Five Days in November Read online

  Clint Hill

  To the men and women of the U.S. Secret Service, active and retired, your encouragement, support, and interest gave me a special reason to write this book. To those of you who lived through this interval, you have periodically relived these five days time and again as I have. Your pain, anguish, and frustration were equal to mine. We all shared that sense of failure. But we continued on. To those of you who came later, I hope you will understand our dedication to duty, to the office of the President, to the Secret Service, and to this country. Your continued adherence to the words “Worthy of Trust and Confidence” give me pride and hope for the future.

  To my sons, Chris and Corey, who suffered through this time period, not fully understanding why your father was never there: We can never regain the time lost, but thank you for your willingness to reconnect. A very special thanks for your support and assistance in personal family matters, making it possible for me to concentrate on this book.

  To Lisa McCubbin—you made the reliving of this five-day period much easier than I anticipated. It was an excruciating emotional trip down memory lane, but the end result made it all worthwhile. You are a skilled writer, a dedicated and determined co-author, and a trusted friend and confidant. I would not have written this book, or any book, had it not been for you. Thank you for your patience and your willingness to listen. Your thought-provoking questions brought out information I had been suppressing for decades. I told you the story, but you put the words on the page. You are truly remarkable in every sense of the word. I will never be able to adequately thank you.

  CLINT HILL is a retired United States Secret Service agent who will forever be remembered for his courageous actions in the presidential motorcade during the John F. Kennedy assassination. Assigned to protect Jacqueline Kennedy, Hill remained with Mrs. Kennedy and the children for one year after the tragedy. Proudly and humbly serving five presidents—Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford—Hill rose through the ranks of the most elite protective force in the world during the tumultuous time that encompassed the Vietnam War; the assassinations of JFK, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Robert F. Kennedy; and Watergate. He retired in 1975 as Assistant Director, United States Secret Service, responsible for all protective forces. In 2012, he penned his remarkable memoir, Mrs. Kennedy and Me, which became a #1 New York Times bestseller.

  LISA MCCUBBIN is the coauthor of the New York Times bestsellers Mrs. Kennedy and Me and The Kennedy Detail. An award-winning journalist, she has been a television news anchor and reporter, hosted her own radio show, and spent more than five years in the Middle East as a freelance writer. Visit her at www.lisamccubbin.com.

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  Photo Credits

  AFP/Getty Images: 184

  William Allen, photographer, Dallas Times Herald Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 64, 150

  Associated Press: 28, 42, 43, 44, 48, 52, 53, 62, 69, 86, 95 (bottom), 102, 106, 107, 108, 118 (top), 131, 132, 151 (bottom), 152, 156, 162, 169, 173, 174, 175, 178, 179, 180 (all), 181, 188, 191, 197, 199, 204, 206, 212 (top), 213, 216, 217, 219, 222, 223, 235

  William Beal, photographer, Dallas Times Herald Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 95 (top), 96, 97

  Bettman/CORBIS: 11, 20, 47, 100 (bottom), 133, 140, 147, 151 (top), 153 (all), 171, 190, 194, 202, 208, 209, 211, 214, 224, 225, 230

  CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images: 117 (bottom)

  Corbis Images: 220

  The Dallas Morning News: 24

  Dallas Times Herald Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 113, 117 (top), 118 (bottom)

  Photographer Owen Day: 82

  Tom Dillard Collection, The Dallas Morning News/Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 78, 83, 88

  Bob Gomel, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images: 221

  Darryl Heikes, photographer, Dallas Times Herald Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 94

  Private collection of Clint Hill: 2, 3, 232

  Hulton Archive/Getty Images: 168

  Courtesy of Bob Jackson, photographer: 98 (top)

  John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum, Boston: 4, 8, 10, 16, 26, 31, 35, 36, 41, 50, 65, 66, 67 (all), 68, 71, 72, 84, 87, 112, 120, 122 (all), 125, 126, 130, 142, 143, 145, 146, 159, 161, 163, 164, 166, 170, 189, 192, 195, 197, 198, 212 (bottom), 218, 226

  Eamon Kennedy, photographer, Dallas Times Herald Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 118 (middle)

  Keystone photographer, Hulton Archive/Getty Images: 207, 210

  Robert L. Knudsen Presidential Collection: 228, 229

  © Lisa McCubbin, all rights reserved: 148

  Wally McNamee/CORBIS: 128

  Courtesy of Michelle Morrissette: 30, 34

  National Museum of the U.S. Air Force: 12

  Robert Phillips, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images: 136

  Jean Putnam Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 74

  Art Rickerby, Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images: 85

  Charles E. Rotkin/CORBIS: 99

  San Antonio Express-News Photograph Collection, MS 360, University of Texas at San Antonio Libraries Special Collections from the Institute of Texan Cultures: 18, 25, 32

  Photograph © SEPS. Licensed by Curtis Licensing. All rights reserved: 200-201

  The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 80, 81

  Jay Skaggs Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 100 (top)

  The University of Texas at Arlington Library Special Collections: 56, 57, 58, 59, 75, 76 (all), 77, 110,

  U.S. Army photograph, National Archives: 196

  Al Volkland, photographer, Dallas Times Herald Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 109

  Phil Willis Collection/The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 98 (bottom), 101

  Zapruder Film © 1967 (Renewed 1995) The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza: 104 (all), 105 (all)

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  Copyright © 2013 by Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information address, Gallery Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

  First Gallery Books hardcover edition November 2013

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  Text designed by Paul Dippolito

  Jacket design by James Perales

  Jacket photograph © Bettmann/Corbis

  Back jacket photograph © Associated Press

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

   Hill, Clint.

    Five days in November / Clint Hill and Lisa McCubbin.

     pages cm

   Summary: “The New York Times bestselling authors of Mrs. Kennedy and Me share the stories behind the five infamous, tragic days surrounding JFK’s assassination—alongside revea
ling and iconic photographs—published in remembrance of the beloved president on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. Clint Hill will forever be remembered as the lone secret service agent who jumped onto the car after President Kennedy was shot, clinging to its sides as it sped toward the hospital. Even now, decades after JFK’s presidency, the public continues to be fascinated with the Kennedys—America’s royal family. To mark the fiftieth anniversary of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, Hill recounts his indelible memories of those five days leading up to, and after, that tragic day in November 1963. Hill, as Jackie’s guard, experienced those days firsthand. Alongside the famous photos everyone is familiar with, Hill provides a moment-to-moment narration evoking the feelings and emotions behind the images—clearing up the persistent conspiracy misconceptions along the way. He also shows us the little-seen photos of Jackie both before and after the terrible event, describing the poignant moments they shared, during that pivotal moment in history. Told movingly by a man who still wishes he could undo it all, Five Days in November is a rare and deeply personal look at the assassination that affected the entire world and changed the United States forever”—Provided by publisher.

    1. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917–1963—Assassination. 2. Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917–1963—Death and burial. 3. Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 1929–1994. 4. United States. Secret Service—Officials and employees—Biography. I. McCubbin, Lisa. II. Title.

   E842.9.H55 2013

   973.922092—dc23        2013019272

  ISBN 978-1-4767-3149-0

  ISBN 978-1-4767-3151-3 (ebook)