Within Arm's Length: A Secret Service Agent's Definitive Inside Account of Protecting the President

Written by Dan Emmett

Narrated by Kevin Foley

Dan Emmett was just eight years old when President John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The events surrounding the president's death shaped the course of young Emmett's life as he set a goal of becoming a U.S. Secret Service agent-one of a special group of people willing to trade their lives for that of the president, if necessary.

Within Arm's Length is a revealing and compelling inside look at the Secret Service and the elite Presidential Protective Division (PPD). Using stories from some of the author's more high-profile assignments in his twenty-one years of service, Emmett describes the professional, physical, and emotional challenges faced by Secret Service agents. Included are never-before-discussed topics such as the complicated relationship between presidents, first ladies, and their agents; the inner workings of Secret Service protective operations; and the seldom-mentioned challenges of the complex Secret Service cultural issues faced by an agent's family.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Aug 26, 2014
• ISBN: 9781494574840

Dan Emmett

After a stint in the Marine Corps, DAN EMMETT joined the United States Secret Service, serving on the elite Counter Assault Team before being selected for the most coveted of all assignments in the Secret Service, the Presidential Protective Division. After 21 years as an agent, Emmett retired from the Secret Service and today is an adjunct professor as well as a security consultant for both private industry and the United States Government. Emmett is the author of Within Arm's Length and it's YA adaptation, I Am a Secret Service Agent.

Reviews for Within Arm's Length

[wearylibrarian · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The author does not discuss the character of the First Families, rather he takes the reader through his Secret Service training to his retirement from the CIA. It's a great behind the scenes revelation-without revealing any secrets.

[mhanover10 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this very interesting as I have always wondered about the people who sign up to be a secret service agent. If you are interested in what is involved with these agents, then read this book. I listened to the audiobook and really enjoyed it better than reading the printed version.