Secret Service
To the date, four U.S. presidents in office have been victims of assassinations. Lincoln (1865), Garfield (1881), McKinley (1901) and last but not least John F. Kennedy (1963) have fallen while serving as our nation's leader. The secret service started rather slow and controversial to our presidents. Some of our leaders did not see a need for this type of protection but as the death threats became more constant the then War Department assigned soldiers to protect the white house and its grounds. Committing to professionalism and secrecy, the Secret Service holds the upmost responsibility of protecting our nation's leaders.
President Lincoln was assigned four officers after much resistance to follow him around that had no advanced training in watching over the president. This resulted in the assassination at Ford's theatre. Ironically, Abraham Lincoln's last official act was to sing the legislation creating the agency. At the same time another battle against counterfeiting was taking place.
Police cruiser of the Uniformed Division of the Se...
The US Secret Service provides security for Pope B...
English: United States Secret Service agent guardi...Thus the Secret service Division is created by congress on July the 5th, 1865 to suppress counterfeit currency. By 1902 the secret service assumes full responsibility for protection of the president and increased in numbers from two full time agents to thirty-seven by the 1950's.
Assassination attempts on our nation's leaders are a constant battle for the agency. Some as witnessed in history successful some not so successful. November 1st, 1950 an attempt to kill president Harry S. Truman by two Puerto Rican nationalist was stopped in a forty second gunfight at the white house entrance.
The mission of the secret service is to protect the president, vice president and their families, head of state and other designated individuals. Also, the agency protects the white house, the vice president's residence, foreign missions and other buildings in Washington D.C. In addition, it investigates...