Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service

Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service - Paperback

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Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service
  • Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service
Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service - Paperback

Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service - Paperback

by Carol Leonnig
$20.00
$20.00

Book Overview

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The first definitive account of the rise and fall of the Secret Service, from the Kennedy assassination to the alarming lapses of the Obama and Trump years--from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Carol Leonnig

"This book is a wake-up call, and a valuable study of a critically important agency."--The New York Times

A WASHINGTON POST BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Carol Leonnig reported on the Secret Service for nearly a decade, bringing to light the secrets, scandals, and shortcomings that plague the agency today--from a toxic workplace culture to dangerously outdated equipment to the deep resentment within the ranks at key agency leaders, who put protecting the agency's once-hallowed image before fixing its flaws.

The Secret Service was born in 1865, in the wake of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, but its story begins in earnest in 1963, with the death of John F. Kennedy. Shocked into reform by its failure to protect the president on that fateful day in Dallas, this once-sleepy agency was radically transformed into an elite, highly trained unit that would redeem itself several times, most famously in 1981 by thwarting an assassination attempt against Ronald Reagan. But by Barack Obama's presidency, the once-proud Secret Service was running on fumes and beset by mismanagement and mistakes in judgement: break-ins at the White House, an armed gunman firing into the windows of the residence while confused agents stood by, and a massive prostitution scandal among agents in Cartagena, to name just a few. With Donald Trump's arrival, a series of promised reforms were cast aside, as a president disdainful of public service instead abused the Secret Service to rack up political and personal gains.

To explore these problems in the ranks, Leonnig interviewed dozens of current and former agents, government officials, and whistleblowers who put their jobs on the line to speak out about a hobbled agency that is in desperate need of reform.
ISBN9780399589034
Author Carol Leonnig
PublisherRandom House Trade
GenreNews & politics and History
FormatPaperback
PublishedJune 2022
LanguageENG- English
Pages560
Weight1.0 lb
Target AudienceAdults
Print SizeStandard Print

Related Subjects

History Nonfiction Political Science

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More by Carol Leonnig

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About Carol Leonnig

Carol Leonnig, a five-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize, is the author of three bestselling books and an investigative reporter who has worked at The Washington Post for the last twenty-five years. She won the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for her reporting on security failures by the Secret Service. She also was part of Post teams awarded Pulitzers in 2024, 2022, 2018, and 2014. Leonnig, a contributor to MSNBC, is the author of Zero Fail and coauthor of A Very Stable Genius and I Alone Can Fix It.

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