Clint Hill ’54 Returns to Campus

Sep 24, 2012

Clint Hill '54 and Lisa McCubbin speak about their new book, Clint Hill ’54 attended Concordia intending to teach history upon graduation. After a number of interesting turn of events, he ended up being an element of historic events instead.

Hill returned to campus Sunday night to talk about his new book, “Mrs. Kennedy and Me,” with co-author Lisa McCubbin.

Hill shared his story in a question-and-answer format with McCubbin guiding the conversations and illustrating many of the stories.

After graduation, while fulfilling his draft deferment, he was selected to be a special agent for the Counter Intelligence Corps, later hired as a detective and then in 1958 he joined the Secret Service. One year later, he was tapped to go to Washington, D.C., to protect President Eisenhower.

When John F. Kennedy was elected, Hill assumed he’d continue on the president’s detail. But instead he was reassigned to the first lady – something he says he was not very happy about. And neither was Mrs. Kennedy.

“She wasn’t too pleased to see me. I wasn’t very happy to be there either,” Hill says. “She didn’t want someone looking over her shoulder 24/7.”

Eventually, the two developed a strong bond – evidenced in the anecdotal stories (many with photos and home videos) of his many weekends and holidays away from the White House with Mrs. Kennedy. In addition to weekends in Hyannis Port and other domestic destinations, there were trips to Paris, Greece, India, Pakistan and Morocco. Hill recalled that everywhere Mrs. Kennedy went, people gathered to catch a glimpse of the first lady. In fact, she often drew the same sized crowds as the president.

The lecture closed with Hill’s memories from that fateful moment in Dallas and the days following, including photographs and videos of when the president was shot.

Hill is the recognizable agent that jumped onto the back of the presidential limousine right after the shots were fired.

Although Hill’s work has never taken him into a classroom setting, he has certainly become a wonderful teacher of history.

Read Hill’s story.

Watch a video.

Buy the book.

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