Clint Hill, Secret Service Agent Who Risked His Life to Protect JFK, Dies at 93

Mar. 15, 2025

Clint Hill, a former Secret Service agent who witnessed the Kennedy assassination.Photo:Tom Pennington/Getty

Former U.S. Secret Service Agent Clint Hill, who was assigned to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and was in the presidential motorcade during the assassination of U.S. President Kennedy, talks to the media outside the JFK Tribute on November 22, 2013 in Fort Worth, Texas.

Tom Pennington/Getty

Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent who risked his life on Nov. 22, 1963, in an attempt to protect then-PresidentJohn F. Kennedyand first ladyJacqueline Kennedy, died on Friday, Feb. 21. He was 93 years old.

Hill’s wife, Lisa McCubbin Hill, confirmed his death on Monday, Feb. 24, writing, “He was the epitome of a gentleman. Humble, selfless, confident, brave, an encyclopedia of knowledge and experience about the 20th century until now. He knew history because he lived it.”

Hill was assigned to Jackie Kennedy’s security detail in 1960, and accompanied the first couple to Dallas on their fateful1963 campaign trip. On Nov. 22, he was in the motorcade — just behind the president’s limousine — as they made their way to the Dallas Trade Mart where the president was scheduled to give a speech.

When a shot rang out, he kept his eyes trained on the president, who then grabbed his throat and fell to his left. Hill jumped off of his vehicle and then ran to the presidential limousine amid gunfire. He leapt onto the car, attempting to form a barrier between the gunman and the first couple, risking his life to save theirs.

Clint Hill jumps onto the Kennedys' limousine on Nov. 22, 1963, after the president is shot.ZAPRUDER FILM 1967 (Renewed 1995) The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

FREELANCE 380131.JPG FREELANCE 1BA4E2CD FREELANCE 1B9CAA6E Zapruder film frame 371 of Kennedy assassination showing blurred Jackie Kennedy climbing to back of open car, mortally wounded Pres. in back seat & bullet-hit Gov. Connally in middle) as secret serviceman climbs aboard. ZAPRUDER FILM Nov 22nd 1963 Photo credit: Zapruder Film © 1967 (Renewed 1995) The Sixth Floor Museum At Dealey Plaza LIFE FREELANCE Zapruder Film/Life Magazine FOR CLEARENCE TO USE ZAPRUDER FILM CONTACT Megan P. Bryant Director of Collections & Intellectual Property The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza 411 Elm Street Dallas, TX 75202-3308 Phone: 214.747.6660 ext. 5519 Fax: 214.747.6662 Website: www.jfk.org

In his most recent book,My Travels with Mrs. Kennedy, Hill revealed that he was so overwrought with guilt in the weeks after JFK’s assassination that he contemplated suicide

In December of 1963, Hill, who was the lead agent on Jackie’s detail, traveled to Palm Beach, Fla., to accompany the first lady and her two young children,CarolineandJohn, while they visited with the Kennedy family.

Jackie Kennedy and Clint Hill.AP/Shutterstock

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Uncredited/AP/Shutterstock (7351606a) Jackie Kennedy, Clint Hill Jacqueline B. Kennedy and Secret Service agent Clint J. Hill are seen in August 1962 on the sailing yacht “Agneta” owned by Gianni Agnelli off the coast of Italy Jackie Kennedy, I, Italy

On that trip, he recounted one night when he could not escape the horrors of the assassination. “Guilt and anguish consumed me. All I could think about was Dallas. I was running as fast as I could, my arm reaching for the handholds on the trunk but it was like my legs were in quicksand. Mrs. Kennedy climbing out of the back seat, her terrified eyes looking but not seeing me, like I wasn’t there.”

Over the roar of the waves, he heard someone call his name, and suddenly a Palm Beach police officer was dragging him out of the ocean.

Revealing the truth years later, he said, was somewhat cathartic. “Somehow, there is a sense of freedom in no longer keeping that darkness to myself,” he wrote. “People will judge me, I’m sure. But no one — no one — has ever walked in my shoes.”

Clint Hill, left, accompanies the Kennedy family at JFK’s funeral mass.AP/Shutterstock

Mandatory Credit: Photo by AP/Shutterstock (5989532a) President John F. Kennedy’s widow and his brothers arrive for the funeral Mass at St. Matthew’s Cathedral in Washington, . In front are Robert F. Kennedy, Jacqueline Kennedy, and Edward M. Kennedy. In between and behind Robert and Mrs. Kennedy is Sargent Shriver. President and Mrs. Lyndon Johnson are in the background. Others are unidentifed JFK Funeral November 25, 1963, Washington, USA

Hill, who joined the Secret Service in 1958, served five presidents: Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard M. Nixon, and Gerald Ford. He was a witness to history, and would always be remembered for his courage on Nov. 22, 1963.

In a commemorative edition of his bookFive Days in November— his firsthand account of the assassination, co-written with his wife — Hillcountered conspiracy theoriesthat have long surrounding the assassination.

Speaking to PEOPLE, he said he was one of “very few people left who were present that day,“noting, “we’ll all be gone soon and there will be no one left to tell the facts.”

“I thought it was important to get this out there — the factual documentation of what happened on Nov. 22, 1963.”

Clint Hill, center, keeps an eye on Jackie and John F. Kennedy during their 1963 Texas trip.Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collect

Image

Still, 60 years after that day, the memories were never far away.

As he told PEOPLE in 2023: “There’s never been any closure. I’m reminded of it every day, whether it’s a photograph or a magazine or newspaper.”

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“I should have done more,” Hill continued. “I should have gotten there quickly, but I know I’m not faster than a speeding bullet. But that causes me guilt that is difficult to live with.”

source: people.com

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