Hunting the President - by Mel Ayton (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In American history, four U.S. Presidents have been murdered at the hands of an assassin. In each case the assassinations changed the course of American history.

But most historians have overlooked or downplayed the many threats modern presidents have faced, and survived. Author Mel Ayton sets the record straight in his new book Hunting the President: Threats, Plots and Assassination Attempts--From FDR to Obama, telling the sensational story of largely forgotten--or never-before revealed--malicious attempts to slay America's leaders.

Supported by court records, newspaper archives, government reports, FBI files, and transcripts of interviews from presidential libraries, Hunting the President reveals:

• How an armed, would-be assassin stalked President Roosevelt and spent ten days waiting across the street from the White House for his chance to shoot him
  
• How the Secret Service foiled a plot by a Cuban immigrant who told coworkers he was going to shoot LBJ from a window overlooking the president's motorcade route
  
• How a deranged man broke into Reagan's California home and attempted to strangle the former president before he was subdued by Secret Service agents.
  
• In early 1992 a mentally deranged man stalking Bush turned up at the wrong presidential venue for his planned assassination attempt
  
• The relationships presidents held with their protectors and the effect it had on the Secret Service's mission
  

Hunting the President opens the vault of stories about how many of our recent Presidents have come within a hair's breadth of assassination, leaving America's fate in the balance. Most of these stories have remained buried--until now. Includes glossy photo signature of historic pictures and documents

About the Author

Mel Ayton received his master's degree in history from Durham University and is a former Fulbright teacher, deputy headmaster, and college lecturer. He is the author of The Forgotten Terrorist: Sirhan Sirhan and the Assassination of Robert F. Kennedy and Questions of Controversy: The Kennedy Brothers, among other books. Ayton has appeared in documentaries produced by the National Geographic Channel and the Discovery Channel. He lives in County Durham, England, with his wife, Sheila.