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Survivor's Guilt: The Secret Service and the Failure to Protect President Kennedy
Painstakingly researched by an authority on the history of the Secret Service and based on primary, firsthand accounts from more than 80 former agents, White House aides, and family members, this is the definitive account of what went wrong with John F. Kennedy’s security detail on the day he was assassinated. The work provides a detailed look at how JFK could and should have been protected and debunks numerous fraudulent notions that persist about the day in question, including that JFK ordered agents off the rear of his limousine; demanded the removal of the bubble top that covered the vehicle; and was difficult to protect and somehow, directly or indirectly, made his own tragic death easier for an assassin or assassins. This book also thoroughly investigates the threats on the president’s life before traveling to Texas; the presence of unauthorized Secret Service agents in Dealey Plaza, the site of the assassination; the failure of the Secret Service in monitoring and securing the surrounding buildings, overhangs, and rooftops; and the surprising conspiratorial beliefs of several former agents. An important addition to the canon of works on JFK and his assassination, this study sheds light on the gross negligence and, in some cases, seeming culpability, of those sworn to protect the president.
730 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 1, 2013
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
September 18, 2014
It is rare to find someone who is astute at detailed research, intensive interviews of Secret Service agents, AND with a real talent for good writing... but Mr. Palamara has achieved all of this! Survivor's Guilt is a unique book from the foremost "civilian" expert on the Secret Service in general and the agents involved in the 1963 assassination and cover-up of the Kennedy assassination. If you want to see proof of government complicity in the crime of the century (especially in the post-crime cover-up), this book is essential. Every American should own it! -Dr. Lance Moore
October 26, 2013
AN ESSENTIAL HISTORY OF THE ASSASSINATION
Vince Palamara's exhaustive research, found in “Survivor's Guilt”, into the Secrete Service and it's role in the assassination of JFK, either by complacency or something more sinister has spanned the last 24 years of Mr Palamara's life. Simply put no-one has interviewed more agents involved in the case than Vince Palamara. The accuracy of his research and “willingness to tell it like is” has be praised by no less an authority as Former Reagan Secret Service chief Robert DeProspero. Even the most ardent of conspiracy deniers, Vincent Bugliosi, has acknowledged that Vince's work is “exhaustive, reasonably well researched”, and acknowledges he make's a strong case for the Secret Service's incompetence even if for him it did not add up to proving complicity in the murder.
Mr Palamara details changes that were inexplicably made to the protection of President Kennedy on that fateful day in Dallas. To note a few: Agents on the back of the car, escort by Police Motorcycles to the side of the Motorcade, and use of the bubble-top were frequent elements of his protection in other cities both in and out of the US but were absent in Dallas where JFK's popularity was low and hostility was openly expressed.
I have known the author for over 40 years. No-one has pursued the truth of this case more selflessly, for less personal profit and in a less prejudiced way than Vince. He started merely curious about the subject and was led by the Agent's own admissions to conclusions that were contrary to his initial preconceptions Ironically, I was personally present for a couple of the calls made to the agents involved in the case as they occurred from my home (“I still have my phone records Mr. Hill”) and can attest to the accuracy of what is stated here
While the book holds up amazingly well whether from the perspective of a “lone-nut” or a second shooter, it is essential to anyone's understanding the larger implications of what occurred to that day and the new America that was midwifed with those gunshots in November 1963.
Vince Palamara's exhaustive research, found in “Survivor's Guilt”, into the Secrete Service and it's role in the assassination of JFK, either by complacency or something more sinister has spanned the last 24 years of Mr Palamara's life. Simply put no-one has interviewed more agents involved in the case than Vince Palamara. The accuracy of his research and “willingness to tell it like is” has be praised by no less an authority as Former Reagan Secret Service chief Robert DeProspero. Even the most ardent of conspiracy deniers, Vincent Bugliosi, has acknowledged that Vince's work is “exhaustive, reasonably well researched”, and acknowledges he make's a strong case for the Secret Service's incompetence even if for him it did not add up to proving complicity in the murder.
Mr Palamara details changes that were inexplicably made to the protection of President Kennedy on that fateful day in Dallas. To note a few: Agents on the back of the car, escort by Police Motorcycles to the side of the Motorcade, and use of the bubble-top were frequent elements of his protection in other cities both in and out of the US but were absent in Dallas where JFK's popularity was low and hostility was openly expressed.
I have known the author for over 40 years. No-one has pursued the truth of this case more selflessly, for less personal profit and in a less prejudiced way than Vince. He started merely curious about the subject and was led by the Agent's own admissions to conclusions that were contrary to his initial preconceptions Ironically, I was personally present for a couple of the calls made to the agents involved in the case as they occurred from my home (“I still have my phone records Mr. Hill”) and can attest to the accuracy of what is stated here
While the book holds up amazingly well whether from the perspective of a “lone-nut” or a second shooter, it is essential to anyone's understanding the larger implications of what occurred to that day and the new America that was midwifed with those gunshots in November 1963.
January 18, 2014
The sole reason that I stuck with this book is because it is chock full of detailed information. Having said that, I must be honest and say that barely a quarter of the way into it, I was forced to start skimming. It was just too much work to read! It is liberally sprinkled with eye-glazing acronyms and over-seasoned with parenthetical phrases.
I have read dozens and dozens of books related to the JFK assassination over the past 40 years, so believe me--I am very much interested in the details! I frequently refer to footnotes, and as far as I am concerned, I never find minutiae to be tedious. Quite the contrary!
My problem with the book is that it was a slog to get through. A pity that the editing wasn't crisp.
I have read dozens and dozens of books related to the JFK assassination over the past 40 years, so believe me--I am very much interested in the details! I frequently refer to footnotes, and as far as I am concerned, I never find minutiae to be tedious. Quite the contrary!
My problem with the book is that it was a slog to get through. A pity that the editing wasn't crisp.
October 29, 2013
The best book by far on the Assassination of JFK. A critical analysis of the failure of the Secret Service to protect the President gives the reader a detailed account of what really happened. Congratulations to Vince Palamara for bringing this excellent research to the American people. Looking forward to his next book.
July 2, 2016
This is an exceptionally researched book about the perpetrations and intentional staging of the JFK motorcade route in Dallas on Nov. 22, 1963, when Kennedy was killed. It's amazing how many sources the author got to email or call him to answer questions, and how many people angrily refused his requests.
This, I believe, is the first major work on the Secret Service's culpability in the assassination, including the names of several suspected conspirators. The assassination couldn't have occurred without the blatant lack of protection of the president's limousine as it drove down Elm Street into the ambush. Several photos of other presidential motorcades show the huge difference in the lack of agents in place on Elm Street; the other photos show police or agents all standing facing the crowd as the car drives behind them. None of these were used in Dallas.
No discussion of Lee Harvey Oswald's participation or lack thereof in the assassination. Some sources think Oswald did it, but the House Committee on Assassinations in the seventies found evidence of a conspiracy, which was blithely ignored by sources that didn't want it to be true.
Some discussion of how the Secret Service, as is well-known, essentially illegally hijacked JFK's body from Parkland Hospital to prevent a local autopsy. Not much mention of how the shots strangely altered from front-to-back to back-to-front between Parkland and Washington, DC, in order to conform with the chosen narrative of one lone-nut killer firing from the Book Depository.
Lots of information about the Secret Service's lies about JFK's demanding that the SS riders on the limousine's back bumper be eliminated. That was a powerful lie going around at the time. Also the odd formation of no motorcycle cops immediately ahead of the president's car, and only two behind him, one of which was splashed by brain and blood when it happened.
Evidently a significant body of SS agents were disgusted by JFK's womanizing and decided he no longer had the right to live. This book lays out exactly what happened with the SS. Many other books have dealt with the fraudulent autopsy in Wash. DC, and the crossfire, etc. at Dealey Plaza. This book goes into the framing of SS agent Abraham Bolden by other SS members so they could conveniently find a black agent obstructing justice. Bolden had been outspoken in his criticism of the shoddiness of the Secret Service's work well before Dallas, and the SS wanted him out of the way and shut up before Dallas even happened.
Of the 50+ books on the JFK assassination that I've read, I'd put this one in the top five or six. It's particularly important because no one had previously examined the fault of the Secret Service in the entire sordid event.
I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who's trying to reach the level of the truth regarding the planning, purposeful negligence of the SS, execution of the president, and fraudulent autopsy results. The author has an enormous number of endnotes. I believe he's now considered one of the foremost of the Kennedy assassination researchers.
This, I believe, is the first major work on the Secret Service's culpability in the assassination, including the names of several suspected conspirators. The assassination couldn't have occurred without the blatant lack of protection of the president's limousine as it drove down Elm Street into the ambush. Several photos of other presidential motorcades show the huge difference in the lack of agents in place on Elm Street; the other photos show police or agents all standing facing the crowd as the car drives behind them. None of these were used in Dallas.
No discussion of Lee Harvey Oswald's participation or lack thereof in the assassination. Some sources think Oswald did it, but the House Committee on Assassinations in the seventies found evidence of a conspiracy, which was blithely ignored by sources that didn't want it to be true.
Some discussion of how the Secret Service, as is well-known, essentially illegally hijacked JFK's body from Parkland Hospital to prevent a local autopsy. Not much mention of how the shots strangely altered from front-to-back to back-to-front between Parkland and Washington, DC, in order to conform with the chosen narrative of one lone-nut killer firing from the Book Depository.
Lots of information about the Secret Service's lies about JFK's demanding that the SS riders on the limousine's back bumper be eliminated. That was a powerful lie going around at the time. Also the odd formation of no motorcycle cops immediately ahead of the president's car, and only two behind him, one of which was splashed by brain and blood when it happened.
Evidently a significant body of SS agents were disgusted by JFK's womanizing and decided he no longer had the right to live. This book lays out exactly what happened with the SS. Many other books have dealt with the fraudulent autopsy in Wash. DC, and the crossfire, etc. at Dealey Plaza. This book goes into the framing of SS agent Abraham Bolden by other SS members so they could conveniently find a black agent obstructing justice. Bolden had been outspoken in his criticism of the shoddiness of the Secret Service's work well before Dallas, and the SS wanted him out of the way and shut up before Dallas even happened.
Of the 50+ books on the JFK assassination that I've read, I'd put this one in the top five or six. It's particularly important because no one had previously examined the fault of the Secret Service in the entire sordid event.
I would HIGHLY recommend this book to anyone who's trying to reach the level of the truth regarding the planning, purposeful negligence of the SS, execution of the president, and fraudulent autopsy results. The author has an enormous number of endnotes. I believe he's now considered one of the foremost of the Kennedy assassination researchers.
November 29, 2017
I was slow to buy this book because I have the internet version of it released years ago. But this edition contains new, updated information. It really is a phenomenal piece of research, and I have to give Palamara a lot of credit for his diligence and persistence in getting former Secret Service agents and other key people to speak on the record. For many years he has made his research available for free on the internet, but it deserves to be preserved in printed form.
One of the points discussed in the book is something that I've always been troubled by: the last-minute cancellation of the photographers' vehicle (directly in front of the Presidential limo) which had been expected by newsmen that day at Love Field (Thomas Dillard of the Dallas Morning News: "We lost our position out at the airport. I understood we were supposed to have been quite a bit closer. We were assigned as the prime photographic car which, as you probably know, normally a truck precedes the President on these things and certain representatives of the photographic press ride with the truck. In this case, as you know, we didn't have any and this car that I was in was to take any photographs which was of spot-news nature...and the whole parade, the whole trip to town, I could only distinguish the President's car on very few occasions in high rises in the ground, when we got on hills. It was difficult because the people in the cars ahead of me were sitting on the backs of cars which pretty well covered the President's car for me. We had a very, very poor view of the President's car at any time from the time the parade started.") Instead, photographers were forced to scramble for rides farther back in the motorcade, where even the White House photographer could not do his job of photographing the President. Consequently, the only photographic witnesses to the assassination were those on foot in Dealey Plaza.
One of the points discussed in the book is something that I've always been troubled by: the last-minute cancellation of the photographers' vehicle (directly in front of the Presidential limo) which had been expected by newsmen that day at Love Field (Thomas Dillard of the Dallas Morning News: "We lost our position out at the airport. I understood we were supposed to have been quite a bit closer. We were assigned as the prime photographic car which, as you probably know, normally a truck precedes the President on these things and certain representatives of the photographic press ride with the truck. In this case, as you know, we didn't have any and this car that I was in was to take any photographs which was of spot-news nature...and the whole parade, the whole trip to town, I could only distinguish the President's car on very few occasions in high rises in the ground, when we got on hills. It was difficult because the people in the cars ahead of me were sitting on the backs of cars which pretty well covered the President's car for me. We had a very, very poor view of the President's car at any time from the time the parade started.") Instead, photographers were forced to scramble for rides farther back in the motorcade, where even the White House photographer could not do his job of photographing the President. Consequently, the only photographic witnesses to the assassination were those on foot in Dealey Plaza.
September 15, 2014
Survivor's Guilt is a unique work. While most JFK assassination books focus on one of two things 1) rehashing the Warren Report and trying to convince the reader that LHO was the lone assassin (despite there never being a trial and the legal right of presumption of innocence).
Or 2) Disproving the Warren Report. The first is done by those who stand to benefit by keeping the status quo and protecting the guilty. The Second endeavor is more valuable but still falls a bit short in terms of getting us closer to exactly what happened and who was involved.
That's where Survivor's Guilt is different. Instead of focusing on Lee Harvey Oswald or a faceless shooter on the grassy knoll, Palamara looks at the Secret Service and its activities that day (as well as before and after). He interviews over 80 agents and is THE expert on the subject. No other book to my knowledge has been totally devoted to researching the secret service as it pertains to the assassination. Examples of questionable behavior and suspicious activity are revealed and well documented in the work. In fact, several agents believe that there was in fact a conspiracy. Was the secret service incompetent that day or was it part of an inside job? Read Survivor's Guilt and judge for yourself.
Or 2) Disproving the Warren Report. The first is done by those who stand to benefit by keeping the status quo and protecting the guilty. The Second endeavor is more valuable but still falls a bit short in terms of getting us closer to exactly what happened and who was involved.
That's where Survivor's Guilt is different. Instead of focusing on Lee Harvey Oswald or a faceless shooter on the grassy knoll, Palamara looks at the Secret Service and its activities that day (as well as before and after). He interviews over 80 agents and is THE expert on the subject. No other book to my knowledge has been totally devoted to researching the secret service as it pertains to the assassination. Examples of questionable behavior and suspicious activity are revealed and well documented in the work. In fact, several agents believe that there was in fact a conspiracy. Was the secret service incompetent that day or was it part of an inside job? Read Survivor's Guilt and judge for yourself.
January 9, 2014
The depth of research from Palamara that has covered almost a quarter of a century to produce this book, fully earns the five star rating. With regard to the JFK assassination, 'Survivor's Guilt' is a veritable encyclopaedia of the Secret Service. The author has produced a truly authoritative and brilliant history of the S.S., it's personnel and it's MO through the Kennedy presidency, which reaches a crescendo of astounding facts that detail the 'stand down' of normal protection levels in Dallas.
Each chapter is concluded with the equally informative Endnotes that contain a vast amount of further material, add to this the enormous Bibliography, and I have to congratulate the publishers Trine Day for this 2013 addition to their collection in this genre.
Each chapter is concluded with the equally informative Endnotes that contain a vast amount of further material, add to this the enormous Bibliography, and I have to congratulate the publishers Trine Day for this 2013 addition to their collection in this genre.
June 2, 2025
Excellent book! Mr.Palamara doesn’t speculate, he has spent the time to investigate every SS agent by written and verbal interviews. This book really opens your eyes to the failure of the SS in their responsibilities of protecting JFK. Excellent read!
March 1, 2014
This book is excellently researched and footnoted, and makes a compelling case that several US Secret Service agents assigned to accompany JFK to Dallas in November 1963 were negligent, or worse, in protecting the President. Crucially, it raises the issue of whether one or more supervisory agents expressly directed their subordinates to leave JFK unguarded and unshielded at Dealey Plaza, thus giving the assassins a clear shot at the President, and strongly suggests an affirmative answer to that question. The writing is fairly strong for an essentially self-published JFK assassination book (I've slogged through many a JFK book in which the writing is cringeworthy). I hestitate to give it a higher rating, however, due to some slack copy-editing (typos, stray quotation marks and paretheses, etc.), and the tendency to repeat the same, long factual recitations several times throughout the book. The one substantive criticism that I have is more literary than forensic---Palamara's theory, which is quite credible, is that someone in the Secret Service (or the US Dept of Treasury) arranged for a bogus "security study" in Dallas to see how closely the President should have been guarded, which may have entailed instructing several agents that a staged, or fake, assassination attempt was part of the exercise, thus causing several agents to be pulled from or told to ignore their regular assignments and/or tasks just as the actual assassination was unfolding. However, unless I missed something, this theory is not expressly stated in the introductory chapters, but suddenly appears in the "conclusion" sections following each entry in the "roll call" of Secret Service participants. It would have been clearer had the author set out this proposition much earlier in the book. Other than that, this is a very useful addition to any JFK assassination library.
May 26, 2014
It is often said that the best way to contribute to the assassination debate is to focus on one issue. Authors as Bugliosi who tried to put everything in one book dramatically failed and increased the controversion en confusion. Authors who followed the rule suceeded, like e.g. Barry Ernest with the "Girl on the Stairs" or Dale Myers with his "With Malice" about the Tippit murder (to name also a Bugliosi-adept to remain fair to both sides of the debate).
This is why this is an important book. It has a focus on one aspect of the drama, researched it thoroughly, tries to be fair and complete. After having read the book, you know more, you have less unanswered questions.
This is what we should all do as researchers, looking for proven facts about details, and create common ground, undisputed pieces of the puzzle.
The book is clear and to the point, well written and interesting. Five stars plus.
This is why this is an important book. It has a focus on one aspect of the drama, researched it thoroughly, tries to be fair and complete. After having read the book, you know more, you have less unanswered questions.
This is what we should all do as researchers, looking for proven facts about details, and create common ground, undisputed pieces of the puzzle.
The book is clear and to the point, well written and interesting. Five stars plus.
September 18, 2014
As an investigative researcher Vince Palamara is a staggering talent. His work, "Survivor's Guilt", is not a conspiracy theory book - it is a recent history book. Based entirely on first-hand sources from those involved with President Kennedy in the Secret Service, Palamara has brought forth new revelations about the unprecedented breakdown of JFK's security in Dallas, and how this lack of protocol was intentional on the part of a few, rogue agents. The interviews conducted by Palamara with the many retired agents (who now are deceased) have proven to be indespensible. Thanks is owed to Mr. Palamara for this true, incredible story of shocking malfeasance. We, the people, are in his debt.
May 25, 2014
This is an excellent book. The amount of research and information is amazing. Excellent interviews with agents from President Kennedy's secret service. Totally exposes the downright failure of the organization to protect their client that day. I have read lots of books over the past year on the assassination and this was by far my favorite, and I might add Mr. Palamara's research has kept popping up in other great books I've read by other great authors like Mark Lane and James Douglass. Pick yourself up a copy of this book, you will not regret it!
January 5, 2015
Excellent factual book! Drawn from interviews and correspondence with many former Secret Service agents and years of dogged research in various archives, author Palamara has put together an impressive amount of information that demonstrates gross negligence and beyond. A must read!
January 4, 2015
Ridiculous conspiracy theory book....
September 16, 2014
As an author very familiar with the topic (I co-authored two books on the JFK assassination with Richard Belzer and one with Jesse Ventura), I know firsthand that this is one of the most important books to come along in a long time.
Vince Palamara is the foremost source for information regarding the U.S. Secret Service, especially in its specific relation to the assassination of President Kennedy.
This book covers aspects with which most people will at first be very unfamiliar; yet they are crucial to developing a full understanding of some extremely important components of contemporary history.
A Must-Have book. Great work and Five Stars all the way!
Vince Palamara is the foremost source for information regarding the U.S. Secret Service, especially in its specific relation to the assassination of President Kennedy.
This book covers aspects with which most people will at first be very unfamiliar; yet they are crucial to developing a full understanding of some extremely important components of contemporary history.
A Must-Have book. Great work and Five Stars all the way!
June 20, 2016
An excellent expose of a previously unexplored area of the JFK Assassination.
No one else has ever traveled in this uncharted world before. This book is a map to guide you and help you understand one particular government agency and the people running it. What is "supposed" to be done and what actually "is" done.
No one else has ever traveled in this uncharted world before. This book is a map to guide you and help you understand one particular government agency and the people running it. What is "supposed" to be done and what actually "is" done.
February 6, 2014
The authors premise that individual secret service members had prior knowledge and facilitated the assassination is an impossible stretch at best. But the book is interesting none-the-less. Well written and heavily researched. An important addition to the assassination literature
September 20, 2014
Well written book about the Secret Service in the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Vince Palamara is to be commended for such an astonishing work!
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews