The Echo from Dealey Plaza: The True Story of the First African American on the White House Secret Service Detail and His Quest for Justice After the Assassination of JFK

From the first African American assigned to the presidential Secret Service detail comes a gripping and unforgettable true story of bravery and patriotism in the face of bitter hatred and unthinkable corruption. Abraham Bolden was a young African American Secret Service agent in Chicago when he was asked by John F. Kennedy himself to join the White House Secret Service detail. For Bolden, it was a dream come true--and an encouraging sign of the charismatic president's vision for a new America. But the dream quickly turned sour when Bolden found himself regularly subjected to open hostility and blatant racism. He was taunted, mocked, and disparaged but remained strong, and he did not allow himself to become discouraged. More of a concern was the White House team's irresponsible approach to security. While on his tour of presidential duty, Bolden witnessed firsthand the White House agents' long-rumored lax approach to their job. Drinking on duty, abandoning key posts--this was not a team that appeared to take their responsibility to protect the life of the president particularly seriously. Both prior to and following JFK's assassination, Bolden sought to expose and address the inappropriate behavior and negligence of these agents, only to find himself the victim of a sinister conspiracy that resulted in his conviction and imprisonment on a trumped-up bribery charge. A gripping memoir substantiated by recently declassified government documents, "The Echo from Dealey Plaza" is the story of the terrible price paid by one man for his commitment to truth and justice, as well as a shocking new perspective on the circumstances surrounding the death of a beloved president.

Review :
"If a novelist set out to rewrite Franz Kafka's "The Trial "as a modern-day -horror tale, it might read much like Abraham Bolden's "The Echo from Dealey Plaza,"" --"Chicago Sun-Times" "An astonishing tale of aborted justice." --"Kirkus ""Excellent." --"Library Journal ""Conspiracy theories haunt the Kennedy assassination; Bolden offers a new one, concerning discrimination and evidence suppression. . . . a world of duplicitous charges and disappearing documents fit for a movie thriller." --"Publishers Weekly" "Riveting." --"Ebony ""Balancing his temper and his dignity, [Bolden] persisted in a manner readers will relate to...." --Urban Influence "An astonishing tale of aborted justice." --"Kirkus ""Excellent." --"Library Journal ""Conspiracy theories haunt the Kennedy assassination; Bolden offers a new one, concerning discrimination and evidence suppression. . . . a world of duplicitous charges and disappearing documents fit for a movie thriller." --"Publishers Weekly" "Riveting." --"Ebony ""Balancing his temper and his dignity, [Bolden] persisted in a manner readers will relate to...." --Urban Influence "Excellent...Recommended for all public libraries." --Library Journal, starred review "Heart-rending, longtime-coming defense of his record by a Chicago detective who paid dearly for blowing the whistle on JFK's Secret Service. "A native of St. Louis, the author became a Pinkerton detective and then a Chicago Secret Service agent. In 1961 President Kennedy handpicked Bolden for his personal detail in Washington. A self-described "racial pioneer" at each step of his professional career, he was immensely proud to serve as the first black agent on the presidential detail, and grateful for JFK's sincere commitment to racial equality. However, Bolden soon collided with the "ol' boys network." He endured crude racist caricatures drawn in his service manual, separate accommodations in a "Negro Motel," casual slurs by other agents and a shockingly blatant outburst by his superior: "You will always be nothing but a nigger. So act like one!" In early November 1963, responding to uneasy intuition and visions that had plagued him since childhood, Bolden told superiors that drinking was rampant within the ranks and that if a crisis occurred, the service could not act swiftly or appropriately to secure the president's safety. He was in Chicago at the time of the assassination, and after that found the Secret Service wary of his outspokenness. Framed for his role in busting a Chicago counterfeiting bond gang, he was forced to take a lie-detector test and arrested by the feds in May 1964. His first trial ended in a hung jury thanks to a lone black juror; in the second, an all-white jury found him guilty. Bolden was imprisoned for more than five years, mostly in the psychiatric ward of theSpringfield Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. In September 1969, after a short stint at a prison camp in Alabama, Bolden was granted parole. Many documents in the case have vanished, but the author tirelessly reconstructs the record in his compelling, if somewhat tedious and repetitious look at an attempt to silence an honorable man "An astonishing tale of aborted justice." --"Kirkus Reviews" "Heart-rending, longtime-coming defense of his record by a Chicago detective who paid dearly for blowing the whistle on JFK's Secret Service. "A native of St. Louis, the author became a Pinkerton detective and then a Chicago Secret Service agent. In 1961 President Kennedy handpicked Bolden for his personal detail in Washington. A self-described "racial pioneer" at each step of his professional career, he was immensely proud to serve as the first black agent on the presidential detail, and grateful for JFK's sincere commitment to racial equality. However, Bolden soon collided with the "ol' boys network." He endured crude racist caricatures drawn in his service manual, separate accommodations in a "Negro Motel," casual slurs by other agents and a shockingly blatant outburst by his superior: "You will always be nothing but a nigger. So act like one!" In early November 1963, responding to uneasy intuition and visions that had plagued him since childhood, Bolden told superiors that drinking was rampant within the ranks and that if a crisis occurred, the service could not act swiftly or appropriately to secure the president's safety. He was in Chicago at the time of the assassination, and after that found the Secret Service wary of his outspokenness. Framed for his role in busting a Chicago counterfeiting bond gang, he was forced to take a lie-detector test and arrested by the feds in May 1964. His first trial ended in a hung jury thanks to a lone black juror; in the second, an all-white jury found him guilty. Bolden was imprisoned for more than five years, mostly in the psychiatric ward of the Springfield Medical Center for Federal Prisoners. In September 1969, after a short stint at aprison camp in Alabama, Bolden was granted parole. Many documents in the case have vanished, but the author tirelessly reconstructs the record in his compelling, if somewhat tedious and repetitious look at an attempt to silence an honorable man "An astonishing tale of aborted justice." --"Kirkus Reviews"