JFK told the Secret Service to keep its distance on assassination day
Fox News
On Nov. 18, 1963, in the midst of a whirlwind campaign trip, President John F. Kennedy told Secret Service supervisor Floyd Boring that agents riding on special boards installed near the trunk of his car should drop back and tail him from a follow-up vehicle instead.
Kennedy’s bristling at the proximity of the agents was not uncommon for those being protected by the Secret Service, especially US presidents. But after his assassination four days later, some agents wondered if that extra car-length prevented them from saving JFK’s life. "Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service," by Washington Post reporter Carol Leonnig (Random House, out May 18), recounts presidential history from the service’s point of view, documenting how inadequate budgets, resistant protectees, political infighting and a macho, frat-boy culture have often left the agents ill-prepared for their vital, lifesaving missions.More Related News