1970s: The famous "Secret Service Agent #9" story
One of Mike Wallace's most famous stories was about a former secret service agent named Clint Hill, who shielded Jackie Kennedy seconds after JFK was shot in 1963.
Hill was positioned on the left-side running board of the car behind the president's convertible, and he says he was the only agent close enough to take a bullet for the president-- if only he'd reacted faster.
By the time Mike Wallace interviewed him 12 years later, Agent Hill was a tormented man, blaming himself for the death of a president.
Immediately following the assassination, Agent Hill remained on Secret Service detail, protecting Mrs. Kennedy and her children, but he began suffering from depression and was granted early retirement in 1975 at the age of 43. That year, he agreed to an interview with Mike Wallace.
"Little did I know," Hill told us recently, "that it would turn out the way it turned out."
Remorse poured out of Hill during the interview, astonishing Wallace and Don Hewitt, who was then executive producer of the "60 Minutes" broadcast.
"I had no idea what was coming," Mike later said. The correspondent welled up with tears several times during the interview and tried to reassure Hill that no one blamed him for JFK's death. Mike called it the saddest interview of his career.
"Secret Service Agent #9" aired December 7, 1975. (Producer: Paul Loewenwarter)
