Confessions of an Ex-Secret Service Agent

by Marty Venker and George Rush

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1556110545
• ISBN13: 9781556110542
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 298 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Marty Venker, the rebel who reluctantly did his duty

As the leading civilian authority on the U.S. Secret Service, I get a kick out of Marty Venker: he is alot like one of his evident heroes, Brooks Keller (the wild former agent chronicled briefly in both his book and Dennis McCarthy's). Venker's book, actually 'written' by George Rush, is a funny yet informative chronicle of a square peg in a round hole---Venker, the wild child, trying to conform to rigid, structured, pressure-packed duty as a Special Agent. The lack of an index will frustrate you (at least in the paperback), but there are many nice nuggets and anecdotes to be found here. Get this at once!

A Private Life in the Secret Service

George Rush was asked to work on an article, and met Marty Venker. They turned on the tape recorder and listened to his memories. The result was an article for 'Roling Stone'. More talks and recordings led to this book. Seventeen chapters cover his experiences over the ten years in the Secret Service during the 1970s, and afterwards.Page 53 tells of his undercover work in Kansas City. He wore jeans to pretend he was a demonstrator and infiltrate the crowd. He was then beaten with night sticks! Page 57 tells of the agent who protected LBJ in Dallas. Nixon subjected him to petty harassment until he resigned. In 1972 the Secret Service protected candidate Dr. Benjamin Spock, who was also listed as a "potential threat" (p.60). Information from an agent guarding Sen McGovern was passed to the White House (p.61). This hurt their morale. Chapter 7 gives his experience on guarding foreign dignitaries. Chapter 8 tells of guarding Presidential candidates. Its who you know, not what you know (p.118). Pages 131-2 tell of guarding the President in foreign countries. Page 159 gives his idea on the source for Woodward & Bernstein: a disgruntled ex-agent. Page 192 tells how the agents gave Tricia Nixon's plants special care!When the pressure piled too high, Marty quit while working in Vienna in the middle of a trip. He suffered from a post-traumatic stress disorder. His interest in music led to his work as a DJ. Can music be as addictive as alcohol or opiates? Or a form of Pavlovian conditioning? As I read the last chapters, I wondered what his fate would be.

Funny!

This book is really funny, and a good look at a agency that really has too much time on its hands outside of election season.