Trotta framed the mission well, but his words ring hollow. Secret Service management is oblivious to how its own failings undermine that mission and the safety of its protectees.
Neither the DHS inspector general nor Congress has penetrated the agency’s invincible veneer to uncover the shortcomings. And so long as presidents continue to select directors from within the Secret Service to lead the agency, its culture of denial will remain intact.
“We don’t have enough people or the equipment to do protection the way they advertise we do,” a veteran agent says. “And how we have not had an incident up to this point is truly amazing, a miracle.”
Most Americans have no idea what is behind protecting a president, the first family, the vice president, and presidential candidates. They may see agents at an event or a shopping mall outside a store—dressed in suits, wearing the telltale clear spiral wire that wraps around their ear and disappears somewhere down their shirt collar. And then they think of the news story they read that morning, that the president or a presidential candidate is in town, and they realize who they are.
If the agents seem a little distracted from the hustle of the street, marching to a different drummer, it is because they are tuning into a sort of different dimension, one of heightened awareness. They are looking for anything out of the ordinary in the passersby—a man in a strange hat who nervously looks into the store. Anything odd, like beads of sweat on a forehead when the day is chilly.
It is a good day when the agents can epitomize the poet John Milton’s line, “They also serve who only stand and wait.”
Most days aren’t like that. Most days entail risk and demands and meticulous planning—sabotaged by the Secret Service’s practice of dangerously cutting corners. Agents who are concerned that the Secret Service is on the brink of a disaster say that only a director appointed from the outside can make the wholesale changes that are needed in the agency’s management and culture.
Without those changes, an assassination of Barack Obama or a future president is likely. If that happens, a new Warren Commission will be appointed to study the tragedy. It will find that the Secret Service was shockingly derelict in its duty to the American people and to its own elite corps of brave and dedicated agents.
Epilogue
AFTER ASSASSINATING PRESIDENT Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth escaped capture for twelve days. But on April 26, 1865, federal forces cornered, shot, and killed him in a gun battle. Four of his fellow conspirators, including one woman, were tried and hanged.
Charles Guiteau, who fatally shot the newly elected President James Garfield on July 2, 1881, was hanged on June 30, 1882.
Leon Czolgosz, a factory worker who shot President William McKinley on September 6, 1901, was executed by electrocution. “I killed the president because he was the enemy of the good people—the good working people,” he said before his death. “I am not sorry for my crime.”
Oscar Collazo, the surviving Puerto Rican nationalist who tried to assassinate President Truman, was convicted of first degree murder in March 1951. He was sentenced to death. A few weeks before he was to be executed in 1952, Truman commuted his sentence to life in prison. Truman said he didn’t want to provide Puerto Rican nationalists with a martyr. In 1979, President Carter pardoned Collazo, who then went back to Puerto Rico as a hero. He died in 1994.
In 1964, the Warren Commission confirmed FBI findings that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone when he shot President Kennedy. Two days after he shot Kennedy, Oswald was being transferred under police custody when Jack Ruby shot him to death.
Sirhan B. Sirhan was convicted of the murder of Robert F. Kennedy on April 17, 1969, and sentenced to death in a gas chamber. The sentence was commuted to life in prison in 1972 after the California Supreme Court invalidated all pending death sentences imposed in California prior to 1972.
Confined at the California State Prison, Sirhan told a parole board, “I sincerely believe that if Robert Kennedy were alive today, I believe he would not countenance singling me out for this kind of treatment. I think he would be among the first to say that, however horrible the deed I committed was, that it should not be the cause for denying me equal treatment under the laws of this country.”
After he paralyzed Governor George Wallace, Arthur Bremer was sentenced to sixty-three years in prison, later reduced to fifty-three years. After serving thirty-five years, he was released from a Maryland prison and placed on parole on November 9, 2007.
Bremer never explained why he shot Wallace, although in 1997, when the state denied his petition for parole, he railed against Wallace’s position favoring segregation. As a condition to his release, Bremer is prohibited from going near political candidates or events.
Nick Zarvos, the Secret Service agent whom Bremer shot in the throat as he protected Wallace, still has a raspy voice as a result of the shooting.
After the shooting, Wallace asked people to forgive him for his segregationist views. He died in 1998.
Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was convicted in 1975 of attempting to assassinate President Ford. In 1979, she attacked a fellow inmate with the claw end of a hammer. On December 23, 1987, she escaped from the Alderson Federal Prison Camp in Alderson, West Virginia, but was captured two days later. She is serving time in Texas at the Federal Medical Center. While she has been eligible for parole since 1985, Fromme has consistently waived her right to a hearing.
In December 1975, Sara Jane Moore pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate President Ford. On December 31, 2007, she was released from prison on parole after serving thirty-two years of a life sentence. Moore has said that she regrets the assassination attempt, explaining that she was “blinded by her radical political views.” President Ford died on December 26, 2006.
After attempting to assassinate President Reagan, John W. Hinckley Jr., was found not guilty by reason of insanity on June 21, 1982. After his trial, Hinckley wrote that the shooting was “the greatest love offering in the history of the world.”
Confined to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, he was determined to be an “unpredictably dangerous” man who might harm himself, Jodie Foster, and any other third party. Nonetheless, on December 30, 2005, a federal judge ruled that Hinckley would be allowed visits, supervised by his parents, to their home in the Williamsburg, Virginia area. A request for further freedom was denied.
After a man threw a grenade at President Bush in Tbilisi, Georgia, the FBI examined three thousand photos of the crowd taken by a college professor. The bureau found a facial portrait of a man who matched the physical description of the person who threw the grenade. The Georgians distributed the photo to the media and posted it in public places. That led to a call to the police.
“Oh, yeah, that’s my neighbor, Vladimir Arutyunov,” the caller said.
With an FBI agent, the police went to the suspect’s residence on July 19, 2005. As they were approaching, the man fired on them and killed a Georgian police officer.
Arutyunov confessed, saying he did it because he thought Bush was too soft on Muslims. The man was sentenced to life in prison.
Secret Service Dates
1865 The Secret Service Division is created on July 5 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency. Chief William P. Wood is sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch.
1867 Secret Service responsibilities are broadened to include “detecting persons perpetrating frauds against the government.” The Secret Service begins investigating the Ku Klux Klan, nonconforming distillers, smugglers, mail robbers, perpetrators of land fraud, and other violators of federal laws.
1870 Secret Service headquarters relocates to New York City.
1874 Secret Service headquarters returns to Washington, D.C.
1875 A new badge is issued to operatives.
1877 Congress passes an act prohibiting the counterfeiting of any coin or gold or silver bar.
1883 The Secret Service is officially acknowledged as a distinct organization within the T
reasury Department.
1894 The Secret Service begins informal, part-time protection of President Cleveland.
1895 Congress passes corrective legislation for the counterfeiting or possession of counterfeit stamps.
1901 Congress informally requests Secret Service protection of presidents following the assassination of President William McKinley.
1902 The Secret Service assumes full-time responsibility for protection of the president. Two operatives are assigned full-time to the White House detail.
1906 Congress passes the Sundry Civil Expenses Act for 1907 that provides funds for Secret Service protection of the president. Secret Service operatives begin to investigate western land frauds.
1908 The Secret Service begins protecting the president-elect. President Theodore Roosevelt transfers Secret Service agents to the Department of Justice, forming the nucleus of what is now the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
1913 Congress authorizes permanent protection of the president and the president-elect.
1915 President Wilson directs the secretary of the treasury to have the Secret Service investigate espionage in the United States.
1917 Congress authorizes permanent protection of the president’s immediate family and makes it a federal criminal violation to direct threats toward the president.
1922 The White House Police Force is created on October 1 at the request of President Harding.
1930 The White House Police Force is placed under the supervision of the Secret Service.
1951 Congress enacts legislation that permanently authorizes Secret Service protection of the president, his immediate family, the president-elect, and the vice president if requested.
1961 Congress authorizes protection of former presidents for a reasonable period of time.
1962 Congress expands coverage to include the vice president—or the next officer to succeed the president—and the vice-president-elect.
1963 Congress passes legislation for protection of Jackie Kennedy and her minor children for two years.
1965 Congress makes assassinating a president a federal crime. It authorizes the protection of former presidents and their spouses during their lifetimes and protection of their children until age sixteen.
1968 As a result of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination, Congress authorizes protection of major presidential and vice presidential candidates and nominees. Congress also authorizes protection of widows of presidents until death or remarriage, and protection of their children until age sixteen.
1970 The White House Police Force is renamed the Executive Protective Service and given increased responsibilities, including protection of diplomatic missions in the Washington area.
1971 Congress authorizes Secret Service protection for visiting heads of a foreign state or government, or other official guests, as directed by the president.
1975 The duties of the Executive Protective Service are expanded to include protection of foreign diplomatic missions located throughout the United States and its territories.
1977 The Executive Protective Service is renamed the Secret Service Uniformed Division on November 15.
1984 Congress enacts legislation making the fraudulent use of credit and debit cards a federal violation. The law also authorizes the Secret Service to investigate violations relating to credit and debit card fraud, federally related computer fraud, and fraudulent identification documents.
1986 The Treasury Police Force is merged into the Secret Service Uniformed Division on October 5. A presidential directive authorizes protection of the accompanying spouse of the head of a foreign state or government.
1990 The Secret Service receives concurrent jurisdiction with Department of Justice law enforcement personnel to conduct any kind of investigation, civil or criminal, related to federally insured financial institutions.
1994 The 1994 Crime Bill is passed, providing that any person manufacturing, trafficking in, or possessing counterfeit U.S. currency abroad may be prosecuted as if the act occurred within the United States.
1997 Congressional legislation passed in 1994 goes into effect granting Secret Service protection to presidents elected to office after January 1, 1997, for ten years after they leave office. Individuals elected to office prior to January 1, 1997, continue to receive lifetime protection.
1998 Broadening the jurisdiction of the Secret Service and other federal law enforcement agencies, the Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act allows for criminal forfeiture of the proceeds of fraud. The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act establishes the offense of identity theft. Penalties are established for anyone who knowingly transfers or uses, without authority, any means of identification of another person with the intent to commit an unlawful activity.
2000 The Presidential Threat Protection Act authorizes the Secret Service to participate in the planning, coordination, and implementation of security operations at special events of national significance as determined by the president. These events are called national special security events.
2001 The Patriot Act expands the Secret Service’s role in investigating fraud and related activity in connection with computers. In addition, the act authorizes the director of the Secret Service to establish nationwide electronic crimes task forces to assist law enforcement, the private sector, and academia in detecting and suppressing computer-based crime. The act increases the statutory penalties for manufacturing, possessing, dealing, and passing counterfeit U.S. or foreign obligations. It also allows enforcement action to be taken to protect financial payment systems while combating transnational financial crimes directed by terrorists or other criminals.
2002 The Department of Homeland Security is established, transferring the Secret Service from the Department of the Treasury to the new department effective March 1, 2003.
2004 Barbara Riggs, a veteran agent of the Secret Service, becomes the first woman in the agency’s history to be named deputy director.
2006 The network of Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Forces is expanded from fifteen to twenty-four nationwide task forces dedicated to fighting high-tech computer-based crimes.
2007 Protection begins for presidential candidate Barack Obama on May 3, the earliest initiation of Secret Service protection for any candidate in history. Because of her status as a former first lady, presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was already receiving protection before she entered the race.
2008 Protection of presidential candidate John McCain begins on April 27. Just before the presidential candidates announce their selections for vice presidential running mates, Joe Biden and Sarah Palin receive protection. After Barack Obama is elected on November 4, his children, Malia and Sasha, receive Secret Service protection.
2009 Barack Obama is sworn in as the forty-fourth president on January 20.
Based on the time line available at
www.secretservice.gov/history.shtml
Acknowledgments
MY WIFE, PAMELA Kessler, is my partner in life and in writing. A former Washington Post reporter and author of Undercover Washington, about the spy sites of the nation’s capital, Pam came up with the title for the book, accompanied me on key Secret Service interviews at the training center and at headquarters, contributed vivid descriptions, and pre-edited the manuscript. I am grateful for her love and wise judgment.
My grown children, Rachel and Greg Kessler, rounded out the picture with their love and support. My stepson, Mike Whitehead, is a loyal and endearing part of that team.
Mary Choteborsky associate publishing manager of Crown Publishing, edited the final manuscript brilliantly. She and my previous editor Jed Donahue provided just the right balance of encouragement and guidance. When it comes to book publishing, Mary and her team are unrivaled.
I am lucky to have my agent, Robert Gottlieb, chairman of Trident Media, on my side. Since 1991, Robert has guided my book-writing career and been a source of steadfast support.
For years, I had been gathering string on the Sec
ret Service. But I began work on the book in earnest when a Secret Service agent and later others came forward to alert me to management problems at the agency. All agents in good standing, their sole purpose was to improve the Secret Service and ultimately avert another assassination. Along with former agents who helped, they are patriots, and they have my appreciation and respect.
The Secret Service agreed to cooperate on this book, the only book about the agency to receive such cooperation. While I made it clear in an email at the outset that the book would address management problems I had already raised in an article, based on my previous books and stories, Secret Service officials believed that I would portray the agency accurately and fairly.
The Secret Service arranged interviews with a range of Secret Service officials, gave demonstrations and tours of the agency’s training center and the most secret headquarters components, gave approval to former agents to talk with me, and provided photos and compiled data in response to questions.
Mark Sullivan, director of the Secret Service; James W. Mackin, deputy assistant director of Government and Public Affairs; Eric P. Zahren, special agent in charge of that office; and Edwin Donovan, assistant special agent in charge of that office, have my appreciation for their help.
In the President's Secret Service Page 24
