The Secret Service is a protective cloak around the President of the United States.
The agency symbolizes the power and importance of our nation’s highest office.
Today, it's taken for granted that stoic agents wearing suits and earpieces are constantly
watching over our Commander-in-Chief, but the President wasn’t always this protected.
This is the history of the U.S. Secret Service.
During the Revolutionary War, General George Washington ordered a “Lifeguard” be formed
to protect him, along with the money and official papers of the Continental Army.
This is a passage from historian Ron Chernow’s biography on Washington:
“…’To guard against assassination — which I neither expect nor dread — is impossible,’
Washington later wrote.
But he knew that kidnapping attempts were always a possibility, especially since he
himself would hatch a couple of failed schemes to kidnap British generals.
His order to forge a personal guard — or “lifeguard” as it was commonly called
— also sprang from a desire to be surrounded by a crack team of disciplined professionals
who would accompany him whenever he rode out to review the troops.
Protective of his historical reputation, Washington committed the care of his personal papers
to this guard.
Having such an elite corps at the beck and call of the chief general was a throwback
to the glittering world of European armies.”
The men assigned to the Commander-In-Chief’s Guard were honored to be trusted to protect
their beloved general.
For this reason, special care was taken to ensure the soldiers serving in the prestigious
unit represented each of the 13 colonies.
It was disbanded in 1783 at the conclusion of the war.
In 1865, Abraham Lincoln resurrected Washington’s idea, creating an elite outfit of federal
law enforcement officials to combat the counterfeiting of American dollars that had been rampant
during the Civil War.
One-third of all US currency in circulation was reportedly fake, so there was much work
to be done to secure the integrity of the nation’s monetary system that powered the
entire economy.
Ironically, the legislation establishing the Secret Service was awaiting Lincoln’s signature
on his desk the night he was assassinated—a strange coincidence, even if the agency wasn’t
tasked with protecting the President for another 36 years.
Fast-forward to a sweltering September afternoon in 1901.
While greeting hundreds of people in a receiving line at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo,
President William McKinley was shot twice by an assassin who had used a handkerchief
to conceal his weapon.
McKinley eventually succumbed to his wounds and died eight days later.
This finally forced Congress to act, legally mandating the Secret Service to protect the
President.
In a sign of the frequent obstinance of the US Congress, three Presidents — Lincoln,
James A. Garfield, and McKinley — perished by assassins’ bullets before America’s
legislative body did something to address the glaring problem.
In 1950, the only secret service agent ever killed while protecting a president died during
an assassination attempt on Harry Truman.
[Newsreel]: “Outside Blair House — the President’s temporary Washington home — extreme
fanatics of the Puerto Rican nationalist party try to force their way in, guns blazing, to
assassinate the President of the United States.”
The assailants opened fire on agent Leslie Coffelt and other White House Police officers.
Despite being mortally wounded, Coffelt returned fire and killed one of the attackers with
a single shot.
The other attacker was wounded and Truman — who remained inside on the second floor
of the building during the minute-long gun battle — was unharmed.
The darkest day in the history of Secret Service came on November 22, 1963 when President John
F. Kennedy, riding through downtown Dallas in a convertible, was shot twice and killed.
An investigation by the US House of Representatives eventually determined that “the Secret Service
did not properly analyze information it possessed prior to the assassination and was inadequately
prepared to protect the President.”
In 1981, another breakdown in security allowed an unscreened group of onlookers to stand
within 15 feet of President Ronald Reagan as he exited the Washington Hilton Hotel.
John Hinckley, Jr. — armed with a .22 revolver — was in that group, and fired six shots
in 1.7 seconds—the last of which ricocheted off the door of the armored limousine, struck
Reagan in the left arm and lodged in his lung.
Though he lost more than half his blood and endured a 105-minute emergency surgery, the
President survived.
Several agents acted heroically in the attack, including Tim McCarthy, who took a bullet
in his abdomen while shielding the President from a shot that — it was later determined
— would’ve hit him in the head.
So, despite the thousands of threats it must investigate and defend against each year,
it is a testament to the agency’s constant vigilance that only one President has been
assassinated in its 116 year history of protecting the Commander-in-Chief.
Today, the Secret Service protects the First Family, the Vice President and their immediate
family, former presidents and their families, visiting heads of states, and major presidential
candidates.
In 1998 President Bill Clinton made the agency responsible for security at designated high
profile events, like the inauguration and the Super Bowl.
A year later, the agency finally got its first headquarters.
In 2003, the Secret Service was transferred from Treasury to Homeland Security—the newly
established massive department created to consolidate federal law enforcement agencies
after the 9/11 attacks.
While the Secret Service’s most visible role is protection, it has expanded its crime-fighting
responsibilities far beyond its initial mandate to fight counterfeiting currency.
The USA Patriot Act mandated the agency to establish a nationwide network of Electronic
Crimes Task Forces to investigate and prevent attacks on financial and critical infrastructure.
This cyber-crime fighting effort even has task forces in Rome and London.
In 2016, the Secret Service proved its continued dedication to shutting down illegal money
printing, seizing $30 million in counterfeit money in Lima during a joint operation with
Peruvian police.
Peru is believed to be the origin of 60% of the world’s fake currency.
But playing so many different roles can be hard.
The agency has been dealing with budget pressure, hiring challenges, reports of long hours and
low morale among its agents, and some high-profile lapses in its unique protective service role—like
when an armed security guard rode in an elevator with President Obama, and when a man got inside
the East Room of the White House through an unlocked door.
All this has led to some justifiable questions about whether the Secret Service should leave
more of the criminal investigations to other agencies so it can focus more squarely on
its most critical mission: protecting the President.
Thanks for watching.
If you enjoyed this video, you’d love our piece highlighting the greatest speeches in
American history.
Many commenters were moved by the powerful oratories of Martin Luther King, Jr. and JFK.
I’d also recommend the fantastic audiobook I’m listening to now on our first president,
which you can get through the link below with a free trial of Audible.com.
Until next time, for TDC, I’m Bryce Plank.