U.S. Secret Service

U.S. Secret Service

The United States Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency formerly under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Department of the Treasury, but currently under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Its two basic purposes are to protect American heads of state and to investigate crimes involving counterfeit U.S. currency.

Fast Facts

Also known as: Secret Service Division
Formed: July 5, 1865
Established by the U.S. Department of the Treasury
Headquarters: Washington, D.C.
Parent agency: U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Former parent agency: U.S. Department of the Treasury
Employees: 3,200 agents and 1,200 uniformed officers
Director: Mark J. Sullivan
Budget: $1.3 billion (2007)
Initially created to stop counterfeit money after the Civil War

Who They Protect

Secret Service agents are only assigned to protect specific individuals important to the United States government. These include:

President and Vice President
President-elect and Vice President-elect
Former Presidents and their spouses (except when the spouse re-marries)
Certain candidates for the offices of President and Vice President (within 120 days of general election)
Children and grandchildren of current and former presidents until age 16
Visiting foreign heads of state and government along with their spouses
Any other individuals designated by President or the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security

Categories

News | Groups and Organizations | U.S. Government

| View Note History

The Mahalo Top 7

Official Site: United States Secret Service
Wikipedia: United States Secret Service
Code Names: 2600's Secret Service Code Names
Video: Secret Service Cybercrime Command Center
CNN: Election Already Putting a Strain on Secret Service
Paper: Hackers and the U.S. Secret Service
Official Site: Secret Service Protective Mission

Secret Service Recent News

Google News: Secret Service
Yahoo News: Secret Service
FOXNews.com: War Critic Suing Secret Service Agents After Remarks to Cheney... (January 25, 2008)
- "Howards, a 55-year-old environmental consultant, said in the 2006 lawsuit that his First Amendment right to free speech and his Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable search and seizure were violated."

WashingtonPost.com: "Campaign Puts New Strain on Secret Service" (2007)
Wired: Secret Service Operative Moonlights as Identity Thief (2007)
CNN: Obama Placed Under Secret Service Protection (2007)
Washington Post: Obama's Secret Service Code Name is 'Renegade' (2007)

Secret Service Background and Articles

U.S. Secret Service: History
U.S. Secret Service: Know Your Money
National Geographic: U.S. Secret Service's Other Job: Fighting Fake Money (2004)
The U.S. Secret Service in History

Secret Service Information and Services

Secret Service Videos and Media

YouTube & Google Video Search: Secret Service
Google Video: Secret Service Cybercrime Command Center (Time: 4:30)
National Geographic Channel: Inside the Secret Service
YouTube: Reagan Assassination Attempt (Time: 2:07)

Secret Service in Fiction and Culture

Wikipedia: Secret Service Agent Aaron Pierce
Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.
1944: Charlie Chan in the Secret Service
1991: JFK
1993: In the Line of Fire
1994: Guarding Tess
1997: Murder at 1600
2005: The Interpreter
2006: Death of a President

Secret Service Blogs and Message Boards

Think Progress: Secret Service Posts
Topix: U.S. Secret Service Forum
Google Blog Search: U.S. Secret Service

Secret Service Criticism and Controversy

Columbia Chronicle: Secret Service visits 'Secret History of Sin' (2007)
The Raw Story: Secret Service records raise new questions about discredited conservative reporter (2005)
2600: The Secret Service Wall of Shame
YouTube: JFK Assassination Secret Service Stand Down (Time: 2:55)

Secret Service Timeline

1865: Secret Service created to suppress counterfeit currency
1874: Headquarters moved to Washington, DC
1894: Begin informal part-time protection of the President
1902: Operatives begin full time protection of the President
1908: Secret Service agents in Department of Justice form an early version of the FBI
1963: JFK assassination
1968: Robert F. Kennedy assassination
1971: Congress authorized Secret Service protection for visiting heads of a foreign state
1984: Start taking on fraud investigations
1998: Authorized to take on cases of identity theft
2001: Patriot Act passed
2003: Transferred from Department of Treasury to Department of Homeland Security

Secret Service Satire and Humor

McSweeney's Internet Tendency: How to Trip the President
YouTube: The Secret Service Guy (Time: 2:37)

Related Pages on Mahalo

United States Presidents | John F. Kennedy | Identity Theft | Department of Defense | William McKinley | Robert F. Kennedy | Theodore Roosevelt | Department of Treasury | Department of Homeland Security

This page was created by MG, a Part Time Guide in the Mahalo Greenhouse (see the original), and curated by Lon.
If you'd like to help us create the best spam free search results on the Internet, apply to be a Part Time Guide!