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 US 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 narrates the story of Emmett’s journey in this coveted job—from the application process to his retirement as assistant to the special agent in charge on the elite Presidential Protective Division (PPD). Here he discusses some of his more high-profile assignments in his twenty-one years of service, including the PPD and the Counter Assault Team where he provided arm’s length protection worldwide for Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush, William Jefferson Clinton, and George W. Bush.
This memoir describes the professional challenges faced by Secret Service agents as well as the physical and emotional toll that can be inflicted on both agents and their families. Within Arm’s Length also shares firsthand details about the duties and challenges of conducting presidential advances, dealing with the media, driving the president in a bullet-proof limousine, running alongside him through the streets of Washington, and flying with him on Air Force One.
With fascinating anecdotes, Emmett weaves keen insight into the unique culture and history of the Secret Service.
While on PPD, one of the most important missions I helped perform was running alongside President Clinton. My job was not to be his running buddy, but to keep him from getting killed while running through Washington, DC, either by assassins or traffic.
Prior to Bill Clinton’s presidency, no president in the history of the United States had engaged in any serious physical fitness activities. President Reagan took naps and rode horses for relaxation, and President Bush forty-one played tennis and golf, and ran on very rare occasions, usually only at Kennebunkport, Maine, the family compound.
Most pre-Clinton PPD agents were generally healthy, and their weight was in proportion to their height, but most did not work out to any great extent. Up until Clinton and the relatively new threat of terrorist attack, PPD had been largely a gentleman’s assignment, where looking the part combined with proper instincts and reactions was almost all that was needed. The responsibilities of the PPD agent, which had always included being perfectly groomed, were about to expand to also being physically fit. Agents would now be required to run as far as three miles with the president wearing a gun and radio.
Dan Emmett earned a master’s degree from Troy University. A former captain in the US Marine Corps, he worked twenty-one years as a special agent in the US Secret Service. Emmett is currently an adjunct professor and security consultant. He lives with his family in the southeastern United States.
Former Secret Service agent Dan Emmett, author of "Within Arm's Length", is to be commended on putting together a refreshing take on a well-worn subject as of late: the United States Secret Service. While many of the books written by former agents are ghost-written, dry, dull, and are often dated, Emmett's is exciting, never boring, compelling, and employed no co-author or ghost-writer; this work is solely his own. After the recent debacle of best-selling author Ronald Kessler's dubious tome "In The President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect", a book that seemingly betrayed the trust of the agents, past and present, that the author took into his confidence, littering the literary landscape with dubious tawdry tales of presidential sex, alleged agency incompetence, or worse, Emmett's book will be embraced by scholars, the public and, perhaps most important of all, his colleagues.
Someone needed to take up the mantle and do away with all the controversy, poor writing, myopic outlook, and compromising information out there on the Secret Service and write a book the agency would be proud of AND that would also appeal to the lay public, as well. Dan Emmett took up the quest and succeeded admirably. In short, "Within Arm's Length" is the antidote to Kessler, McCarthy, and all the silly and overwrought books and television specials that violate the agency's code of being Worthy of Trust and Confidence. If there was a literary Medal of Valor the Secret Service could award Emmett for his book, they should hold the ceremony tomorrow. Emmett's book truly reads like he had this epiphany: "I have had enough with Kessler, the hero worship, the gossip, the untruths, and all the crap---here is the TRUE story of an agent without the junk... and no compromising information, dammit!" Mission accomplished.
In short, Dan Emmett provides the reader with the nuts and bolts without giving away the game, so to speak.
"Within Arm's Length" grabs the reader from the very first sentence and doesn't ever let up.
"Within Arm's Length" is, without question, the best book ever written about the Secret Service: current, well-written, classy, very informative, but, most importantly, does not indulge in hero worship of presidents or reveal "inside secrets" or other compromising details. In short, "WITHIN ARM'S LENGTH" makes you feel like you are THERE! Emmett is a great guy with an impressive background who truly represents the valor of the Secret Service. Emmett has given a blueprint for all agents---past, present, and future---to follow and admire. Worthy of Trust & Confidence indeed! Dan Emmett is an example of a great American.
Vince Palamara, literary Secret Service expert
Vince Palamara
Dan Emmett has hit a literary home run with "Within Arm's Length": simply put, this is the best book ever written on the Secret Service. What's more, Emmett knows about what he is writing about, having served in the agency from 1983-2004. Get this asap! Best book on the agency since 1865 and the book of the year!
Rick Upchurch