20 Years in the Secret Service; My Life With Five Presidents

Rufus Youngblood told me that his ghost writer was Richard Hardwick, duly thanked on page 5. That said, Rufe (and co.) wrote a nice book about his time serving 5 Presidents, with particular emphasis on LBJ, the President who called Youngblood "the dearest of all" agents. It's funny, thought-provoking, and well-written. As the leading civilian authority on the U.S. Secret Service, I am impressed, as I was with Rufe (rest in peace, my friend).

I've read most every book out there on the secret service, but this one is the most provocative. Great read. Thanks.

I found this to be a very interesting book in that I know one of Youngblood's children, and found that there was so little that Mr. Youngblood's family knew about Rufus' whereabouts and 'duties'. There are many. many things that his family were totally unaware of. It makes me wonder how much is being covered up by different government sources. It has been said that Rufus' knows where all the skeletons of the US government are hidden. Is there any more information available now that Rufus is dead? Rufus was in the Johnson limosine; he supposedly told the Secret Service to make sure Kennedy was put in a coffin and loaded onto Air Force One. Rufus was the Number One Man -how come we have received so little information about his responsibilities? If you ask a Secret Service agent who Rufus Youngblood was, you will get a very interesting visual response. Rufus knew almost everything. It would be interesting to see his memoires, ie the medal Johnson gave him for saving his life; the birthday celebrations with the Johnson daughter and Rufus' daughter on the same day, etc.

The first book I read when I started researching my Secret Service novel. I found it interesting. Especially the part about the Kennedy assassination. It also covers the attempted assassinations of Gerald Ford. If I may digress, I had an uncle who was a Secret Service agent until his death in 1977. It's a good read. I HIGHLY recommend it. Check it out of the library or buy it, but read it. It doesn't give a history of the Secret Service like The Story of the Secret Service, but it's the autobiography of an ex- Secret Service agent. It also covers the attempted assassination of George Wallace in 1972 by a deranged loner named Arthur Bremmer.