• Even with unannounced surprise visits to local businesses, the Secret Service will need a certain window of time to plan and place a security detail in advance. Crime happens everywhere. Just because a visit to a local establishment is unannounced doesn’t mean you won’t have the bad luck of crossing paths with a robber or violently mentally ill person. Oftentimes only half an hour is necessary, but the discipline to plan accordingly can be the difference between life and death—not just of the protectee but also of the protectors and the public.
• There is to be no more shutting down of metal detectors. If they are important enough to install, they are important enough to keep on. Eliminating the ability to turn them off when they are needed most will help eliminate the poor planning that creates the cocktail of failures that gets them turned off.
Protectees should also seek better communication and understanding with their protectors. This includes:
• The protectee should communicate a set routine or habits that are necessary for mental and emotional balance, such as jogging or visiting a friend, to the Secret Service so it can adequately adapt existing protective plans or create new ones. There are to be no more last-minute changes where a critical link is removed from the plan, throwings it in jeopardy.
• All staff members who work for the president must sign a contract with the Secret Service making them aware of what rules they are expected to follow and the consequences of not following them. This contract should be made public if need be.
Protection of Former Presidents
For the first year or two after leaving office, past presidents should be given Secret Service protection; after that they should be weaned off with a stipend for private security. It is true and reasonable that when a president becomes a former president, he or she may still be the focus of violently mentally ill, disgruntled people or even something as extreme as state-sponsored plots.
Historically, such threats have existed, albeit they are extremely rare. But former presidents are no longer within the executive branch’s chain of command. It is unwise to have a highly inflexible government agency protect a former president who is now free to do as he pleases. Real protection is comprehensive and depends on adhering to an agreement between protector and protectee. But the Secret Service–former president relationship is not consensual, and as a result former presidents and first ladies as well as their families are draining resources while jeopardizing their own protection.
Having a private-sector company chosen by the protectee ensures that the two will have an informed consensual relationship that will give the protectee the protection he or she wants instead of the government wasting very limited resources on a disproportionate and noncomprehensive protection plan. There are countless former agents who would be willing to protect a former president and even far more private security firms that can provide the latest and greatest in security. The obvious benefit to protectees that they would be able to hire their ideal protection (or lack thereof) and sign private security companies to nondisclosure agreements that are not required to adhere to whistle-blower protections.
President Nixon rescinded his detail after a few years as he had been humbled by his resignation, yet Lady Bird Johnson maintained her detail for decades at taxpayers’ expense despite no threats to her. It’s simply outside the crumbling budget of finances and manpower for the current failing Secret Service—as well as a government that is over $20 trillion in debt and climbing—to maintain permanent protection for all former presidents and their family members.
Wasteful Pet Projects
There are plenty of “perks” that can be trimmed in order to conserve limited money and resources and foster greater discipline among presidential protectors, including:
• Take-home cars in lieu of increased pay: Letting anyone but agents doing active investigations take home government cars needs to stop. The purpose of a take-home car is so agents doing investigations are available 24/7. But for everyone else, it’s a complete waste of taxpayer money. It’s also a form of fraud since the Secret Service is gifting take-home cars to skirt pay caps and as incentives for a number of things it shouldn’t. Special agents in charge of field offices don’t need take-home cars because they drive to and from the office. The practice is rampant within the Secret Service and Congress, and the public is none the wiser because on the surface it seems legitimate.
Evolving the Protection Strategy
Uniformed Division officers need to be integrated into PPD and PPD’s inner circle. A uniformed presence serves as an increased arresting authority, intimidation, and distraction tool to thwart potential attackers. Uniformed Division officers have the ability to wear tactical gear and body armor over the uniform as part of the uniform to better protect the president. Without modern rifle–rate bullet-resistant vests, many modern bullets can’t be expected to be stopped before hitting the protectee. Including Uniformed Division Officers in the diamond formation that closely surrounds the president as he moves would increase the effectiveness of the diamond formation’s “bullet sponge” protection of the president by putting agents and officers in the direct line of fire of would-be attackers as a last-resort protective measure. It’s just like the concentric circles they do at the White House.
If all of this sounds too painful and complicated, too different from the “way we’ve always done it,” there is always Plan B. Plan B is far more simple and convenient:
First, do nothing. Second, act as though changes are being made when the results amount to the same tired repeat of history. Put on a “big show,” another shake-up, another round of talk about convenient solutions. All the while, the renowned and beloved Secret Service slowly collapses and rots from the inside out, in front of the world.
And another president will die. The tragedy of assassination will come to our modern era. After that, solutions may finally come, but it would be beyond insane and foolish to think that this time a solution will present itself and our presidents will be safe, feel safe, and trust that their protectors will do their job so that they can confidently do the bidding of the people who put them into office.
The truth is that short of swift, dramatic, seemingly scorched-earth changes, another president will fall. It is up to the American people to see whether we can create solutions to problems before they happen or we have lost our way so much that we have to wait until tragedy strikes and lives are lost to do the right thing.
We’ll have to see, but now is not a time for waiting.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.
I will repeat what I said in Crisis of Character: “‘All gave some, but some gave all.’ This book would not be possible without others whose memory and example of heroism and sacrifice to country continues to inspire.”
A special thank-you to my cowriter, Grant Schmidt of Flim Films LLC, and to Remi Frieze, Grant’s fiancée, for keeping us on track with the very tight deadline on such a timely book. Thank you to the writing team and our agents, without whom this book would not have been possible.
Of course, this book also felt so necessary for all the former colleagues who thanked me for writing Crisis of Character and whispering to me “Damn, Gary, I forgot all about those times! It’s as if I blocked them out.” I felt that if I didn’t write this book, all our history, the good and the bad, would be blocked out and then doomed to repeat itself.
Thank you to our agent, Javelin Group, and our publisher, Center Street, for taking on yet another difficult project and for believing in free speech, not just through your words, but your actions, in allowing others to speak their truth. It is a value we need more and more each day.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS.
GARY J. BYRNE served in federal law enforcement for nearly thirty years in the US Air Force Security Police, in the uniformed division of the Secret Service, and most recently as a federal air marshal.
In his first book, the New York Times best-selling Crisis of Character, he shared his experiences as the first Secret Service em
ployee compelled to testify in a criminal case against a sitting US president.
GRANT M. SCHMIDT, a Temple University graduate, is an entrepreneur and writer in the Philadelphia area.
Also by Gary J. Byrne
CRISIS OF CHARACTER: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate
ENDNOTES.
Introduction
1. Chaffetz, Jason E., and Elijah E. Cummings. “House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Report U.S. Secret Service: An Agency in Crisis.” Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, December 9, 2015.
2. Partnership For Public Service. “Overall Rankings.” Best Places to Work in the Federal Government, 2016.
1. Clinton Characters
1. Aldrich, Gary. Unlimited Access: An FBI Agent Inside the Clinton White House. Regnery Publishing, 1998.
2. Lardner, George, Jr., and Susan Schmidt. “Livingstone Resigns, Denying Ill Intent.” The Washington Post, June 27, 1996.
3. Fatzick, Josh. “Q&A with Dan Emmett, Former Secret Service Agent, Author of ‘Within Arm’s Length’.” The Hill, March 26, 2012.
4. Byrne, Gary J., and Grant M. Schmidt. Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate. New York: Center Street, 2017.
5. Friedman, Thomas L. “Haircut Grounded Clinton While the Price Took Off.” The New York Times, May 21, 1993.
2. Kenneth Starr Targets The Secret Service
1. Office of Independent Counsel. “The Starr Report on the Death of Vincent Foster.” Failure of the Public Trust, FBIcover-up.com, October 10, 1997.
2. Memorandum from J.C. Frier to Mr. Potts, 3 (1993) (testimony of Unsub: Vincent W. Foster, Jr., Deputy White House to the President - Victim: 7/20/1993; PPSAKA - Staff Member, Obstruction of Justice (OOJ); Preliminary Inquiry; OO: WMFO).
3. Novak, Robert D. “Government Lawyers, Private Matters.” The Washington Post, December 21, 1995.
4. Fritz, Sara. “Search of Foster’s Office Is Revealed : Whitewater: White House Aide Tells Senate Panel She Sought Suicide Note After Deputy Counsel’s Death. She Denies Interfering with Probe.” Los Angeles Times, July 26, 1995.
5. Post, Washington. “1996 Fund-Raising Scandals Bring Stiff Penalty.” LA Times, September 21, 2002.
6. Journalists, Staff Investigative. “Chinese Got Long Beach Deal.” The Daily Republican. March 7, 1997.
7. Drudge, Matt, and Michael Isikoff. “NEWS KILLS STORY ON WHITE HOUSE INTERN, BLOCKBUSTER REPORT: 23-YEAR OLD, FORMER WHITE HOUSE INTERN, SEX RELATIONSHIP WITH PRESIDENT.” The Drudge Report, January 17, 1998.
8. Gormley, Ken. The death of American virtue: Clinton vs. Starr. Broadway Books, 2011.
9. Broder, John M., and Stephen Labaton. “Shaped by a Painful Past, Secret Service Director Fights Required Testimony.” The New York Times, May 30, 1998.
10. Byrne, Gary J., and Grant M. Schmidt. Crisis of Character: A White House Secret Service Officer Discloses His Firsthand Experience with Hillary, Bill, and How They Operate. New York: Center Street, 2017.
11. Court, U.S. District. “Secret Service Grand Jury Testimony, Jun 25 1998 | Video.” C-SPAN.org. June 25, 1998. https://www.c-span.org/video/?117044-1%2Fsecret-service-grand-jury-testimony.
12. Broder, John M. “Secret Service Officer Worried About Lewinsky.” The New York Times, April 24, 1998.
13. King CNN, John. “Sources: Complaints By Secret Service Agent Resulted In Lewinsky Transfer.” CNN. April 24, 1998.
14. “Secret Service Secrets: Are They Worth Telling? Judges Rule: Testimony from Agents is Required, No Matter the Merit of the Case in Question.” The Baltimore Sun, July 9, 1998.
15. Staff CBSNews.com. “Rehnquist: Agents Must Testify.” CBS News, July 16, 1998.
3. First Successes, First Failures
1. Shattuck, Gary. “Plotting the ‘Sacricide’ of George Washington.” Journal of the American Revolution, July 25, 2014.
2. “1778 Ipswich Journal Newspaper Archive.” 1778-1779 Ipswich Journal FDLHS newspaper archive.
3. BAKER, WILLIAM S. ITINERARY OF GENERAL WASHINGTON: from June 15, to December 23, 1783 (classic reprint). Philadelphia, PA: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1892
4. “Guarding the White House.” White House Historical Association.
5. “Saving History, Dolley Madison, The White House & The War of 1812.” White House Historical Association.
6. Fleming, Thomas. “When Dolley Madison Took Command of the White House.” Smithsonian.com, March 1, 2010.
7. Jennings, Paul. A Colored Man’s Reminiscences of James Madison. Brooklyn, NY, 1865.
8. Dept. of the Treasury United States Secret Service. Service Star, 1995.
9. Dept. of the Treasury United States Secret Service. Service Star, 1996.
10. Dept. of the Treasury United States Secret Service. Service Star, 2000
11. McBride, Robert W. Lincoln’s Bodyguard, The Union Light Guard of Ohio. 1st
12. Norton, Roger J. “The Shot Through Abraham Lincoln’s Hat.” The Shot Through Abraham Lincoln’s Hat. http://rogerjnorton.com/Lincoln86.html.
13. Klein, Christopher. “Lincoln’s Battlefield Brush With Death, 150 Years Ago.” History.com.
14. Boyes, Christina. “5 Failed Assassination Attempts on President Lincoln You Didn’t Know About.” Travel Thru History, February 27, 2015
15. Fishel, Edwin C. The Secret War for the Union: The Untold Story of Military Intelligence in the Civil War. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1996.
16. “History.” Pinkerton, June 29, 2016.
17. Quarles, Benjamin, and William S. McFeely. The Negro in the Civil War. New York: Da Capo Press, 1989.
18. History.com Staff. “February 23, 1861: Lincoln Avoids Assassination Attempt.” History.com, February 23, 2009.
19. Taylor, John. William Henry Seward: Lincoln’s Right Hand. Harper Collins, 1991.
20. Mogelever, Jacob. Death to Traitors: The Story of General Lafayette C. Baker, Lincoln’s Forgotten Secret Service Chief. Doubleday, 1960. Davis, Curtis Carroll.
21. “The Craftiest of Men: William P. Wood and the Establishment of the United States Secret Service.” Maryland Historical Magazine, 1988, 111-26.
22. Tarnoff, Ben. “A Counterfeiting Conspiracy?” The New York Times, March 27, 2012.
23. “Brockway’s Career of Crime.” The Brooklyn Daily Eagle (Brooklyn, New York), February 16, 1896. Newspapers.com.
24. Loy, Lawrence. The White House Beat: The United States Secret Service, Uniformed Division Commemorates 75 Years of Presidential Protection. Washington, DC: U.S. Secret Service, Uniformed Division Benefit Fund, 1998.
25. Starling, Edmund W. Starling of the White House: The Story of the Man Whose Secret Service Detail Guarded Five Presidents from Woodrow Wilson to Franklin D. Roosevelt, as Told to Thomas Sugrue. Chicago: Peoples Book Club, 1946.
26. Reilly, Michael. Reilly of the White House. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1947.
27. Coop, Austin. “Did FDR and Al Capone share the same armored Cadillac?” Roadtrippers. November 04, 2014. https://roadtrippers.com/stories/al-capone-car.
28. Baughman, Urbanus Edmund. Secret Service chief. 1st ed. Harper, 1962.
29. Smith, Merriman. President’s Odyssey. 1st ed. Greenwood Pub Group, 1975.
4. Bullets from Dallas to Washington
1. Tzu, Sun. The Art of War. Translated by Thomas Cleary. Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, Inc, 2003.
2. Ayton, Mel. Hunting the President: Threats, Plots and Assassination Attempts From FDR to Obama. Regnery History, 2014.
3. Channel, Smithsonian. “Kennedy’s Suicide Bomber.” Smithsonian Channel. 2013.
4. Baughman, Urbanus Edmund. Secret Service chief. 1st ed. Harper, 1962.
5. Wilson, Chief Frank J., and Beth Day Wilson. Special Agent: 25 Years with the American Secret Service. 1st ed. London, England: Frederick Muller Ltd, 1966.
6. Delich, H
elen. “The Shadow Man.” The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore), March 30, 1947.
7. Hersh, Seymour M. The dark side of Camelot. Boston, MA: Back Bay Books, 1997.
8. Parr, Jerry. In the Secret Service: the true story of the man who saved President Reagan’s life. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 2013.
9. Salinger, Pierre. P. S.: a memoir. 1st ed. New York City, NY: St Martins Press, 1995.
10. Kessler, Ronald. In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect. New York City, NY: Crown Forum, 2009.
11. Bolden, Abraham. The Echo from Dealey Plaza: The True Story of the First African American on the White House Secret Service Detail and His Quest for Justice After the Assassination of JFK. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2008.
12. Reilly, Michael. Reilly of the White House. New York, New York: Simon & Schuster, 1947.
13. Venker, Marty, and George Rush. Confessions of an Ex-Secret Service Agent. New York: D.I. Fine, 1988.
14. Palamara, Vince. The Not-So-Secret Service: Agency Tales from FDR to the Kennedy Assassination to the Reagan Era. Walterville, OR: Trine Day LLC, 2017.
15. “A Chronicle of Carriages.” Secretservice.gov. https://www.secretservice.gov/about/history/motorcade-basic/.
16. Youngblood, Rufus W. 20 Years in the Secret Service; My Life with Five Presidents. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1974.
17. Warren Commission. Report of the Warren Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy. McGraw-Hill, 1964.
18. Haggin, Joseph, Thomas Perrelli, Danielle Gray, and Mark Filip. “United States Secret Service Protective Mission Panel (USSSPMP).” Department of Homeland Security, December 15, 14.
19. Loy, Lawrence. The White House Beat: The United States Secret Service, Uniformed Division Commemorates 75 Years of Presidential Protection. Washington, DC: U.S. Secret Service, Uniformed Division Benefit Fund, 1998.
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