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The Secret Service Agent Who Tried to Save JFK Dies at 93

Clint Hill’s attempt to save President Kennedy was recorded in Abraham Zapruder’s eerie video of the assassination.

Clint Hill, the renowned Secret Service agent who leapt onto John F. Kennedy’s limousine when he was assassinated, died on Friday at age 93. On Nov. 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald fired on Kennedy in Dallas, Texas with Hill jumping onto the president’s car to try and save him. The graphic assassination was captured on film by Abraham Zapruder, which documented Hill’s futile efforts to save Kennedy in a chilling video. Although he received awards, promotions, and accolades for his efforts, he blamed himself throughout his life. Hill retired early, tormented by his memories and inability to save Kennedy. In a 60 Minutes interview in 1975, Hill cried while telling CBS’s Mike Wallace “If I had reacted just a little bit quicker. And I could have, I guess... I’ll live with that to my grave.” He added that he would have taken the bullet for Kennedy if he had the chance. After the traumatic incident, Hill was put in charge of the White House protective detail and later made an assistant director of the Secret Service. He was scarred by flashbacks and retired at the age of 43, only 12 years after the assassination. After his interview with Wallace, he began to finally come to terms with the assassination and ultimately began to recover.