Abraham Bolden, now 90 years old, finally got a long-awaited chance to speak before Congress this week. Bolden was the first Black Secret Service agent assigned to a presidential detail. He was personally hired by President John F. Kennedy in 1961.
During his emotional testimony, Bolden spoke about corruption inside the Secret Service and claims of a planned attempt to kill Kennedy weeks before his 1963 assassination in Dallas. However, technical issues briefly cut his microphone as he began to speak to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform by Zoom from his Chicago home.
Bolden Reveals Shocking Claims About Secret Service Misconduct
Bolden did not hold back in his statements. He alleged that many of his fellow agents were drunk while on duty protecting the president. He also spoke of ignored threats, including a plot to assassinate Kennedy in Chicago in November 1963.
According to Bolden, “On June 6, 1961, I walked into history.” He said he was proud to serve Kennedy, who treated him with respect when others in the agency did not. In a past interview, Bolden recalled, “He never walked by me once that he didn’t strike up a conversation.”
The “Chicago Plot” That Almost Happened
One of Bolden’s most serious claims was about a foiled assassination attempt in Chicago. He said that a group of Cuban exiles planned to shoot the president with a high-powered rifle at a football game on November 2, 1963.
Bolden revealed that threats like these came up often in weekly briefings, yet little was done about them. He also claimed to have overheard a tense argument between Kennedy and Vice President Lyndon Johnson in 1963. Johnson, furious about being left off Kennedy’s future ticket, reportedly stormed out of the Oval Office.
Bolden’s Fight Against Injustice Within the Secret Service
After trying to expose these problems, Bolden says he was targeted by the government. In 1964, he was arrested on bribery charges he insists were false. Bolden was fired from the Secret Service and sentenced to 15 years in prison after a second trial.
His first trial ended with a hung jury, but at his second, witnesses claimed they were pressured to lie against him. Bolden served 39 months in federal prison and says he was drugged and placed in a psychiatric unit to silence him.
A Presidential Pardon After Decades of Waiting
In 2022, President Joe Biden granted Bolden a full pardon. During his recent testimony, Bolden thanked the president and urged Congress to keep investigating the assassination.
“Very often, as you people know, justice takes a long time,” he told the committee. Bolden ended by saying, “The truth cannot die.”
The Legacy of the First Black Secret Service Agent
Abraham Bolden made history as the first Black man on a White House Secret Service detail. Though his time in the agency was filled with racism and hardship, he remained proud of serving President Kennedy.
In his 2008 book, The Echo from Dealey Plaza, Bolden shared his journey and the injustices he endured. His story stands as a reminder of the struggles Black Americans faced in government service and the long road to justice.
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