Jackie Kennedy's secret service agent pens memoir

Former United States Secret Service Agent Clint Hill will discuss his new book, “Mrs. Kennedy and Me: An Intimate Memoir” at the Aspen Drive Library in Vernon Hills.

The event is set for Monday, April 23, at 7 p.m. at the library, 701 N. Aspen Drive. The free event will be open to the public, but registration is required. To register, call (847) 362-2330 or go to webres.cooklib.org.

Do you remember where you were when President Kennedy was shot? Clint Hill remembers very vividly where he was and what he was doing.

Forever remembered as the Secret Service agent who jumped on the limousine after JFK was shot in an attempt to shield the President and the First Lady with his body, Hill was assigned in 1960 to guard the glamorous and intensely private Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy.

For four years — from the election of JFK until the election of Lyndon Johnson — Hill went from being a reluctant guardian to a fiercely loyal watchdog, and in many ways, Jackie's closest friend.

“I stayed with her until after the election in November 1964,” Hill said. “We had a close relationship, but a very professional one.”

Now, looking back 50 years, Clint Hill tells his story for the first time. From the start, the job was like no other, and Hill was by Jackie's side through the early days of JFK's presidency; the birth of sons John and Patrick and Patrick's sudden death; Kennedy-family holidays in Hyannis Port and Palm Beach; Jackie's trips to Europe, Asia and South America; Jackie's intriguing meetings with men like Aristotle Onassis, Gianni Agnelli and Andre Malraux; and the dark days that followed JFK's assassination.

“There were some very good times, but also some horrible times as well,” Hill said.

The book offers a tender, enthralling, and tragic portrayal of how a Secret Service agent who started life in a North Dakota orphanage became the most trusted man in the life of the First Lady who captivated first the nation and then the world.

Hill, a Washburn, N.D. native and Concordia College graduate, served five presidents during his time with the Secret Service and now lives in the Washington, D.C. area.

Books for signing will be available for purchase, courtesy of the Lake Forest Bookstore.