One of the oldest law enforcement agencies in the United States just celebrated its 150th birthday. The Secret Service was created by President Abraham Lincoln on April 14, 1865. Hours later, in a strange coincidence, he would be murdered by John Wilkes Booth at the Ford Theater.
The Civil War had just ended. Hundreds of thousands of troops were being discharged, paid in U.S. currency. As Time Magazine noted in a piece on April 14, the problem was counterfeit money. While a national currency was adopted in 1863, state banks still produced reams of currency. The Federal currency was easier to counterfeit than these bills, and massive amounts of Federal bills were now in circulation.
Counterfeiting was not a new idea, but Congress was late in making it a crime. Counterfeiting of gold or silver coins and bars was not criminalized until 1877, according to the Secret Service website. The counterfeiting of stamps was not made illegal until 1895.
A new mission: protecting the president
In 1901, after the third assassination of an American president, Congress added the mission of protecting the President to the duties of the Secret Service. Congress got around to funding these duties in 1906. In 1913, the president-elect was added to the protection by Congress, and presidential families in 1917. The vice-president was added to the list in 1951.
The primary duties of the Secret Service during its first decades involved the investigation of fraud and other violations of federal law. That tradition is continued to this day as the Service is the primary investigator for credit or debit card fraud, fraud involving identification documentation and investigations of federally-insured financial institution. Most agents and Service resources are devoted to financial crimes cases and related computer crimes.
Foreign families, heads of state and those diplomatic missions
Since 1951, the Secret Service has had additional protective duties added, which now include former Presidents, Vice-Presidents and their families, foreign heads of state and diplomatic missions on U.S. territory, the spouses of heads of state and major candidates for the office of president and vice-president of the United States.
In Conrad Black’s book titled Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Champion of Freedom, he quotes General George Patton as describing the President’s protective detail as “a bunch of cheap detectives, always smelling of drink.” Sadly, in the last several years, a series of scandals has enveloped the Protective Detail side of the Service. One of the most respected law enforcement agencies is now struggling with its most visible duty, that of protecting the President. The 3,200 special agents, 1,300 Uniformed Division officers, and more than 2,000 other support personnel are not truly represented by the handful of agents and officers who have disgraced their badges and agency.
