The private thoughts
of an ex-Secret
Service agent
By Mark Herron
Battalion Reporter
As he travels around the state
talking to civic clubs and organi
zations about his days as a Se
cret Service agent, Mike Howard
says one of the most frequent
questions he hears is: “Was there
a conspiracy to kill the President
(Kennedy)?”
“Fifteen million tax-paid dollars
were appropriated this year for
further investigation,” Howard
said, “because nobody wants to
accept the fact that Oswald, a
mentally deranged little punk,
killed the president, and was all
by his lonesome when he did it.”
Howard looked frustrated as
he explained his opinions.
“Oswald was trying to make a
name for himself,” he said. “He
was thrown out of every subver
sive organization he tried to join.
“A month before the assassi
nation, Oswald was rejected by
the Freedom for Cuba organiza
tion,” Howard said, “and that’s
when he bought his rifle.”
Howard said even though
there was no conspiracy to kill the
president, he feels Dallas politi
cians should share the blame for
Kennedy’s death.
“Some local politicians told
Kennedy he was not liked in Dal
las, and needed to ride in an open
car so he could wave at the
people. When that motorcade
came down the street,” he said,
“Kennedy was an open target.”
Leaning forward in his chair,
Howard said, “But maybe Oswald
shot the president by accident,
because I don’t think he was aim
ing for Kennedy.”
Howard said Oswald had writ
ten in his diary, “I’m going to kill
John Connally, that S.O.B.”
The reason for Oswald’s hostil
ity, Howard said, was that Con
nally, in his days as Secretary of
the Navy, had refused to rescind
Oswald’s dishonorable discharge
from the Marines. Howard said
Oswald would have known Con
nally would be in the motorcade
because local newspapers re
ported that Connally would be rid
ing in the same car with the Pres
ident.
Howard said a short time be
fore the Kennedy assassination,
Oswald had tried to shoot Gen.
Edwin Walker (who was opposed
to Kennedy) but missed his head
by an inch to the left.
After the assassination, he
said, “We took Oswald’s rifle to
Washington where it was test
fired over and over, and each
time it shot one inch to the left,
when fired from 200 yards.” That
was the distance from which Os
wald had shot Kennedy.
“If Oswald had’ve been aiming
at Kennedy’s head, he would
have missed him at that distance.
“On the first shot,” Howard
said, “Oswald was aiming at
Connally’s head but hit Ken
nedy’s shoulder. That same bullet
went through Kennedy, grazed
Connally’s wrist, and landed in
his knee.
“When Oswald fired the sec
ond shot,” Howard continued,
“Kennedy was almost directly be
tween Oswald and Connally, and
the bullet struck the right side of
Kennedy’s head.”
After the assassination, How
ard was assigned to protect Pres
ident Johnson and his family at
the White House.
In the spring of 1965, Howard
said he and three other agents,
all native Texans, were sent to
protect the president’s daughter,
Lynda Bird, while she attended
the University of Texas.
“Lynda Bird was assigned to a
dorm with 900 other gjfls,” he
said. “The dorm residents were in
a state of shock at first. We put
electric alarms and locks on all
the doors, in the dorm, and on all
the windows in her wing.”
A Secret Service agent was on
duty at all times, Howard said.
The agents sat in a glass booth in
the lobby, and watched a televi
sion that monitored the hall out
side Lynda Bird’s room.
“I went to classes with her, and
usually drove the car when she
went on dates,” Howard said.
“She went to dances and pizza
parlors just like other college stu
dents, t>v_it one of vjs (,agents') was
always tlrere.”
When Lynda Bird graduated
from UT in 1966, Howard said he
walked across the stage right be
hind her, and received a fake
diploma.
After graduation, Howard said,
Lynda Bird wanted to travel. “We
were in the jet set, going to New
York, Hollywood, Aculpulco,
Europe, South America, -- all
over.”
When Howard accompanied
Lynda Bird to Buckingham
Palace to a party given by the
Queen of England, he was told he
wouldn’t be able to bring his gun.
“Since I had to wear a tuxedo,”
Howard said, ” I just hid my pistol
in my top hat.”
Howard has a photo album full
of pictures from his travels.
“Lynda Bird gave me this album
after she was married,” he said.
The inscription on the album
cover reads, “To the other man in
my life.”
Howard said one reason they
became such close friends was
“we were both big history buffs,
so we always had a lot to talk ab
out.”
Howard said he went on the
honeymoon in the Virgin Islands,
when Lynda Bird married Charles
Robb. Before their honeymoon,
Howard made decoy reservations
in Canada, Hawaii, and Puerto
Rico, he said, to throw reporters
off the track.
Howard said he still feels close
to Lynda Bird, who now lives in
Virginia. “We see each other
about four or five times a year.”
During the interview, a pack
age was delivered to Howard. In
the box was a pottery coffee cup
with “Happy Birthday Uncle
Mike” painted on the side. The
cup was from Lynda Bird’s
daughter, Lucinda, Howard’s
goddaughter.
Howard said during the time he
was protecting Lynda Bird, he
also became good friends with
President Johnson.
“LBJ would call me from time
to time asK \_yr\c\a S\rci
was doing, wYto sVfe was dating,
or how her grades were,” he said.
“When LBJ left the White House
in 1968, he asked me to go with
him to his ranch in Johnson City,
Texas.”
Howard said he hated to leave
the glitter and prestige of Wash
ington D.C., but he received a
pay raise for moving back to
Texas.
Howard explained that when a
president leaves office, he is
given Secret Service protection
for the rest of his life.
“There were several threats on
LBJ’s life after he retired to the
ranch,” Howard said.
“An uncle of a boy killed in Viet-
Nam came to Texas to kill LBJ,”
he said, “but fortunately we
caught him at a bus station near
Johnson City.”
Johnson was often difficult to
work with, Howard said. “He
would just walk into a crowd and
there was no way I could give him
adequate protection.”
Howard said he often took the
blame for something the ranch
foreman, the mechanic, or the
pilot might have done wrong. “He
chewed me out a few times, but I
could take it.
“Some of the agents took the
rough treatment personally, and
some couldn’t accept the prob
lems he created,” he said.
Despite the difficulties, Howard
said, “I liked him a lot.”
Pointing to a beagle lying in his
backyard, Howard said, “That’s
Crasher. LBJ gave him to me as a
pup.
“At the ranch, I was his fa
vorite,” Howard said. “I lost a lot
of friends in the Secret Service
because I was able to work with
him.”
Howard explained, “LBJ didn’t
like to trust a lot of people - just
me.”
“When he got on his radio,” he
continued, “he always asked for
me.”
“In fact,” Howard said, “LBJ
was calling for me when he died.”
VJBJ a. Yveart attack. vsfW\\a taK-
mg a nap, Howard said. “In the
middle ot the attack, he grabbed
bis radio and called lor me.”
Johnson was known as “One”
around the ranch. Howard said
his last words were “One to
Mike.”
Those words provide the title
for a book Howard has written.
One to Mike is a book full of
stories about Howard’s life as a
Secret Service agent, and will be
published soon, he said.
Howard said he remained on
the ranch exactly one year after
the former president died. “I had
been with the Secret Service for
14 years,” he continued, “I was
exhausted and just needed a
change.”
Unemployment was no prob
lem for Howard. “The day I re
tired, I was hired by John Hill as a
body guard, and I’ve been with
him since then (1974).”
Hill is a Dallas oil millionaire
whose 17 year old son lives on a
ranch north of Dallas. Howard
and his wife live on the ranch and
“protect” the younger Hill.
Howard said he thought Hill’s
son was in no great danger, but
“wealthy people are often inse
cure.”
Howard said he and his wife
always had trouble being ac
cepted into a community because
of the nature of his work. “My job
doesn’t identify with anything in
this community,” he said. “I’m not
a farmer, or a carpenter, or a
salesman.
“There aren’t many body
guards around Prosper,” he
added. Prosper is a nearby town
with a population of 600.
“But the folks around here are
great,” he said. “Prosper is the
first community I’ve lived in where
I felt free to talk about my job.”
Reflecting on his life, Howard
said, “I achieved my goal (pro
tecting the President),” he said. “I
made it to the top, and saw most
of the world while I was doing it.”
Smiling, he said, “Now I’m
happy right where I’m at.”
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