Clint Hill - Mrs. Kennedy and Me - An Intimate Memoir

At this point, I had been on the First Lady’s Detail for just over a year, and it had been nothing like I’d first envisioned. What had started out as uncertainty for both Mrs. Kennedy and me, had turned into a comfortable and enjoyable working relationship based on mutual trust and respect.

It was nearly Christmastime, and once again, we were headed to Palm Beach for the holidays.

9

Another Palm Beach Christmas

The president and Mrs. Kennedy had realized the previous year that the Secret Service somewhat hindered the activities of the rest of the family when the president stayed at his father’s house in Palm Beach, so they had made arrangements to rent the nearby home of family friends Colonel and Mrs. C. Michael Paul for the winter of 1961–62.

“It will be so much better for us,” Mrs. Kennedy told me. “It has a beautiful heated swimming pool, and eight bedrooms, so there’s plenty of room for our own guests. It’s not far from the ambassador’s house, so it will be very convenient.”

“It sounds ideal,” I responded. Then, teasing, I said, “You don’t think you’ll get bored with the peace and quiet?”

She laughed and said, “Mr. Hill, you know as well as I do that peace and quiet when the Kennedys are all together is something that is next to impossible. But at least I’ll have a place to which I can escape and spend time with Caroline and John.”

John had turned one year old on November 25, and had become quite active. A typical little boy, he loved to climb and jump, and as soon as he learned to walk, he rarely walked—he ran. Because John and Caroline began doing more activities separately, it was decided that an additional Secret Service agent was needed permanently on the Kiddie Detail to assist Bob Foster and Lynn Meredith. Paul Landis was the perfect man for the job.

At twenty-six years old, Paul Landis was the youngest agent on the White House Detail, and previously had been assigned to the Eisenhower grandchildren. Born and raised in Ohio, he came from a close family with a strong work ethic, and he took his protective duties extremely seriously. Even though he was unmarried and had no children of his own, he had a warm, playful personality that endeared him to the children. He was five foot, nine inches tall, slender, and physically fit—as all of us were required to be—had sandy brown hair, brown eyes, and a boyish look about him that made him appear younger than he actually was. The rest of us couldn’t help but tease him about his youth—and when he joined the Kiddie Detail, he was given the code name “Debut.”

As a matter of security, code names were used for all radio communication. To make them easier to remember, each group of people had names beginning with the same letter, and we tried to come up with names that described the individual in some way. Each administration had code names designated beginning with a letter used only for that administration, chosen at random, with no significance. The Eisenhowers had been “S,” while the code names for the Kennedys all began with the letter “L.” JFK was “Lancer,” Mrs. Kennedy was “Lace,” Caroline was “Lyric,” and John was “Lark.”

Not all the Secret Service agents had code names—only the chief, the supervisors on the president’s detail, and those of us with Mrs. Kennedy and the kids. The code names for the Secret Service all began with the letter D. Bob Foster on the Kiddie Detail was “Dresser”—because he was always impeccably dressed and took great care with his appearance; Lynn Meredith was “Drummer”—he was the musician in the group. My code name was “Dazzle.” I have no idea who came up with it, or why, but from the time I started on Mrs. Kennedy’s detail, I was “Dazzle” and that remained my code name for the rest of my Secret Service career.

Paul Landis comforts John after a fall

THE SUN WAS shining and the temperature was pleasantly balmy when we landed at Palm Beach International Airport at 7:30 A.M., Monday, December 18, after a whirlwind three-day visit to South America and Puerto Rico.

“Look, Jack, your father came to meet us,” Mrs. Kennedy said as she waved out the window.

Ambassador Kennedy was standing on the tarmac, and when he saw Mrs. Kennedy wave, he broke into a huge smile and waved back. They adored each other and in many ways, I thought the senior Kennedy had a closer, more intellectual connection to his daughter-in-law than to his own daughters.

It was obvious he was the boss, the patriarch of the family. No question about it. His children loved and respected him, and always made the effort to spend time with him whenever possible. All three of his sons frequently went to him for advice and listened to what he had to say. Because there had been a lot of scrutiny surrounding Joe Kennedy’s influence over Jack’s election to the presidency, the ambassador rarely came to the White House. Thus he relished the time he could spend with the president and Mrs. Kennedy at Hyannis Port and Palm Beach.

By the time we hit the ground in Palm Beach, however, President Kennedy was really under the weather. It seemed the pressure from the frequent takeoffs and landings had caused him a great deal of pain in his ears, due to a head cold—and he wanted to go directly to the Paul residence to rest. Dr. George Burkley, the president’s personal physician, had accompanied us to South America, and was concerned enough that an ear, nose, and throat specialist was called to examine him.

When we arrived at the Paul residence, the president went straight to bed. The children were still at the ambassador’s house, and I presumed Mrs. Kennedy would also want to rest.

I was exhausted but remained on duty while Agent Jeffries went to Woody’s Motel to check in. A few hours later, Mrs. Kennedy called down to the command post.

“Mr. Hill, I want to go to Worth Avenue and do some shopping. I haven’t had a chance to do any Christmas shopping, and I’d like to see what is in the stores this season. The press is concerned about the president’s health at the moment, so hopefully no one will pay any attention to me.”

“Okay, Mrs. Kennedy. I’ll get the car ready.”

The spur-of-the-moment shopping trip was typical of her. I knew there was no chance she would go unnoticed, but I sensed that she just wanted to go out and try to be a “normal” person. She knew that Agent Jeffries was not on duty, and I realized that, more and more, she would call me specifically for things, rather than following the protocol of going through Jeffries, who was the Agent in Charge of her protection. It was pretty evident to everybody that she and I had a comfortable rapport, while she and Jeffries just didn’t connect.

We drove to Worth Avenue, and I parked the car on a side street, hoping to at least avoid immediate attention. I got out, walked around to the passenger side, and opened the door for her, taking her hand gently as she stepped out of the car.

“Thank you, Mr. Hill,” she said with a smile. “I do hope I can raise John to be such a gentleman.”

The sun felt good as we walked down Worth Avenue. I stayed close to her to make it appear as if we were a couple, which would look less conspicuous than if she were walking a few steps ahead of me. My eyes, hidden behind dark sunglasses, constantly scanned the other people on the street. At first no one noticed us, and I thought maybe she was right after all.