U.S. Secret Service
The United States Secret Service (USSS) is a federal law enforcement agency established in 1865 primarily to combat counterfeiting and investigate financial crimes. Originally tasked with protecting the integrity of U.S. currency in a time when fake money was rampant, its mission has expanded over the years to include the protection of high-profile government officials, including the President and Vice President, and providing security for key federal sites such as the White House and Treasury buildings. The Secret Service employs around 7,000 personnel, including special agents who handle both protective and investigative roles, and uniformed officers who maintain security at designated facilities.
In addition to their protective duties, the agency investigates various crimes, including credit card fraud, identity theft, cybercrime, and terrorism-related threats. Historically, the Secret Service has played a significant role in responding to threats against government officials, particularly in the wake of presidential assassinations. Despite its long-standing history and dual responsibilities, the agency has faced scrutiny and criticism, especially regarding its preparedness and response to security incidents, underscoring the challenges of safeguarding prominent figures in a complex security landscape.
U.S. Secret Service
The United States Secret Service was created in 1865 to protect against and investigate counterfeit currency operations, fraud by government officials, and anti-government terrorism. The agency provides protection for government officials and security for the White House, Treasury, federal buildings and facilities, and foreign embassies.
IDENTIFICATION: Federal law-enforcement agency that performs both investigative and protective tasks
SIGNIFICANCE: With their dual responsibilities of protecting federal government officials and investigating financial and other federal-government-related crimes, the men and women of the Secret Service are central figures in US law-enforcement work.
During the US Civil War, more than seven thousand varieties of paper currency circulated in the United States. Confusion over these currencies allowed counterfeiting to flourish. After the war, the federal government responded by creating the Secret Service to prevent the counterfeiting and dissemination of fake treasury notes and currencies. President Abraham Lincoln signed the bill creating the agency on April 14, 1865—the same day on which he was to be shot by John Wilkes Booth. The new agency fell under the auspices of the Department of the Treasury.
Throughout the rest of the nineteenth century, government currency remained in disarray, and money markets were rife with corruption and illicit activity. At one point, every individual state had its own coin and paper currency. Meanwhile, more than one-third of all paper currency in circulation in the United States was believed to be fake.
Through its first few decades of operation, the Secret Service shut down hundreds of illegal money operations throughout the country. However, the agency was also required to investigate many cases that fell outside its narrow investigative realm. For example, presidents directed the Secret Service to investigate persons associated with the Teapot Dome scandal during the 1920s, frauds committed by members of the government, and various people who might pose threats to the government and the citizens of the United States. The most frequently targeted groups by the Secret Service were members of groups that exhibited antigovernment sentiment, such as the Ku Klux Klan.
Responsibilities
The primary investigative responsibility of the Secret Service has been and continues to be counterfeiting and other financial crimes. Along with hundreds of support personnel, special agents are assigned to carry out these investigations. During the early 1980s, Congress began expanding the investigative responsibilities of the Secret Service. The agency’s responsibilities now encompass credit card fraud; crimes involving specific types of forgery ; fraud stemming from false identification; cybercrime; all crimes relating to US financial institutions; certain crimes relating to terrorism, especially issues of school violence and domestic hate groups; certain types of money laundering; and major identity theft cases. In fact, the Secret Service is the only federal agency that has explicit federal investigative power over identity theft cases.
By a tragic irony, President Lincoln was shot the same day that he signed the bill creating the Secret Service, which would later take on the task of protecting presidents. Outraged citizens petitioned Congress to find ways to protect future presidents. However, Congress waited thirty-six years before it responded. Meanwhile, two more presidents would be assassinated: James A. Garfield in 1881 and William McKinley in 1901.
In 1906, five years after McKinley’s assassination, Congress passed a law giving the Secret Service responsibility for protecting presidents. In 1917, Congress expanded on this protection by making verbal and written threats against presidents and members of their families federal offenses. This law was further broadened in 1951 to protect vice presidents and their families.
The protective responsibilities of the twenty-first century Secret Service have grown exponentially. Two divisions of Secret Service personnel are responsible for various protective assignments. The first are special non-uniformed agents who act as personal bodyguards for governmental dignitaries. Many years of guided training are required before agents are assigned to special protective duties.
The second division consists of uniformed Secret Service officers who carry out their duties much like regular police officers. Created by President Warren G. Harding in 1922, the uniformed officers provide a visible security presence in places such as the White House, the vice president’s residence, buildings in which presidential offices are located, all US Treasury buildings, all foreign embassies in Washington, DC, and other federal facilities throughout the United States that the president deems necessary to protect.
The Secret Service Today
The Secret Service employs approximately 7,000 people in field offices in both the United States and overseas. Approximately 1,300 of these people are uniformed officers assigned to protect federal facilities affiliated with the president, vice president, foreign embassies, and the Treasury Department. Most facilities that these officers are assigned to protect are located in the metropolitan District of Columbia area.
An additional 3,200 employees are special agents who are assigned to investigative and protective duties in Washington DC, throughout the continental United States, and overseas. Special agents are trained for both protective and investigative capacities, and are expected to be able to perform the duties and responsibilities of both roles at any time and any place.
In July 2024, the Secret Service was criticized after a twenty-year-old gunman attempted to assassinate former president and 2024 presidential candidate Donald Trump, at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Though Trump survived the attempt with a minor ear injury, one rally-goer was killed, and two others were seriously injured in the attack. The Pennsylvania State Police notified the Secret Service of the presence of a suspicious person with a rangefinder about twenty minutes before the shooting took place. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Department of Homeland Security, and members of Congress launched investigations into the assassination attempt, security lapses, and the Secret Service's site preparation and response to the incident. Republican lawmakers and right-wing commentators demanded the resignation of the director of the Secret Service, Kimberly Cheatle, with some calling her and other female Secret Service agents so-called diversity hires, implying without evidence that they were not qualified to be agents.
Bibliography
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Hubbard, Kaia. "House Republicans Ramp Up Investigations into Trump Assassination Attempt." CBS News, 17 July 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-assassination-attempt-house-republicans-fbi-director-christopher-wray/. Accessed 19 July 2024.
Melanson, Philip H., and Peter F. Stevens. The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency. Carroll, 2002.
Motto, Carmine J. In Crime’s Way: A Generation of Secret Service Adventures. CRC, 1999.
Petro, Joseph, and Jeffrey Robinson. Standing Next to History: An Agent’s Life Inside the Secret Service. Dunne, 2005.
Santana, Rebecca, and Kevin Freking. "House Oversight Panel Subpoenas Secret Service Director to Testify on Trump Assassination Attempt." AP News, 17 July 2024, apnews.com/article/trump-assassination-attempt-inspector-general-secret-service-045449b3e8f3ab7326cb779f416f83fd. Accessed 19 July 2024.
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Sganga, Nicole, et al. "Trump Shooting Investigations Focus on Motive, Security Failures." CBS News, 18 July 2024, www.cbsnews.com/live-updates/trump-rally-shooting-investigation/. Accessed 19 July 2024.