixon's detail says.
In contrast to his blustering in taped conversations, Nixon in private seemed passive and often out of it, although he did have a sense of humor. At his San Clemente, Calif., home, Nixon was watching television one afternoon while feeding biscuits to one of his dogs.
"Nixon took a dog biscuit and was looking at it and then takes a bite out of it," says Richard Repasky, who was on his detail.
One evening, Nixon built a fire and forgot to open the flue damper. Two agents came running.
"Can you find him?" one of the agents asked the other.
"No, I can't find the son of a bitch," the other agent said.
From the bedroom, a voice piped up.
"Son of a bitch is here trying to find a matching pair of socks," Nixon said.
Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter was known by the Secret Service as the least likeable modern president. On the first Christmas morning after his election, Carter strode out of the front door of his home in Plains, Ga., to get the newspaper. Instead of saying "Merry Christmas" to the Secret Service agent standing post, he ignored him.
At a press conference, Carter denied reports that White House aides had to ask him for permission to use the tennis courts. In fact, even when he was traveling on Air Force One, Carter insisted that aides ask him for permission.
"Carter said, 'I'm in charge,' " said a former Secret Service agent. " 'Everything is my way.' He tried to micromanage everything. You had to go to him about playing on the tennis court. It was ridiculous."
Charles Palmer, chief of the Air Force One stewards, said Carter seemed to relish the power. At times, Carter would delay his response, smugly saying, "I'll let them know," Palmer says. "Other times he would look at me and smile and say, 'Tell them yes.' I felt that he felt it was a big deal."
Carter thought of himself as a better runner than his Secret Service agents and would challenge them to races. The Secret Service began assigning its best runners to his detail. One day at Camp David, Carter collapsed into the arms of an agent as he was trying to outrun them.
On another occasion, agents warned Carter that cross-country skiing at Camp David would be dangerous because there wasn't enough snow on the ground and there were a lot of bare spots. Carter ignored the advice.
"Yeah, OK, I'll decide on that," Carter said, according to an agent. He went out and fell, breaking his collarbone.
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan was just like his cowboy persona, real and down to earth. Quite often Reagan quietly wrote personal checks to people who had written him with hard-luck stories.
"He would say, 'Don't tell people. I was poor myself,' " said Frank J. Kelly, who drafted presidential messages. But Reagan was no Boy Scout. On one occasion, as the motorcade drove down M Street toward the White House, Reagan noticed a man in the crowd.
"Fellows, look," he said to his agents. "A guy over there's giving me the finger, can you believe that?"
Reagan started waving back, smiling.
"We're going by, and he's still waving and smiling, and he goes, 'Hi there, you son of a bitch,' " remembers agent Dennis Chomicki.
When the news broke that Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart was having an affair with Donna Rice, Reagan was returning to the White House from an evening event. About to return to his residence on the second floor, an aide blocked the closing elevator doors to tell Reagan about Hart.
"Boys will be boys," Reagan said, according to former agent Ted Hresko.
When the door of the elevator shut, Reagan said to Hresko, "But boys will not be president."
George H.W. Bush
George H.W. Bush was a favorite of the Secret Service. One night, on the midnight shift, agent William Albracht got hungry. He went into the kitchen in search of food.
"All of a sudden there's a voice over my shoulder," says Albracht.
"Hey, anything good in there to eat?" the man asked.
Albracht turned around to see George Bush.
"Bush says, 'Hey, I was really hoping to get something to eat.'
And I said, 'Well sir, every day the stewards bake cookies, but every night they hide them from us.'
"With a wink he says, 'Let's find 'em.' "
William Clinton
If George H.W. Bush sometimes strained agents' patience with his constant activity, Bill Clinton did the same with his chronic tardiness.
"Anywhere he went, he shook hands; he'd go out of his way to shake the hand of a worker," says a former agent who was on his detail. "Fifty feet away and on a tarmac, he's walking around the plane to shake the hand of a worker. Or going through the hotel's restaurant, he's in the back of the kitchen shaking people's hands and taking pictures."
But Clinton's wings were clipped after he confessed in 1998 to a relationship that was "wrong" with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
The next day, the Clintons took Air Force One to Martha's Vineyard.
Agent William Albracht was running the command post. Hillary called him and said, "Where is he?"
"Ma'am, the president is downtown right now. I think he just arrived at Starbucks," Albracht said.
"Confirm that," Hillary demanded, and Albracht did. Hillary then ordered Albracht to tell the president to "get home now, and I mean right now."
Albracht passed along the message to the detail.
"Clinton loves mingling with people and he loves to play golf, but she was having none of that. He was being punished. It was like he was grounded," Albracht says.
Barack Obama
and John McCain
The Secret Service began protecting Barack Obama in May 2007, 18 months before the presidential elections. It was the earliest point at which the Secret Service had ever protected a candidate. Agents say Obama and wife Michelle treat them with respect, as does Vice President Joe Biden.
"Twice Obama invited agents to dinner, including a party for a relative, both at his home," says an agent who was on his candidate detail. The first lady insists that agents call her by her first name.
"Michelle is friendly -- she touches you," says an agent. If Obama is running late, Michelle gets on his case, saying he's being inconsiderate of his agents.
Secret Service agents say McCain was irritable, impatient and displayed his famous temper over trivial annoyances.
"McCain's really hard to work with," an agent says. "He's always complaining, just making comments. We get in his way. We impede his ability to meet people."
No comments:
Post a Comment