Floyd M. Boring (June 25, 1915 – February 1, 2008) was an American Secret Service agent who served with five

US Presidents The president of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States, indirectly elected to a four-year term via the Electoral College. The officeholder leads the executive branch of the federal government and ...

. He was also present and took part in the gunfight that foiled an assassination attempt on

Harry S. Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. A leader of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 34th vice president from January to April 1945 under Franklin ...

Truman assassination attempt

On the afternoon of 1 November 1950, Truman was taking a nap at

Blair House Blair House, also known as The President's Guest House, is an official residence in Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States. The President's Guest House has been called "the world's most exclusive hotel" because it is primarily used ...

, where he was living while

The White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

, across

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4) ...

, was being renovated. Boring was stationed outside Blair House with several uniformed White House guards, while two Secret Service agents were posted inside. Around 2:00

Oscar Collazo Oscar Collazo (January 20, 1914 – February 21, 1994) was one of two Puerto Rican militants of the Nationalist Party who on November 1, 1950, attempted to assassinate U.S. President Harry S. Truman in Washington, DC. He had been living i ...

and

Griselio Torresola Griselio Torresola Roura (July 19, 1925 – November 1, 1950) born in Jayuya, Puerto Rico, was one of two Puerto Rican nationalists from New York City who attempted to assassinate United States President Harry Truman on November 1, 1950. Torr ...

started to fire at Blair House. Boring, drawing his .38-caliber Colt pistol, known as a Detective's Special, fired a bullet through the hat of one of the gunmen, Oscar Collazo, grazing his scalp. Collazo was also shot in the chest, and bullets grazed his nose and an ear. He was captured at the entrance to Blair House as Boring kicked his pistol away from his side.

Other Presidents

As well as Truman, Boring also worked with

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; ; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was an American military officer and statesman who served as the 34th president of the United States from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, ...

John F. Kennedy John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), often referred to by his initials JFK and the nickname Jack, was an American politician who served as the 35th president of the United States from 1961 until his assassination i ...

and

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

. He was with President Franklin D. Roosevelt when he died at

Warm Springs, Georgia Warm Springs is a city in Meriwether County, Georgia, United States. The population was 425 at the 2010 census. History Warm Springs, originally named Bullochville (after the Bulloch family, which began after Stephen Bullock moved to Meriwether ...

, in 1945, and accompanied his body to the funeral at

Hyde Park, New York Hyde Park is a town in Dutchess County, New York, United States, bordering the Hudson River north of Poughkeepsie. Within the town are the hamlets of Hyde Park, East Park, Staatsburg, and Haviland. Hyde Park is known as the hometown of Frankl ...

. He was not with President Kennedy's

Secret Service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

detail in

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

when Kennedy was assassinated. According to author Vince Palamara, Mr. Boring played a pivotal role in the security planning of Kennedy's trip to Dallas, as he was in charge of the advance arrangements. As well as the assassination, Boring also dealt with a frightening moment on the

Potomac River The Potomac River () drains the Mid-Atlantic United States, flowing from the Potomac Highlands into Chesapeake Bay. It is long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map. Retrieved Augus ...

one day when Truman struggled while swimming off his yacht. In 1965, Boring was replaced by

Roy Kellerman Roy Herman Kellerman (March 14, 1915 – March 22, 1984) was a U.S. Secret Service senior agent who was assigned to protect United States President John F. Kennedy when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963 in Dallas. In his reports, later tes ...

as "deputy special agent in charge" and assigned to Secret Service headquarters as an inspector. He retired in 1967 and entered private security work.

Personal life and death

His wife, Ruth, died in 2005. He had two daughters with her, Judith Orzell and Kate Elliott. On February 1, 2008 he died of

congestive heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, a ...

. He is survived by both his daughters and his granddaughter, Kay.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boring, Floyd 1915 births 2008 deaths United States Secret Service agents