Abraham Bolden facts for kids

Abraham W. Bolden, born on January 19, 1935, was a special agent for the United States Secret Service. He made history in 1961 when President John F. Kennedy chose him to be the first African American agent to protect a U.S. president. Later, Mr. Bolden faced serious accusations related to a case he was working on. He always said he was innocent and that he was unfairly treated. In April 2022, President Joseph R. Biden gave him a pardon.

Early Life and Career

Abraham Bolden was born on January 19, 1935, in East St. Louis, Illinois. He went to Lincoln High School and then to Lincoln University. He studied music and graduated with high honors. Before joining the Secret Service, he was the first African American detective at the Pinkerton National Detective Agency. He also worked as a highway patrolman for the Illinois State Police. Mr. Bolden married Barbara L. Hardy in 1956. They had three children: Ahvia Maria, Abraham Jr., and Daaim Shabazz.

Protecting the President

In October 1960, Abraham Bolden became a member of the United States Secret Service. In June 1961, he was given a special assignment. For 30 days, he worked in the Presidential Protective Division, guarding President John F. Kennedy. This made him the first African American to protect a U.S. president.

Mr. Bolden remembered meeting President Kennedy in Chicago in April 1961. He said President Kennedy personally invited him to join the White House protection team. Mr. Bolden also shared that President Kennedy once called him "the Jackie Robinson of the Secret Service." This was a very special compliment.

However, Mr. Bolden soon felt unhappy with how security was handled. He decided to leave the presidential protection team in July 1961. He later said he left to protest what he saw as "poor security being given the president." He returned to Chicago to work on cases involving fake money. He was very good at this job and received awards for solving cases. In 1962, a magazine reported that he was one of the best in the nation at solving these types of crimes.

Facing Accusations

On May 12, 1964, Mr. Bolden was accused of trying to sell a government file for $50,000. This file was part of a case about a group making fake money. He was formally accused in Chicago on May 20, 1964.

Mr. Bolden's Claims

On May 20, 1964, Mr. Bolden spoke to the news media at his home. He said the accusations against him were false. He believed he was being unfairly targeted by the government. He said this happened because he planned to tell the Warren Commission about problems he saw within the Secret Service. The Warren Commission was investigating the assassination of President Kennedy.

Mr. Bolden stated that he wanted to tell the commission about agents being careless while protecting the President. He claimed some agents drank too much or missed their shifts. He also said an agent used a racial slur against him when he complained. Mr. Bolden said he told the head of the Secret Service, James J. Rowley, about these issues, but nothing was done.

Edward Hanrahan, a government lawyer, called Mr. Bolden's claims "fantastic." He pointed out that Mr. Bolden had not spoken about these issues until after he was arrested. The Warren Commission was aware of Mr. Bolden's claims. They considered asking him to testify but did not make a decision.

On June 18, James J. Rowley spoke to the Warren Commission. He said Mr. Bolden's assignment to the White House team was routine. Mr. Rowley denied Mr. Bolden's claims of misconduct. He said Mr. Bolden never reported these issues to him or other supervisors. Mr. Rowley stated there was "no truth to the charges of misconduct." Mr. Bolden was never called to testify before the Warren Commission.

Court Proceedings

Mr. Bolden's first trial began on July 6, 1964. To help pay for his legal defense, he gave piano concerts in Chicago, playing his own music. The government's case relied on the statements of two men. Both of these men were also facing charges from the same Secret Service office where Mr. Bolden worked.

On July 9, Mr. Bolden denied all the accusations against him. The first jury could not agree on a verdict. The judge, Joseph Samuel Perry, told the jury he believed Mr. Bolden was guilty, but they were free to decide for themselves. The jury remained undecided, so the judge declared a mistrial on July 11, 1964. A new trial was set for August 3.

On August 12, 1964, the jury in the second trial found Mr. Bolden guilty. Judge Perry sentenced him to six years in prison. Mr. Bolden was very upset by the verdict. He was fired by the Secret Service that same month. While waiting for his appeal, he worked as an inspector for a company making helmets and canteens. He also helped organize workers for a union.

Appeal and Pardon

In January 1965, one of the men who testified against Mr. Bolden was found guilty of counterfeiting. This man said he had lied during Mr. Bolden's trial about his income. He also said he might have lied about other dates. Based on this new information, Mr. Bolden appealed his conviction. He also argued that the judge in his first trial was not fair.

On December 29, 1965, a higher court upheld Mr. Bolden's conviction. The court said they found no reason to believe he did not receive a fair trial. They also said the new information about the witness's testimony was not enough to change the outcome.

Mr. Bolden began serving his sentence in June 1966. He spent 39 months in prison and was then released on probation. On April 26, 2022, President Joe Biden officially gave Mr. Bolden a pardon. This was part of a program called "Second Chance Month."

Claims of a Chicago Plot

In later years, Mr. Bolden spoke more openly about his time in the Secret Service. He claimed that before President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, there was a plan to kill him in Chicago.

Early Information

In December 1967, while Mr. Bolden was in prison, he was visited by lawyers. After their visit, the lawyers said Mr. Bolden told them the Secret Service knew about a Chicago plot to assassinate Kennedy. This was about three weeks before the Dallas assassination.

According to Mr. Bolden, the Chicago Secret Service office learned from the FBI that an attempt on the President's life would happen on Saturday, November 2, 1963. This was planned for when Kennedy traveled from O'Hare Airport to Soldier Field for a football game. Mr. Bolden said he was at an emergency meeting where agents were told about four snipers planning to shoot Kennedy.

The next day, the Secret Service received a tip from the Chicago Police. A landlady had rented rooms to four men and saw rifles with scopes in one of their rooms. The Secret Service watched the house and arrested two of the men. Meanwhile, other agents followed a lead about a man named Thomas Arthur Vallee, who had threatened Kennedy. Vallee was arrested on Saturday morning. Because two suspected snipers were still at large, the Secret Service warned the White House. The President's visit to Chicago was canceled at the last minute.

In 1970, a man named Sherman Skolnick claimed that Mr. Bolden was wrongly imprisoned to stop him from revealing the Chicago plot. Skolnick filed a lawsuit to get government documents about the plot released. He claimed the documents showed a link between Thomas Arthur Vallee and Lee Harvey Oswald. The government did not comment on the lawsuit.

Government Investigation

In 1976, the United States House Select Committee on Assassinations (HSCA) was formed to investigate the assassinations of President Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.. The committee looked into how agencies like the Secret Service performed their duties. The HSCA's final report said the Secret Service "was deficient" and did not properly use information it had. It noted that Secret Service offices in Chicago and Miami failed to share threats with the Dallas office.

On January 19, 1978, Mr. Bolden testified to the HSCA. He repeated his claims about the Chicago plot. He said the FBI sent a message about a four-man team planning to kill the President on November 2. He claimed two of these men were arrested and held at the Chicago Secret Service office.

However, the committee could not find proof of this assassination team. No other agent from Chicago confirmed Mr. Bolden's story. One agent did say there was a threat in Chicago, but could not remember details. The committee stated that even if Mr. Bolden's account was questionable, the Secret Service did not use the information about the Chicago threat properly.

Later Years

In recent decades, Mr. Bolden has spoken more openly about his experiences. He was interviewed for books and documentaries about the Kennedy assassination. He shared his story in his memoir, The Echo From Dealey Plaza.

In his book, Mr. Bolden said he believed there was a conspiracy to assassinate Kennedy. He recalled hearing Secret Service agents joke that they would "step out of the way" if an assassin shot at the President. This was because they were unhappy with President Kennedy's policies on racial integration.

Mr. Bolden's stories became important because many Secret Service records about the Chicago plot were destroyed in 1995. He continued to share his claims with news organizations.

Later Life

After his release from prison, Abraham Bolden worked as a quality control supervisor in the car industry. He retired in 2001. His wife, Barbara, passed away in 2005.

The Echo From Dealey Plaza

In 2008, Mr. Bolden published his memoir, The Echo From Dealey Plaza. In interviews about the book, he said he believed there was a conspiracy to assassinate President Kennedy. He also mentioned that some Secret Service agents were unhappy with the President's policies. A reviewer for The Washington Post called his book "a shocking story of injustice."

In Fiction

Abraham Bolden appears in the 2011 television miniseries The Kennedys. He is shown joining the President's protection team. In one episode, President Kennedy talks to Bolden during a crisis about racial integration at the University of Mississippi. A character named Eben Boldt in the novel Target Lancer is based on Abraham Bolden's role in a fictional assassination attempt against John F. Kennedy in Chicago.