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Secret Service agent says he almost shot Lyndon Johnson
Oct 21, 2010, 17:33 GMT
Washington - A retired Secret Service agent assigned to protect presidents has written a book in which he says he almost accidently shot Lyndon B Johnson hours after John F Kennedy was assasinated.
Gerald Blaine writes in the book The Kennedy Detail, due to hit US bookstores November 2, that the night after Kennedy's November 22, 1963 assasination, he was guarding the new president's Washington home.
Blaine, in the book co-written with journalist Lisa McCubbin, says he heard somone approaching from around the corner who had not been identified. Blaine says he picked up a sub-machine gun and prepared to fire.
'He'd expected the footsteps to retreat with the loud sound of the gun activating, but they kept coming closer. Blaine's heart pounded, his finger firmly on the trigger. 'Let me see your face, you bastard',' the book says, according to excerpts obtained by the Huntington Post.
'The new president of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, had just rounded the corner, and Blaine had the gun pointed directly at the man's chest. In the blackness of the night, Johnson's face went completely white.'
Blaine said 'a split second later' and he would have pulled the trigger.
'Blaine struggled to regain his composure as the reality of what had just happened washed over him,' the book says. 'Fourteen hours after losing a president, the nation had come chillingly close to losing another one.'
Blaine also goes into the details of the fateful day when the nation's 35th president was gunned down in Dallas, the subject of countless books, documentaries and conspiracy theories. Blaine provides details of the event, including the reactions of close family, other agents and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
Blaine also casts doubt on the long standing rumor that John Kennedy had an affair with Marilyn Monroe.
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Gerald Blaine writes in the book The Kennedy Detail, due to hit US bookstores November 2, that the night after Kennedy's November 22, 1963 assasination, he was guarding the new president's Washington home.
Blaine, in the book co-written with journalist Lisa McCubbin, says he heard somone approaching from around the corner who had not been identified. Blaine says he picked up a sub-machine gun and prepared to fire.
'He'd expected the footsteps to retreat with the loud sound of the gun activating, but they kept coming closer. Blaine's heart pounded, his finger firmly on the trigger. 'Let me see your face, you bastard',' the book says, according to excerpts obtained by the Huntington Post.
'The new president of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson, had just rounded the corner, and Blaine had the gun pointed directly at the man's chest. In the blackness of the night, Johnson's face went completely white.'
Blaine said 'a split second later' and he would have pulled the trigger.
'Blaine struggled to regain his composure as the reality of what had just happened washed over him,' the book says. 'Fourteen hours after losing a president, the nation had come chillingly close to losing another one.'
Blaine also goes into the details of the fateful day when the nation's 35th president was gunned down in Dallas, the subject of countless books, documentaries and conspiracy theories. Blaine provides details of the event, including the reactions of close family, other agents and first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.
Blaine also casts doubt on the long standing rumor that John Kennedy had an affair with Marilyn Monroe.
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