What I'm Reading Now - Mrs. Kennedy and Me

First a confession: I thought this book was going to be a "tell all" with tons of scandal and the such, but I gave it a try because I am slightly intrigued by Mrs. Kennedy & I was hoping for a bunch of pictures :-D

This book starts with Clint Hill getting the assignment to be one of Mrs. Kennedy's Secret Service Agents. At the time of the appointment he was assigned to President Eisenhower - so he sees this as a bit of a demotion. He talked about how he would miss all the traveling he got to do with the President (who knew that he would be away from DC much more with Mrs. Kennedy!). He offers a great view of Mrs. K's struggle with being in the White House, raising (and losing) children and overall being in the limelight.

I thought the book was very interesting. He held my interest the entire time I was reading it. Reading his memories of the day that Jackie delivered and lost Patrick and the day that JFK died brought me to tears (not that I think that's an incredible feat ;-)) While my one complaint would be that it was written like a guy (hello, he never talks about her outfits!), I think I liked that he stuck to the story - which was all about how she took her role as first lady. The book did make it seem like she didn't spend much time at all at The White House. Maybe that's true... I need to do more research.

Overall this was a great read if you are interested in Jackie Kennedy. It doesn't give you a ton of insight into what the secret service does - but it does show you how she lived her life as the First Lady.

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