(This post may contain disputed claims. We make no assertions as to the validity of the information presented by our Opinion Columnist. We are an opinion blog, not a traditional news outlet, and this post should be treated as such. Enjoy.)There is perhaps no one who knows a top political figure better than the Secret Service agents tasked with tailing that man or woman’s every move in order to ensure their safety. Following the death of 94-year-old George H.W. Bush last Friday, the Secret Service has revealed a little-known fact about the former president. They also let us in on a secret about “nasty” Hillary Clinton.
According to Ronald Kessler, a former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal investigative reporter, the Secret Service breathed a collective sigh of relief when George H.W. Bush took office because, unlike previous presidents Lyndon Johnson and Jimmy Carter, Bush treated agents with respect and consideration.
Bush “made it clear to all his staff that none of them was a security expert, and if the Secret Service made a decision, he was the one to sign off on it, and they were never to question our decisions or make life difficult,” recounted former agent Pete Dowling. “So consequently it was kind of a moment in time, because all the entities really worked well together to make his protection and the activities that he participated in successful.”
Like Ronald Reagan, Bush was so considerate of the agents who protected him that he would stay in town on Christmas Eve so agents could spend it with their families. Then, he would fly to Texas the day after Christmas, according to Daily Mail. Bush was also beloved by the Secret Service because he would help them raid the White House’s kitchen late at night, finding and eating all of the leftover cookies and milk from the day.
“Bush is a great man, just an all-around nice person,” an agent said of the former president when he was alive. “Both he and Mrs. Bush are very thoughtful, and they think outside their own little world. They think of other people.”
Another agent who was on Bush’s detail said, “Bush understands that politics is politics and friendship is friendship. He can be friends with a lot of people who may not agree with him. The only things that bothered him were things that were important to the country. Little things just kind of seemed to roll off of him.”
The indelible mark left by Bush on the Secret Service could be felt in a recent social media post in which the agency paid tribute to the man as a true patriot and leader:
The Secret Service sends our heartfelt condolences on the passing of Former President George H.W. Bush. Timberwolf, you defined patriotism and leadership throughout your life of service to this country and you will be sorely missed. pic.twitter.com/qof2DRNX0B
— U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) December 1, 2018
By contrast, Hillary Clinton has long been criticized by former agents for her abrasive and abusive attitude towards them. She “is so nasty to her agents,” Kessler writes, “that being assigned to her detail is considered by agents to be a form of punishment and the worst duty assignment in the Secret Service.”
Kessler is also the New York Times bestselling author of “The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents” and “The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game.”
In 2016, Eric Bonner, a military K9 handler who served in Turkey, posted a story about Hillary Clinton on social media that quickly went viral for obvious reasons:
“Get that F🐶cking dog away from me!” –#HillaryClinton
(Screeched at military K9 handler, Staff Sgt. Eric Bonner 🇺🇸) pic.twitter.com/sTVneLKwtZ— General Halley 🚁🌹 (@HalleyBorderCol) August 3, 2016
George H.W. Bush’s legacy is certainly a far cry from Hillary Clinton’s. Perhaps that is why one of them was actually elected president and the other was not, despite having the entirety of the leftist mainstream media in her back pocket.
While Bush will be sorely missed by those who knew him well and those who simply knew him as their president, it seems that folks can’t get rid of Hillary Clinton soon enough.
