Jacqueline Kennedy remains one of the most enduring figures in American history, a first lady whose style, intelligence, and composure made her a global icon. Yet much of what the public knows about her comes from photographs, newsreels, and Hollywood portrayals. One man knew her far better than most: Clint Hill, the Secret Service agent assigned to protect her.
Hill was already an experienced agent when he received the assignment. He had spent the early 1960s protecting President Dwight D. Eisenhower and traveling the world as part of his security team. When he was told he would be reassigned to the first lady, he was not pleased.
He recalled the moment in a 2013 interview with North Dakota Living magazine. After an intensive interview, he was advised that he would be assigned to Mrs. Kennedy. His reaction was one of disappointment.
Hill explained that he had seen what life was like for agents assigned to Bess Truman, Mamie Eisenhower, and other first ladies. To him, it meant tea parties and fashion shows. He assumed the assignment would be dull and wanted no part of it.
He was wrong. Hill later called it the best assignment anyone could have ever had, because Jackie was so happy and because they did so many different things together.
Jackie Kennedy was never going to be a quiet, submissive first lady. Even before she married John F. Kennedy, she was known for her wit, intelligence, style, and beauty. She was ambitious as well. When she graduated from high school in 1947, she recorded a life goal in her yearbook that was not to be a housewife.
Once in the White House, she set about transforming the role of the president's wife. One of her first major projects was a massive effort to restore the White House to its former glory. She believed its historical importance had been forgotten over the years.
In a 1961 interview with Life magazine, Jackie lamented that the thousands of annual visitors touring the historic building could see practically nothing dating back before 1948. She insisted that everything in the White House must have a reason for being there. She rejected the word "redecorate," calling it sacrilege, and said the work must be a restoration and a question of scholarship.
Her project succeeded on every level. She started a committee dedicated to preserving historical White House artifacts and had important pieces restored and put on display. She also worked on the Oval Office, and she is a large part of the reason it looks as grand as it does today. Arguably, her main career during her White House years was that of preservationist.
She was involved in preservation issues overseas as well, work that enhanced America's standing in the world. She even won an honorary Emmy Award for hosting a television special about the restored White House.
Despite her efforts to improve the president's residence, Jackie was not particularly interested in politics. By most accounts, she tended not to accompany her husband on public appearances. According to Hill, she was utterly devoted to raising her young children.
Hill described her as a very dedicated, devoted mother who wanted Caroline and John to grow up as unspoiled as possible. He always said that was not possible, since they were the children of a president, but she tried in every way to make sure they did not become spoiled.
The Secret Service agents played a role in that effort. Hill remembered that Jackie made sure the agents around her did not help the children get up if they fell down. If the children had a problem like that, it was something they had to handle themselves. She wanted them kept safe, but she asked the agents to allow them as much natural growth as possible.
Hill admired Jackie a great deal. He noted that whenever they went overseas, she attracted large crowds. The president might draw 50,000 people at an event, but when she was with him, the crowd would double to 100,000. The agent described her star power as a definite diplomatic asset for the United States.
It probably goes without saying that Jackie's life has long interested Hollywood. The story of her time in the White House, which came to such an infamously tragic end, has often been played out on screen. Actresses including Katie Holmes, Jacqueline Bisset, Jennifer Goodwin, and Natalie Portman have all portrayed her.
Of those performances, Portman's is probably the best known today. She starred in the 2016 film Jackie, directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Noah Oppenheim. Portman, already highly acclaimed, earned her second Academy Award nomination for playing the grieving Mrs. Kennedy.
In 2017, Portman spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about the difficulties of playing a famous historical figure. She said it is different if the subject is still alive, because then you have a responsibility to them. She suggested it was freeing in a way to know that Jackie would not watch the film.
One person was not so sure about the much-praised movie: Clint Hill. He had witnessed many of the events the film depicted, and he did not feel it captured the real Jackie Kennedy at all.
In 2017, Hill told the i newspaper about his issues with the film. He said he walked away shaking his head because of the inaccuracies. He objected that the filmmakers made Jackie seem like a chain smoker when she was not. She did smoke, he said, but it was not continuous. He also said they invented that she drank heavily, which she did not.
Hill was angry that the filmmakers had invented scenes as well. He told the magazine that they had Jackie coming to him and asking a question about the assassination, specifically what caliber gun it was. That never happened, he said. Unsurprisingly, Hill still vividly remembers all the details of that event.
His issue was not with Portman's actual performance. The former agent told The Hollywood Reporter that she did a remarkable job, especially in her speaking. He said he knew it had to have been very difficult and that she must have worked very hard. He added that it would be great if she could win the Oscar. In the event, Portman missed out, with Emma Stone winning for La La Land.
Actor David Caves plays Hill in Jackie, but he does not get a lot of screen time. Hill expressed frustration about that in the interview, saying that from the time the assassination occurred through to the funeral, he was with Jackie every waking moment. He also added that Oppenheim had not consulted him about the screenplay.
Hill said he was really Jackie's confidant and that they were very, very close. He described their relationship as wonderful and very professional, and said they discussed many things. When she went to Italy in 1962, she took no staff with her except her personal assistant, her maid, and him. He ended up being her social secretary, her press secretary, and her ambassador.
Many years after Jackie's death, Hill continues to write about her, the relationship they shared, and life at the White House when the Kennedys were there. His books include Five Days in November and Mrs. Kennedy and Me. He also talks in interviews about the woman he saw when the cameras were off.
In 2013, when asked to describe his former friend, Hill told North Dakota Living that most people saw Mrs. Kennedy as a Barbie doll sitting on a pedestal. That was not who she was, he said. She was really down-to-earth, a very elegant and classy lady, but she had a very bawdy sense of humor.
She had plenty of hobbies outside her restoration work, too. Hill remembered her as very active and athletic. She loved to ride horses and was an excellent horsewoman. She loved to water-ski, play golf, play tennis, and walk. It kept him on his toes.
While protecting Jackie, Hill may have even invented a new cocktail along the way. The drink, a double Campari, a single vodka, soda, ice, and an orange slice, was apparently created by Hill himself in 1962 when he accompanied the first lady on a sailboat vacation on Italy's Amalfi Coast.
Hill now has an Instagram account, where he often shares stories about Jackie. In May 2019, he made a post marking the 25th anniversary of her death from cancer. His own mother had passed away on the exact same date 20 years before Jackie, so the day carried a lot of significance for him.
On that landmark date, Hill wrote that he was fortunate to know Mrs. Kennedy on a personal level. He said he had fond memories of their time together in India, Pakistan, Morocco, Italy, and France, as well as Palm Beach, Hyannis Port, and Middleburg, Virginia. He added that he could still see the joy on her face as she rode her favorite horse across the Virginia countryside.