Secret Service

I

Introduction

Secret Service, law enforcement agency of the United States government, the oldest general law enforcement agency of the federal government. The agency was created in 1865 as a branch of the Department of the Treasury to suppress widespread counterfeiting of U.S. currency. The Homeland Security Act, passed by Congress in 2002, made the Secret Service part of the Department of Homeland Security.

II

Responsibilities

The Secret Service is responsible for investigating cases of counterfeiting and forgery and arresting any persons who violate federal laws relating to coins, paper currency, checks, bonds, postage stamps, and securities of the U.S. and foreign governments.

The agency, however, is best known to the public for its role in providing personal protection to high government officials. Major security responsibilities of the service are the protection of the president and the vice president and members of their immediate families, the president-elect, the vice president-elect, former presidents and their wives, widows of former presidents until their death or remarriage, children of former presidents until they reach the age of 16, presidential and vice-presidential candidates of the major parties, and visiting heads of foreign governments. The director of the agency also supervises the Secret Service Uniformed Division, which provides security for the White House, the official residence of the vice president, and foreign diplomatic missions in Washington, D.C., and the Treasury Security Force, which provides security for the Department of the Treasury and the Treasury Annex buildings, located in the capital, where billions of dollars in cash and securities are stored.

III

Presidential Protection

Not until 1901, after the assassination of President William McKinley, was the Secret Service charged with the protection of the president. Protection was gradually extended to others as it became clear that the president’s family, the vice president, and so on, might also be targets for assassination and kidnapping attempts. Protection is given around the clock, with agents accompanying their charges on official duties and private activities.

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The Secret Service had successfully protected nine presidents in this century before the assassination of John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963. Following this, the Warren Commission investigation led to an overhauling of the agency (see Warren Report). Both the budget and the staff were greatly increased, and more modern information-gathering techniques, making use of sophisticated new computers, were put into practice. The agency currently has more than 100 district offices.

See also Federal Bureau of Investigation; National Security Council.

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