I first learned about this account, by the 'other' Secret Service agent assigned to protect First Lady Jackie Kennedy, on Clint Hill's Instagram account. Apparently, Mr Hill, who worked closely with Paul Landis until the latter resigned in 1964, disagrees with his former colleague's version of events, but both men seem open and honest about that fateful day in November 1963, and really, whose memory is strong enough to recount every single detail after sixty years? Landis just took a lot longer to tell his story.

Landis covers his early life in Ohio, pootling across the country and visiting various landmarks, before becoming one of the youngest Secret Service agents at 24. He started on 'kiddie detail' for Eisenhower's grandchildren and then moved onto guarding Caroline and John Jr in 1960. He joined Clint Hill in 1961 and the pair of them were responsible for shadowing Jackie around the White House, Hyannis, Wexford, New York - and Italy and Greece, which Landis obviously relished!

He was also there, on the opposite rear side of the follow up car to Clint Hill, on 22 November in Dallas, and witnessed the fatal shot. He didn't throw himself on the presidential limousine, like Clint Hill, but did perform an equally historic act - or a stupid one, in hindsight. Landis found the 'missing bullet', intact, buried in the back seat of the car behind Jackie, and pocketed the vital piece of evidence. Only instead of reporting his find, or handing the bullet in, he left it on the gurney in the hospital, by the President's feet. Or so he claims; Clint Hill disputes his word, and his decision, even supposing he was in shock and had PTSD, doesn't make a lot of sense.

Mr Landis, in his late 80s, comes across as honest and affable, and provides various well-known anecdotes from his point of view, with some personal photographs to back up his memoirs. I like that he admits to sobbing on the plane after the assassination and that he had to quit the Secret Service a year later because he couldn't handle the stress anymore - and he was only 29 when he quit! A very human account, with all the gaps and flaws of memory. ( )

THE FINAL WITNESS was not at all what I expected. The part of the story about the Texas and the Kennedy assassination does not begin until page 131.
The book is a rather detailed story of Paul Landis’s life and work. He became a Secret Service Agent in 1959 at age 24. His first major assignment was covering the Eisenhower grandchildren. After that he worked with the Kennedy children and later with Jackie Kennedy.
He writes about the relationship among the agents and the requirements of the job. At that time the major focus was for the treasury department. When he moved to the security section, the hours were long and the agents usually roomed together. They traveled a lot. They were responsible for paying for their lodging and food. The per-diem was $12 a day. If they were lucky, they would get very much reduced rates for their hotel rooms. When they worked in the White House, the night shifts were very boring. Quite often they were seated in an empty hallway and were not able to read to fill the time.
Landis was the Secret Agent who let Caroline Kennedy ride her horse, Macaroni, into the Oval Office to see her father.
He was with Jackie in early August 1963 when she went into to early labor with her son, Patrick, who died next morning.
In October, Jackie and her sister spent a month in Greece at the invitation of Aristotle Onassis.
A few weeks later, Landis was in the Dallas motorcade, right behind the convertible carrying the Kennedys and Texas Governor and Mrs. John, Connally. He heard three shots fired at the motorcade and immediately ran to the vehicle. He remained with Jackie until she returned to DC.
He was never questioned by investigators about what he had seen and heard. The memory of the nightmare remained with him and he resigned six months later.
Landis provides a lot slight details about the places he got to visit while he was on duty as well as some information about the activities that were going on.
I found some of the information in the book rather surprising. I didn’t realize how much time the First Families spent way from DC. I was also surprised by what Jackie did while she was gone, a lot of shopping, especially when she went to Greece after after Patrick’s death,. While she was mourning the loss of her son, she abandoned her husband and children for a month.
It took decades for Landis to talk about his experiences. While the book hypes the third bullet, it really doesn’t answer any questions.
Most of the book is an autobiography of Landis‘s life. While there are many long descriptions of many minor encounters and activities early on, they could have been omitted without losing anything. ( )

Special Agent Paul Landis was in the follow up car during President Kennedy’s assassination. He will never forget his experience or the trauma he suffered because of this reality. This is the story of his eyewitness account and his life as an agent.

I fluctuated between 3-4 stars on this one. This is more of a 3.5 star read. So I rounded up. I expected so much more about the assassination. I felt there were quite a few inconsistencies. For instance, the bullet found by the author but never really turned into anyone or discussed in detail with the powers that be. He just placed it on the gurney.

I did enjoy learning about his role in guarding the grandchildren of President Eisenhower and the Kennedy family. The information about the general lives of the Kennedys is also fascinating. It is the best part of the book! This book is more about Paul Landis’ life as an agent rather than the assassination.

This is narrated by Lane Hakel. He definitely kept the story moving.

Need a good book about the life of a Secret Service agent…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review. ( )