User Reviews

This episode is all about showing some of the security aspects of a city handling a visit from the president. Of course, the episode ends just when Air Force One lands, so we never see a depiction of President Johnson.

If you like seeing different functions of the police, this episode was unique. If you are looking for Joe and Bill catching crooks of some sort-skip this one. We saw a big meeting room where about a dozen people were briefed on plans, then scenes in the hotel where the president would be staying, including having to convince someone on the same floor of his need to move to another room.

As we hear, the itinerary of the president was to fly to LA, arrive in the morning, meet various people, make a speech that evening, then stay overnight and fly back to Washington. Really don't understand, even in 1968, why he didn't just fly home overnight. They had sleeping quarters on the plane for him. The hotel only seems of value if he has other appearances in LA. In 1968, he could have easily stayed at the home of the then governor of California, who in fact, lived right next door to Jed Clampett and family. (The house depicted on The Beverly Hillbillies, I have read, was literally next door to where Ronald and Nancy Reagan lived.) Well doggies! Seriously, security at a private home would have been easier than a hotel.

There was a matter of using technology to make sure the suite in the hotel was safe, and when not involved in that, Joe and Bill dealt with press briefings. It was a decent show in most ways, but I prefer the catching crooks episodes.

As I write this, there are two reviews, one of which criticizes the episode for claiming President Lincoln had Secret Service agents. The reviewer factually missed the boat on two points connected with that part of this episode.

The criticism was made that they erred in claiming Lincoln had secret service agents protecting him. It is true that the men guarding him were not secret service agents. But nothing in this episode suggested that. As the man in the show said, and is correctly quoted in the quotes part on IMDB here, he only used the word "guard."

What was incorrect was the story claiming that a guard at the theater box that night let the assassin in to the president's box. History says that the only man hired to guard outside the box was across the street drinking at the time.

That reviewer also criticizes the Secret Service for not preventing the assassination of Robert Kennedy. In 1968, presidential candidates did not receive Secret Service protection, only the current president and vice president did.

I can give this episode a 6 at best.

Five tears after a president is assassinated and five months after RFK was killed in LA, Webb decides to make a show about how terrific the Secret Service was.

Truth be told, the Secret Service was still in the throws of both assassinations and still hasn't figured out how to protect in a meaningful way.

The false story about Lincoln having Secret Service agents - and saying the story was posted at their sign in desks for a reminder was ludicrous, but Webb often was.

The press conference, the half giddy way they react to Air Force One made this a fairly laughable episode.