Tow #3 "Mrs. Kennedy and Me" (IRB)

Emily Moyer

Tow #3 “Mrs. Kennedy and Me” (IRB)

September 21, 2014

APELC

Mrs. Kennedy and Me

            Clint Hill, a retired member of the United States Secret Service, shares his time serving socialite and first lady Mrs. Kennedy in his book Mrs. Kennedy and Me. Clint Hill not only worked as a Secret Service agent, but he also was the assistant director of the Secret Service. He wrote his book along with the help of Lisa McCubbin who previously wrote The Kennedy Detail, an award-winning and New York Times bestseller.

            The fascination of Mrs. Kennedy has grown since her role as First Lady. As a close member in her life, Clint Hill writes his memoir for those who want to know more about Mrs. Kennedy’s life. Mr. Hill insightfully shared his time with Mrs. Kennedy to allow readers to see the portrayal of Mrs. Kennedy other than a socialite, but the realness of her being a mother. Mr. Hill provides for such knowledge through short personal experiences with her, anecdotes.

            While Mr. Kennedy was focused on the children of the world, Mrs. Kennedy was always fearful for her two children John and Caroline. After the assignment of Secret Service agents, Mrs. Kennedy shares with Hill, “I’m just so worried about Caroline and John growing up in such a restricted environment. I want them to have as normal a childhood as possible” (Hill 34). Likewise, Hill included his experience with Mrs. Kennedy at their secretive home Glen Ora. In speaking of Kennedy, he shares, “In fact, Mrs. Kennedy was usually doing what she loved- spending time with her children and riding, and always trying to keep out of the public eye” (Hill 50). In sharing his own personal time with Mrs. Kennedy, Hill negates the common portrayals of Mrs. Kennedy. To the public, she is often seen as a socialite and fashion icon, however, Mr. Hill sees her entirely different. In letting the audience know of their time together, the readers acknowledge that most of her time was spent focusing on the safety and growing of her children, not the media. Readers learn from Mr. Hill’s personal accounts that she actually despised the restricted privacy her family was faced with. Mr. Hill effectively included his personal anecdotes with Mrs. Kennedy. In knowing her first hand, he is able to portray her in a way that the media and pictures cannot. Their conversations change viewers perspectives that she is just a socialite, but rather she is a mother first who cares little for growing publicity.