How Jackie Kennedy's Secret Service Agent Changed History (Or At Least The Negroni)

Cocktails are often associated with glamorous people and places, so it's a little bit unusual for a drink to be tied to someone whose job was to remain mostly invisible. One variation on the Negroni, known as "The Clint," traces back to Clint Hill, the secret service agent assigned to Jacqueline Kennedy during her years as first lady. Hill, who died in 2025, spent years in the background of some of the most photographed moments of the early 1960's, and later became widely known for his bravery during the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. According to a reporting from Town & Country, the story behind the cocktail comprises a much lighter chapter of their history.

Clint Hill's job placed him alongside the first lady wherever she went, during state visits, public appearances, and even vacations around the world. One such trip brought the group to Italy's Amalfi Coast, where the social rhythms of seaside boating and aperitif hour introduced Hill to the Negroni, a drink firmly embedded in Italian cocktail culture. Traditionally built from a swirl of gin, Campari, and sweet vermouth, the Negroni is a strong drink, served on the rocks, which is loved for its assertive balance of bitter and sweetness.

Hill appreciated the drink's bold flavor but eventually began ordering a variation better suited to his own tastes. The adjustment nixed the gin and vermouth — which are responsible for the Negroni's botanical aromas and more cloying sweetness — and replaced them with vodka, then stretched (or diluted) the drink with soda water. The Clint retains Campari's unmistakable, bitter backbone, but sips lighter and more refreshing. Depending on proportions, it could also contain a not-insignificantly smaller amount of alcohol, which was probably a consideration for someone whose job required staying alert to potential danger.

Over time, the drink became Hill's regular order. Many years on, in 2017, his partner's oldest son gifted him a box of cards with the recipe for The Clint — "2 shots Campari. 1 shot vodka. Slice of orange. Soda water. In a tall glass with ice."— because he had seen Hill have to explain it to bartenders and servers so many times.

Cocktails have always evolved iteratively, and many classic drinks started exactly that way — someone adjusted a familiar recipe to suit their own tastes. The origin story of the Negroni itself begins with such an experiment. According to cocktail lore, the drink was created in Florence around 1919 when Count Camillo Negroni asked a bartender to strengthen an Americano, which is equal parts Campari, vermouth, and soda water, by replacing its soda with gin. The Count's intervention added up to equal parts gin, Campari and sweet vermouth, and became one of the most iconic classic Italian cocktails of all time. Over the decades, bartenders and drinkers alike have continued to modify that formula. There are variations like the much-memed, sparkling Negroni Sbagliato, with replaces the gin with prosecco, or the increasingly popular white Negroni, which uses the colorless, but still bitter, French gentian liqueur Suze, in place of the red Campari. Clint Hill's version fits comfortably within that tradition. 

Jacqueline Kennedy herself was associated with a different cocktail entirely. Historical accounts and listicles featuring First Ladies' favorite drinks frequently point to the lime daiquiri, a Cuban classic, as one of her and her husband's preferred drinks. It was served icy and simple, with Jackie's secret twist, a splash of Falernum.