Clint Hill, the former Secret Service agent who shielded first lady Jacqueline Kennedy from gunfire during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in 1963, has died, the agency said Monday. He was 93.
He died peacefully at home with his wife by his side, his family said in a statement released by the Secret Service.
Hill, who was born in North Dakota and was sworn in as a special agent in the agency’s Denver field office in 1958, served five presidents — from Dwight Eisenhower to Gerald Ford — and rose to become director of protective operations for the Secret Service.
On Nov. 22, 1963, as the president’s motorcade came under gunfire in Dallas’ Dealey Plaza, Hill leaped onto the back of the presidential limousine and protected the first lady.
Hill, whose code name was Dazzle, was given the highest civilian honor for bravery awarded by the U.S. Treasury Department, which the Secret Service was then a part of.
He retired in 1975 after symptoms of what later became identified as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, the Secret Service said, and eventually co-authored books with his wife, journalist Lisa McCubbin Hill, including his memoir, “Mrs. Kennedy and Me.”
“Clint Hill was more than a hero — he was a man of profound humility, dedication, and unwavering integrity,” former Secret Service Director Lew Merletti said in a statement.
In a statement Monday, the Secret Service said Hill "demonstrated a profound commitment to duty and care."
"Clint's career exemplified the highest ideas of public service," the statement says. "We mourn the loss of a respected colleague and dear friend whose contributions to the agency and the nation will forever be remembered."