Talk:Clint Hill (Secret Service)

Death
This article doesn't say if he's dead or not. All it says is 'was', and does not give a date of death. I'm going to assume he's still alive. &Oslash;&#345; ê   &#333;&#351;  00:52, 14 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Clint Hill is very much alive. At the time of this writing (2011) he is approximately 79 years old. When the presidential limousine arrived at Parkland Memorial Hospital it contained seven people. Clint Hill is the last living occupant - this is also mentioned on Nellie Connally's page. See the table below. --Bapaveza (talk) 20:23, 10 September 2011 (UTC)

Inconsistency
Article says he was on the running board of the car behind, picture says he was on the motorcycle in the picture. Can someone clarify which one it was? --Kevin W. 03:36, 8 March 2007 (UTC)

He's the man standing on the running board of the car behind. I have changed the picture caption to clarify this. The motorcycle officer is not a secret service agent but rather is a member of the Dallas Police Department. --Bapaveza (talk) 16:57, 13 January 2008 (UTC)

He gave an interview to the BBC, broadcast on the 1st of December 2010. Presumably this was recorded shortly before the broadcast as the show it went out on is live. This is the link, would it be worth putting the link into the article? There doesn't seem to be a time limit on how long the audio will be available for.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9245000/9245736.stm

BFKate (talk) 12:33, 1 December 2010 (UTC)

WikiProject class rating
This article was automatically assessed because at least one article was rated and this bot brought all the other ratings up to at least that level. BetacommandBot 11:05, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Zapruder-375.jpg
Image:Zapruder-375.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

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BetacommandBot (talk) 06:14, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

Kennedy allegedly ordering agents off limousine
This article repeats an old and now disputed--if not entirely discredited--assertion that JFK ordered Secret Service agents not to ride on the back bumper of his limousine, both in Dallas and prior. The Tampa trip of Novemeber 18, 1963 is often cited as proof of this. Rather than trying to recapitulate the evidence here, check out some of thr research on this much-repeated error. http://www.jfklancer.com/LNE/limo.html http://www.ctka.net/reviews/kennedydetailreview.html

The most complete work has been done by Vince Palamara, perhaps the leading researcher of Secret Service history. He has compiled a list of more than two dozen former Secret Service agents and presidential aides who ascertain with absolute certainty that JFK never issued any such order. His blog is at http://www.vincepalamara.blogspot.com/2011/03/no-agents-on-limousine-policy.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.214.123.52 (talk) 11:40, 16 February 2012 (UTC)


 * Some of this is blog sourced, so it would lead to WP:SPS issues. It is not in dispute that there were no secret service agents on the back bumper in Dealey Plaza, and this YouTube video shows the agents apparently being ordered off the car by another agent. Rufus Youngblood was on VP Johnson's car, but there has always been a debate about why nobody was on Kennedy's car at the time of the shooting. However, photographs such as this famous one show that no agent was on the car at other points in the motorcade in Dallas (Hill is at the rear in dark glasses). Whatever the reason, Hill must have been aware that no agent was on the car at this point. This is a mystery that may never be adequately solved.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 20:51, 16 February 2012 (UTC)

Although Agent Hill told the Warren Commission that, during the Tampa trip on the Monday, President Kennedy had asked Agent Floyd Boring to tell the Secret Service agents not to ride on the back steps of the Lincoln, this seems to have been a slight misunderstanding. Hill did not hear it from Boring himself and did not recall who told him. Boring clarified in a 1996 interview with ARRB researchers Joan Zimmermann and Doug Horne that the President only said that the agents didn't need to ride on the back steps all the time if they didn't think it necessary. http://mcadams.posc.mu.edu/palamara/boring_arrb.html

There is a well-known photograph of Agents Lawton and Zboril on the back of the limousine during the Tampa motorcade, and they look mighty uncomfortable. Boring said that he himself, during that ride, on which he was present (as he wasn't in Dallas), ordered Lawton and Zboril back to the Queen Mary, the enormous Secret Service back-up car. He may have realised, and the President probably realised, that it wasn't a good look. It was never a rule that agents had to ride on the back steps of the Lincoln. There are multiple photographs of multiple previous motorcades in which there are no agents riding on the precarious back steps of the Lincoln. Cecil Stoughton, the renowned White House official photographer, said he would sometimes ride on one of those steps to take pictures, because there weren't any agents riding there.

Agent Hill himself explained to the Warren Commission that it was up to the agent's discretion. On Main Street in Dallas, where the crowds were thickest, he four times stepped forward from the Queen Mary to ride on the back of the Lincoln, because the crowds pressed so close that the left-side motorcycle outriders (Officers Hargis and Martin) had to fall back, so Hill thought he needed to keep as close as possible to the First Lady, to whom he was assigned, in case anyone in the crowd threw something or did anything untoward. But, even if agents had been riding on the back of the Lincoln as the car reached Dealey Plaza, they would have stepped off and returned to the Queen Mary on Elm Street, because the motorcade was about to accelerate to freeway speed of 60mph or more for the run to the Trade Mart. Khamba Tendal (talk) 18:25, 1 May 2018 (UTC)

Release of Memoir
With Mr. Clint Hill's release of his memoir that recounts this event, "Mrs. Kennedy and Me", a new source material is available to provide more detail to this event as well as Mr. Hill's actions. I'd ask the community to please take this wealth of direct information into account and update accordingly. 71.226.115.98 (talk) 19:03, 6 April 2012 (UTC)


 * There is a good summary and video here.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 19:19, 6 April 2012 (UTC)

New footage of motorcade
A new amateur film has been unearthed which shows the motorcade on Main Street in Dallas. This shows Clint Hill crouching on the rear bumper of the presidential limo behind Mrs Kennedy, although there is no-one behind the President (screenshot). This is in line with other sourcing stating that Hill was on the vehicle for parts of the motorcade in downtown Dallas.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 09:20, 6 November 2013 (UTC)

March 2015
Re this edit: I reverted some rather jumbled edits in broken English. The Template:Copy edit is generic and does not suggest specific problems or improvements. This article is in passable condition although it could do with some more inline citations.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 11:39, 24 March 2015 (UTC)

Possible WP:AUTO
Re this edit: if the person making these edits is Lisa McCubbin, it would help to state this clearly. WP:AUTO should be read before making this type of edit. Wikipedia articles are based on material that can be cited from reliable secondary sources. As WP:AUTO says: The reverted edits also had external links in the body of the text, which is not permitted. http://clinthillsecretservice.com looks to have some problems with WP:EL because it is substantially about promoting his upcoming book. This is not published until May 2016, so it should be added when it is published. If anything in the article is wrong, please explain it here on the talk page, so that it can be checked out and secondary sourcing found.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 05:55, 16 March 2016 (UTC)
 * If the only source for a particular fact about you is yourself, then readers cannot verify it.
 * They can contain original research. People often include in autobiographies information that has never been published before, or which is the result of firsthand knowledge. This type of information would require readers to perform primary research to verify it. Wikipedia does not distribute previously-unpublished information; original research is not permitted in Wikipedia.

Fair use rationale for File:Clinthill limo.png
File:Clinthill limo.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a non-free use rationale. Using one of the templates at Non-free use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

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-- Marchjuly (talk) 03:51, 6 May 2017 (UTC)

Elaboration on Hill's S. Service Career Pre-Assassination
It seems like something of a black hole in this article. Anyone know if there's more detailed information on Hill's time on assignment prior to the assassination? How about his relationship or dynamic with the Kennedys? Just surprised this kinda stuff isn't included. Tertiary as it may be, it seems strange to go directly from a rough background to that day in Dallas. 73.194.204.218 (talk) 19:38, 3 November 2022 (UTC)

"In the Line of Fire"
Claims that the character played by Clint Eastwood represent Hill who jumped on the back of the car are factually inaccurate and unsupported by the cited sources. The first does not mention Hill at all. The second only notes that Eastwood was partly inspired by Hill's admission of emotional turmoil over his failure to protect Kennedy. IMO the latter is not sufficient to justify any mention in the article at all. I had previously removed the entire claim but was reverted by. Accordingly, and to avoid edit warring, I have tagged both the section and the specific claim as factually false. (WP:OR) In the film Eastwood's character is shown standing on the same position as agent Jack Ready on the front right running board, and later discusses his guilt at freezing during the attack and failing to react. -Ad Orientem (talk) 11:05, 12 January 2023 (UTC)


 * I think that the Frank Horrigan character in the 1993 film In the Line of Fire is only loosely based on Clint Hill. Nevertheless there are some similarities, as Hill experienced guilt for many years over his failure to save the President's life.-- ♦Ian Ma c M♦  (talk to me) 12:14, 12 January 2023 (UTC)
 * They all did. See The Kennedy Detail. The point is that the claims in the In Popular Culture Section are substantially false. And the sources don't back the claim about Eastwood's character being the guy who jumped on the back of the car. -Ad Orientem (talk) 14:14, 12 January 2023 (UTC)