US Secret Service: What to know about one of America’s oldest agencies

The United States Secret Service is facing scrutiny after a gunman armed with an AR-style rifle was able to get close enough to shoot and injure former President Donald Trump in an assassination attempt on July 13, 2024. 

The Secret Service is one of America’s oldest federal law enforcement agencies, with a rich history of protecting the government and its leaders. 

As the agency’s performance and leadership are called into question in the coming weeks, here are some things to know about the department: 

Secret Service history

The Secret Service’s history dates back to 1865, when it was formed as part of the Department of the Treasury "to stamp out rampant counterfeiting," according to the organization’s website. 

Its responsibilities broadened in the next few years to include detecting persons perpetrating frauds against the government, which included investigations into the Ku Klux Klan, nonconforming distillers, smugglers, mail robbers and land frauds.

It wasn’t until 1901, when President William McKinley was assassinated, that Congress requested the Secret Service begin formal and full-time protection of U.S. presidents in addition to investigating threats and crimes. 

Presently, the Secret Service employs 3,200 special agents, 1,300 uniformed division officers and more than 2,000 other professionals, according to the official agency website.

Trump Secret Service

The Secret Service is authorized to protect the first family, including the president, all immediate family members, the vice president, others in order of succession of the Oval Office, former presidents until the end of their lifetime, unless declined, their spouses and the children of former presidents up to age 16, among others.

Because of this, Donald and Melania Trump are the only family members of the former president required to receive Secret Service personnel.

RELATED: What we know about Thomas Matthew Crooks, the alleged shooter at Trump's rally

USSS Head Kimberly Cheatle

Kimberly Cheatle is currently the head of the Secret Service. 

President Biden appointed her in 2022, making her the second woman ever to lead the agency.

Cheatle first joined the USSS in 1995, but she retired in late 2019. While serving in the USSS, she was a member of the VP Protective Detail during the Obama administration, which brought her into direct contact with the Bidens, according to Bill Shipley, a former federal prosecutor who represents people involved with January 6 pro bono.

Women in the Secret Service 

The first women to be sworn in as special agents was a group of five in 1971: officers Laurie Anderson, Sue Ann Baker, Kathryn Clark, Holly Hufschmidt and Phyllis Shantz.

At the time they were hired, it was noted that the agents would be involved in protective and investigative responsibilities and "be expected to do everything the men do and will receive equal pay."

In 1984, all gender-specific references in the federal law authorizing Secret Service protection for the president and vice president were removed.

Today, according to the Secret Service’s website, women make up 24% of the workforce. The training class of April 2021 marked the first instance in which women trainees outnumbered the men.

One other woman prior to Cheatle has served as director: Julia Pierson, from 2013-2014, appointed by then-President Barack Obama.

RELATED: US military draft: Bill would require women to register for Selective Service

JFK assassination fallout

The assassination of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas, brought about some change to Secret Service protocol. 

An executive order issued by President Lyndon B. Johnson said that people everywhere are to receive "full and truthful knowledge" of assassinations and assassination attempts, according to the National Archives.

The order prescribed modifications to Secret Service procedures and afforded future presidents the ability to be up close and personal with constituents, as JFK was.

In the following years, Secret Service protection was also extended to Jackie Kennedy and her minor children, and extended protection to a former president and his wife throughout their lifetime. 

Protection was also extended to major presidential and vice presidential candidates and nominees.

Ronald Reagan assassination attempt

Another notable assassination attempt in modern times was that of President Ronald Reagan, on March 30, 1981, in Washington, D.C.

Reagan was 70 at the time and was struck by one bullet in his side. The would-be assassin got off six shots in 1.7 seconds. Secret Service agents swarmed, and one of them shoved the president into the waiting limousine.

Special Agent Tim McCarthy was also shot in the chest as he stood between the president and the gunman, one of the rare instances in which an agent has been injured on the job. 

Reagan and McCarthy survived and recovered. 

Jackson Bain, a news anchor for WTTG-TV, now FOX 5 DC, who covered Reagan’s assassination attempt, said the shooting brought about changes such as tighter Secret Service surrounding a president, especially when he’s exposed to the public when walking from a building to a vehicle.

RELATED: The day Reagan was shot, as remembered by reporter: 'It was chaotic'

Why does the Secret Service wear sunglasses? 

Secret Service agents sometimes wear sunglasses to keep the sun out of their eyes, so they can increase their ability to see what people in the crowd are doing, according to the agency’s website. Agents do not always wear sunglasses.

This story was reported from Detroit. The Associated Press contributed.