Within Arm's Length: A Secret Service Agent's Definitive Inside Account of Protecting the President

by Dan Emmett

A rare inside look at the Secret Service from an agent who provided protection worldwide for President George H. W. Bush, President William Clinton, and President George W. Bush

Dan Emmett was just eight years old when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The events surrounding the President's death shaped the course of young Emmett's life as he set a goal of becoming a US Secret Service agent―one of a special group of people willing to trade their lives for that of the President, if necessary. Within Arm's Length is a revealing and compelling inside look at the Secret Service and the elite Presidential Protective Division (PPD). With stories from some of the author's more high-profile assignments in his twenty-one years of service, where he provided arm's length protection worldwide for Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, and George W. Bush, both as a member of the PPD and the Counter Assault Team, Dan Emmett describes the professional, physical and emotional challenges faced by Secret Service agents. Included are never before discussed topics such as the complicated relationship between presidents, first ladies and their agents, the inner workings of Secret Service protective operations as well as the seldom-mentioned challenges of the complex Secret Service cultural issues faced by an agent's family. Within Arm's Length also shares firsthand details about conducting presidential advances, dealing with the media, driving the President in a bullet-proof limousine, running alongside him through the streets of Washington, and flying with him on Air Force One. Within Arm's Length is the essential book on the United States Secret Service. This revealing and compelling inside look at the Presidential Protective Division, along with spellbinding stories from the author's career, gives the reader an unprecedented look in to the life and career of an agent in America's most elite law enforcement agency.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Memoir, Politics, Biography Memoir, Audiobook

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. If you are looking for behind the scenes gossip about the Secret Service or any of the protectees, this is not the book for you. Emmett writes about his own personal story of how he came to be a Secret Service agent and his career in the service (1984-2004) along with the history of the organization. It was pretty interesting for the most part. There were a few parts that dragged for me, such as when he was an instructor. His thoughts and actions regarding the physical training he led his students through was too repetitive. He has some enlightening anecdotes and a few that made me laugh out loud!

The Secret Service has two types of missions, investigative and protection. I didn't realize the Secret Service started out as a group that investigated counterfeiting and to this day different types of financial fraud is the bulk of the work done by the majority of the agents. Only a small percentage of agents work in the protective detail during their career. Another part of the protection team is the counter assault team (CAT) which seems to be the most physically demanding of all the jobs within the service.

[Marla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this very interesting as I have always wondered about the people who sign up to be a secret service agent. If you are interested in what is involved with these agents, then read this book. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it better than reading the printed version.

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author provides a straightforward analysis of his long and successful career in the The United States Secret Service both as an agent and an instructor. However, if you are looking for any 'inside scoops' or 'political posturing' your won't find it here. Dan Emmett values the office of the president of the United States above all else, and he writes nothing that would dishonor or reveal any procedures within the agency that might be taken in a negative light, so there is nothing of a controversial nature in the book, and this makes for a rather bland read. However, Mr. Emmett delivers a sincere homage to government service, and he comes across as a man of honor, and I would highly recommend the book to anyone interested in a career in The United States Secret Service, or if you are just curious about this US law enforcement agency, and want, 'just the facts', without any trumped up political or cultural hot button issues.

[Jeremy Kwok · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book reveals what we have long suspected - the real life of a PPD agent in the Secret Service is nothing like what you see in the movies.

Emmett has an easy conversational tone perfect for a Sunday afternoon read. I did find myself wishing that he would get more technical (but maybe that's a defacto response to reading too many Tom Clancy novels).

Interesting fact - when JFK was assassinated there were 400 agents in the Secret Service - today there are over 2000.

Another fun story. One day he was protecting President Clinton and he desperately needed to go to the bathroom - he headed for the men's room and as he was walking out - Clinton almost knocked him over coming into the bathroom. Dan said: "All clear sir!"

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fascinating. I do not normally read nonfiction, but this book didn't feel like nonfiction. Rather, it went so quickly and I learned so much about not only the Secret Service, but also about the CIA. So many misconceptions have been corrected and I now have a feel for the kind of life an agent on the PPD lives.

I would definitely recommend this.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting account of the life of a 20+ year veteran of the Secret Service. I learned things about the Secret Service I hadn't known before.

[Richard Muro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read…eye opening

[Bill Wilson · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is very uneven; it does offer some insights into the mission of protecting the President, but it's more a personal story about the author. Two things get in the way, one trivial and the other significant. One other review I read said he wore his politics on his sleeve; I would add "in 8 foot high neon letters." His disdain for liberal values/politicians was repeatedly articulated, either by flavoring his description of them with less than complimentary characterizations, or in some cases outright criticism. But in some ways his views are somewhat typical of law-enforcement, so I can adjust for them. The second is more serious. It's generally boring, in part because Emmett thinks people are reading this book to find out about him. Knowing about his background is of some interest as it formed him and enhances his ability to do his job well, illustrates his motivations for doing his job, and describes some of his sacrifices to get the job done and the price agents pay. But ultimately, HE is not the story; his work is. It's Dan Emmett as representative of the thousands of agents who have served dutifully and well that is the point of the book; it's not an autobiography. I understand that he is bound by a policy that his agency does not comment on how they do their jobs, lest they reveal an advantage that could be exploited to the detriment of the mission and protectee, but nevertheless what Emmett includes about what the Secret Service does is too little meat for all of the fluff that surrounds it. Yes, there are some anecdotes about his exploits, but they are not substantive enough to support a book of this length. A couple of chapters that I found satisfying were his description of what his Counter Assault Team training entailed, and what it's like to fly on Air Force One and the other aircraft that transport the President's limo and other support vehicles. In those chapters, good detail, story hung together, little distracting commentary, but that wasn't consistently the case front to back. Summing up, all in all, disappointed is my best assessment. A word to his publisher: whoever edited this book needs to take a refresher in what it means to edit a book. Numerous instances of repetition are peppered throughout, often within a few paragraphs of each other. This tendency detracted further from the book. If you're looking for a great story about the Secret Service, look elsewhere.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full disclosure: I won this book in a Goodreads Firstreads giveaway.

After serving as a Marine Corps Officer, the author spent 21 years in the secret service followed by another 6 years in the CIA. This book is the account of his career. He was a member of the secret service Counter Assault Team (CAT), presidential protection detail and an instructor in the secret service training program. He takes us inside each of these areas of the secret service and shares interesting stories and anecdotes. I was particularly interested in his accounts of protecting Ted Kennedy at the Kennedy Compound, Clinton's trip to the Korean DMZ, and providing security on Clinton's jogging runs. Emmet has too much respect for the Office of the President to tell any tales out of school so this in not a juicy gossip read.

If you're looking for a book that dishes the dirt about the various presidents that Dan Emmett protected, you'll be disappointed. But if you are looking for a very readable account of the training and day to day life of a secret service agent you'll enjoy this book.

[Andrew Hoffman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The bits about the history of the Secret Service and how it works were interesting to me. I wish there would have been more of that. Instead, Emmett tried to tell stories of daring do but since they do such a good job protecting the president, there aren't really very many (happily so). The ones told were only mildly interesting and some seemed forced. Was a little astounded that many agents couldn't keep up with Clinton's 9min/mile pace during his three mile jogs! And that W ran sub 7 min miles as president (but did so in enclosed areas so the agents didn't have to try and keep up). Overall, I'm drawn to the notion that someone would live their life being willing to die for someone else. For that, Emmett and the other agents merit huge respect.

[Allison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story - ok writing. Factual and interesting, not literary. Seemed like he might have given away a few too many details about how things are done, but generally was careful to avoid telling too much. I'm sure the book was heavily edited to prevent unknown details from getting out. I don't know that much about the inner workings of the military, government, or governmental agencies, so it was very educational and definitely kept my attention. He was fairly balanced and worked to maintain some neutrality rather than editorializing (much) about his politics or opinions about specific presidents. I would definitely recommend reading it if you have any interest in government or law enforcement at all.

[Karel Hanson · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you can get past his politics which he wears happily on his sleeve, it is a nice history and window into the workings of the Secret Service. He draws a clear distinction between the FBI, CIA and the Secret Service describing the responsibilities of each organization. An excellent and informative book. I would highly recommend it!

[Mike Heller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read of one mans complete career in the Secret Service all the way through protecting the President(s). I was hoping to get a little more insight about the personalities of these past Presidents from a man who spent so much time closely with them, but that never really happened in the book.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned new things about the Secret Service and enjoyed this book. The author is pretty obvious about his political beliefs — some of which were contradictory — but it didn't really bother me. It was more of a historical and inside look at being in the Secret Service rather than a thrilling narrative, but that's a good thing since it means they're doing their job well.

[Zoheb · Rating 4 out of 5]

good insight into the world of secret service

The author has done well not to reveal any classified information. The flow of the book is gripping but there is no right chronology of events

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting look into the Secret Service, but not necessarily a page-turner. I thought the author was professional in not giving personal details into the lives of the presidents he served. That said, most of the book read like a military manual.

[Sharla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not completely clean, but an excellent book about the SS. I was especially intrigued to read about the visit to the DMZ in Korea.

[djcb · Rating 3 out of 5]

The memoirs of a Secret Agent. Not much I haven't read elsewhere, and the writer is less-than engaging. Some interesting snippets here and there, but not enough to captivate me.

[Carianne Carleo-Evangelist · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m conflicted about this book. I loved hearing about the work of a secret service agent which was something I was unfamiliar with, but amid describing everyone else as being from the old school, the author himself was in a frustrating way.

He really was out of touch with changing norms as far as gender, inclusion and manners. No, you don’t get to tell another adult who doesn’t report to you - the CIA polygrapher - that he should call you Mr. While he claimed to be apolitical, his judgment of the Clinton administration team for being young was clear and kind of ugly.

All of this said, I didn’t realize the different divisions to Secret Service, although he acknowledges much has changed since 911 and changed throughout his tenure. Fascinating to see the career path of an agent.

[Duncan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. An light and easy read but very informative and enjoyable.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rolled this review through my head a lot while I was reading it. It's a great book and has a lot of detailed anecdotes about being in various areas of the Secret Service, but there are two major flaws.

The first is not the fault of the author, but of his publisher, St. Martin's Press. Whoever edited this book was sleeping on the job. There are numerous typographical errors and malapropisms that simply make no sense. There are also a fair number of passages that simply needed tighter editing because they repeat themselves. The most glaring error was the mention of "patricians" between toilets -- presumably this was meant to be "partitions."

The second flaw with this book is that, to the author, anything "liberal" is synonymous with something bad. This flaw shows up early in the book and never goes away and as a result, it damages his credibility heavily from the very beginning. Every time he describes a communication breakdown or issue with a staffer or politician, I can't help but wonder "Is this how it happened? Did it happen because of his bias? Is he telling the story truthfully?"

A great example of this tendency shows up later in the book, when he's describing one of his first major assignments on the protection detail for Geraldine Ferraro, then a democratic Vice President candidate. His description of the staffer is clearly biased:

"He was in his late fifties and dressed as one would expect an older liberal intellectual to dress: baggy pants, rumpled tweet sport coat, wrinkled button-down shirt, shoes that had not seen polish since JFK." He's clearly linking "older liberal intellectual" with the idea of "messy and unkempt."

He goes on to say "[the staffer] looked as if he had just stepped out of a Berkeley political science classroom where had had been teaching socialism was superior to capitalism."

It would be enough to get the point across that he looked slovenly; there's no need to associate the staffer with "liberal intellectuals" or make the uncalled-for association with someone who's supposedly anti-US. But the author doesn't stop there! He goes on to call this staffer "my Timothy Leary clone."

Timothy Leary was famous for his experiments with LSD and was once labeled "the most dangerous man in America."

Really? All this in the space of a page for a staffer who looks sloppy?

The author has similar things to say about Clinton staffers, with relatively objective anecdotes about things they did to impede his job on the PPD filled out with needlessly derogatory references that make it absolutely clear that he considers these people worthless, immature scum -- and that any good they did was all because of him and other people like him on the PPD.

These kinds of aspersions make me doubt the veracity of a lot of his accounts that involve any kind of interpersonal friction. In these cases, it's almost always "their" fault, with little thought about how he could have done things better.

This stands in stark contrast to Joseph Petro's account of his own experiences on the PPD.

For example, both books relate incidents where host countries suddenly change the agreement at the last minute to the detriment of the protectee's safety.

In Petro's case, the host country changes the agreement as the protectee is arriving at the airport. Petro understands that his protectee's safety is paramount; he explains to the representative of the host country that if the agreement is not followed, the protectee will not disembark and will leave the country. The protectee leaving would be a major loss and the representative understands that and capitulates, resulting in the restoration of the original agreement.

Emmett's case is similar: the protectee is arriving at the airport and the host country has changed the details of the agreement, reducing the protectee's safety. Emmett contends that it's impossible to change plans and that the protectee cannot abandon the host country; he instead opts to put himself and his men in danger to anticipate violence. The protectee arrives in this situation with markedly less safety.

Emmett's entire book is focused more on the physical, violent side of the secret service. It's a remarkably different view from Petro's book -- Petro focuses on risk management and reduction. He uses soft skills to reduce risk where Emmett seems to prefer a wall of flesh and steel.

They're both different sides of the same agency in different generations, but I can't help but think of Emmett's approach, lack of introspection, and apparently poor communication skills as being a major detriment to his job in the PPD. Similarly, I wonder that so many of his transfers were motivated simply because he was fit and able.

All of that having been said, this book was informative and helped round out my view of the Secret Service, so I consider it time well spent despite any misgivings I have about the author's communication skills. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys more conservative writing, and hesitantly recommend this to anyone else who wants to learn more about the physical side of the Secret Service in the late 80s and 90s who can ignore the author's bias.

[Ian Bennett · Rating 1 out of 5]

A Complete Waste of Reading Time

Written by an old, white man, who doesn’t care for modern America, and wishes he really lived in the 50’s and early 60’s, before all these long haired liberals came along and ruined the USA.

[JP · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm really not sure how this ever got published. It clearly never went through much of an editing process. The writing is absolutely terrible - repetition, bizarre word choice and syntax, and incredibly wordy. It feels like it was written by a high school kid who thought it would sound better if he used as many words as possible. (Of course, the opposite is true).

Worse than this, though, is that the writer comes across as an incredibly unlikeable jackass, so it's really hard to care or get on board with anything he's ever seen or done. He is clearly very conservative and right-leaning in all the worst ways, and a misogynist, insensitive jerk. At one point, like someone from the 1890s, he writes, "It was a classy place, where...the women dressed like women, in skirts and dresses" (p.187). He also laments the fact that dodgeball is banned in many schools. In his childhood days, "not everyone received trophies for every sporting activity, and those who lost in dodgeball or other sports did not seem to suffer from permanent physical injury or lack of self-esteem" (p.5). These are just two examples of many. He doesn't even bother hiding his disdain for anyone younger than him, or for women, or for anyone who objects to training bordering on torture, and basically anyone remotely liberal or left-leaning (including Bill Clinton, about whom he disrespectfully rolls his eyes at length). I thought this would be a book about the secret service, but it's basically just a soapbox for the writer's own social and political views.

And really, why should we care? The self-aggrandizing title of this book makes me laugh, because there has clearly been absolutely nothing remotely extraordinary about this life OR career. Why should anyone care about this completely average, unpleasant former agent? I read this book because I thought it would be interesting to learn more about the Secret Service. But he reveals basically nothing, believing that everything needs to be classified, down to the smallest details. So again I ask...what was the point? Do yourself a favor and steer clear.

[Lori Tatar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Goodreads, I received Within Arm's Length: A Secret Service Agent's Definitive Inside Account of Protecting the President by Dam Emmett. It is an irony that I received this book based on algorithms that I would guess include my address. As it would be, I am very liberal, residing in what has been called the reddest state in the nation. The author does not mince words as they pertain to his feelings about liberals and democrats...and despite that, this book was, in fact, a fascinating and very enjoyable read. It needs some editing but is still quite good. I have the utmost respect and admiration for those who serve our country in whatever capacity, and Mr. Emmett reached the pinnacle of that service, in my opinion. It was amazing to learn the physical and mental tests and performance that come into play everyday for the men and women who risk their lives in the service of our country...all politics aside.

[Kent · Rating 3 out of 5]

First thought about this book was, "Wow, does this author have a HUGE ego, or what?" But most secret service agents probably think the same way.

Overall I enjoyed the book. It advertised itself as a "definitive inside account of protecting the president." I was a little disappointed it really didn't go into detail about how the secret service failed to protect the president during Clinton's administration (i.e., Monica Lewinsky). He completely ignored that chapter of history. Otherwise it was interesting to see how the service has evolved, got bigger, better, and more effective and how they do more than just presidential protection.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good stuff. Yes, Mr. Emmett does toss out the odd political remark, but for the most part he keeps his opinions to himself and gives the reader an unvarnished look at what goes in to being a Secret Service agent. He also shares interesting details regarding the logistics of guarding the president, regardless of what the president wants to do. The discussion of guarding Clinton, the jogging president, was fascinating. Yes, he was limited to stories with happy endings, but that didn't diminish the tension of scenes like standing on the Bridge of No Return between North and South Korea or meeting with Middle Eastern politicians who had their own, potentially volatile, goon squads with them.

[David Webber · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent read to get the real flavor of the training and execution required to be in the CAT and PPD of the Secret Service. A very well written account that leaves out sordid details of those he protected (unlike some other books), but instead focuses on the training, preparation and specific missions of the Secret Service, including the incredibly long hours and nightmarish schedule of these agents.

[Bonnie Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting look at what it takes to be a member of the Presidential Protective Division. Obviously, these guys are the best in the world at what they do and deserve a lot of respect. There are only a very small number of men and women who can jump all of the hurdles required to get to the PPD and become a successful agent. The stories told in this book really shine a light on the uniqueness of their role in the United States government.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not filled with "tell all" details about the lives of presidents or that would reveal aspects of the Secret Service that might jeopardize safety, this obviously loyal agent gives a seemingly realistic summary of what it's like to be in the service. Definitely worth reading if you have any interest in the subject at all.

[Kim Varner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I chose to have this book read to me through the ebooks at library. This is a biography about a man whose goal at a young man was to be part of the secret service and protect the president (or POTUS). This is not a political book it's a story of a man with story to tell. I gave it five stars as I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone.