THE brave Secret Service agent who leapt onto John F Kennedy’s limousine after he was assassinated has died at the age of 93.
Clint Hall passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his wife after spending decades haunted by the deadly shooting.
Clint passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his wife after spending decades haunted by the deadly shooting[/caption]
A photo taken minutes before JFK was shot dead in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963[/caption]
In November 1963 Clint was assigned to protect the president’s wife, Jacqueline Kennedy as they rode a motorcade through Dallas, Texas.
Hill was riding on the side of a car behind the Kennedy’s limousine.
After the first shots rang out – directly hitting Kennedy – Clint heroically dived towards Jacqueline and climbed into the limo as the shooting continued.
An iconic image of Clint hanging onto the car as it sped away from the horrified crowds was later shown after footage of the assassination was released.
Clint, originally from North Dakota, served in the Army prior to joining the Secret Service in 1958.
He was given an award for his actions in Dallas and eventually rose to become assistant director of the Secret Service.
However the trauma he experienced during the assassination led him to retire early from the agency in 1975, at the age of 43.
He had become convinced that he could have saved Kennedy’s life and shortly after his retirement told CBS 60 Minutes that he felt responsible.
“If I had reacted about five-tenths of a second faster, maybe a second faster, I wouldn’t be here today,” Hill said.
“You mean you would have gotten there and you would have taken the shot?” asked interviewer Mike Wallace.
“Yes, sir… That would have been fine with me,” Hill responded.
“I have a great deal of guilt about that,” he said. “Had I turned in a different direction, I’d have made it. It’s my fault.”
As the years went by, the former Secret Service agent later told a documentary, he returned to Dallas, eventually coming to the conclusion he could not have saved Kennedy’s life.
Hill met journalist Lisa McCubbin in 2009 and collaborated on a bestselling memoir, Mrs Kennedy and Me.
It was the first of a series of books and Hill and McCubbin fell in love. The couple married in 2021.
