Through Five Administrations: Inside the White House
by Colonel William H. Cook
It’s a good bet that a book written by President Lincoln’s bodyguard will have some juicy tidbits in it – namely, how he failed at his job. However, not only was the author of this tell-all a very bad bodyguard, but he kept his position and continued to “protect” four other presidents.
A very short book, it’s easy to believe this was once a series of interviews or diary entries strung together by his descendants to late make some money off the growing popularity of political memoirs. Don’t expect eloquent writing, but instead anecdotal stories from his observations of different presidents.
I found it most interesting that his duties weren’t really taken seriously. There was more than one instance when he was approached by a suspicious character, agitated and demanding to see the president. Instead of searching their person for weapons or immediately escorting them from the premises, he merely reported to the president that someone urgently wanted to see him. What a terrible bodyguard! In a couple of those occurrences, the person actually did turn violent, so the author was called upon to restrain him; but wouldn’t it have been better to have prevented the attack in the first place?
If you’re a history enthusiast who likes to read everything presidential, you can read this memoir. I prefer Upstairs at the White House, which is lengthy, detailed, coherent, and entertaining.
A very short book, it’s easy to believe this was once a series of interviews or diary entries strung together by his descendants to late make some money off the growing popularity of political memoirs. Don’t expect eloquent writing, but instead anecdotal stories from his observations of different presidents.
I found it most interesting that his duties weren’t really taken seriously. There was more than one instance when he was approached by a suspicious character, agitated and demanding to see the president. Instead of searching their person for weapons or immediately escorting them from the premises, he merely reported to the president that someone urgently wanted to see him. What a terrible bodyguard! In a couple of those occurrences, the person actually did turn violent, so the author was called upon to restrain him; but wouldn’t it have been better to have prevented the attack in the first place?
If you’re a history enthusiast who likes to read everything presidential, you can read this memoir. I prefer Upstairs at the White House, which is lengthy, detailed, coherent, and entertaining.