US Secret Service - Obama Presidency Oral History Back US Secret Service Index / Organizations Transcripts Norman Brown ...some unusual motion by some of the Secret Service men that were inside of the meeting. S... ...that were inside of the meeting. So the Secret Service men were starting to talk on thei... ...every—he's guiding us over here. The Secret Service is guiding us over here. “Naw, come on... ...we've got the military in front of us, Secret Service , with the back of their hats hangin... ...to go through the background checks of Secret Service and get a badge. Do you remembe... Paula Reid ...Paula is a former member of the Secret Service . She served four administrations, fro... ...your experience connecting with the Secret Service , and finding that as your passion. ... ...I was immediately attracted to the Secret Service , FBI, DEA [Drug Enforcemen... ...that evening, I really only read the US Secret Service pamphlet. I felt that the recruiter wa... ...cut out more to do the missions of the Secret Service . Got it, thank you. We're going t... ...time between your beginning with the Secret Service and 2007, when the campaign reall... ...my motto as I ascended through the Secret Service ranks and matured as an agent. That wa... ...no idea if they were attached to the Secret Service , to the presidential administrations... ...type of threat posed against any of our US Secret Service –protected persons, facilities, o... ...place to learn all sides of what the Secret Service missions are. It's heavy protection... ...protect and support both sides of the Secret Service missions, because of the very nature o... ...fact, I just want to reinforce that the Secret Service is a very nonpartisan agency, and yo... ...or the facilities or the event is, the Secret Service 's mode is fast, is quick. So we follo... ...was none, at least in my time with the Secret Service . Right, Jesse Jackson's campaig... ...Did Black communities trust the Secret Service to keep this candidate safe? I can'... ...I think people learned more about the Secret Service and the protective missions because o... ...candidate be safely managed by the Secret Service alone? Would the Secret Service hav... ...by the Secret Service alone? Would the Secret Service have any specific bias toward thi... ...appalling. You say to yourself, We, the Secret Service —it doesn't matter who's here. We'r... ...is a big part of what allows the Secret Service to be effective. So, having picked u... ...why it is that perception of the Secret Service is part of your effectiveness. Oh... ...a boring person. I know, outside of the Secret Service , I became a boring person [laughter]... ...brand, protecting the reputation of the Secret Service . I want to underscore something yo... ...kind of talked about the role of the Secret Service in protecting democracy, or protectin... ...family are. That doesn't mean that the Secret Service has to decrease its mission. Quite o... ...this position, but the director of the Secret Service , as well as the special agent i... ...children are still protectees of the Secret Service . So, with that, it's like telling a... ...especially one that could impact the Secret Service , that's where the director gathers hi... ...from one administration to another. The Secret Service is, of course, not transitioning, bu... ...look like from the perspective of the Secret Service ? You mean as we transition betwee... ...to say that the service is—for us, the Secret Service —pretty much status quo. We're doin... ...understood what it meant to us as the Secret Service , working closer with the White Hous... ...were down, when I wasn't with a US Secret Service protectee—at the time we did hav... ...women of color, other women in the Secret Service . Sure. When I started with th... ...Sure. When I started with the Secret Service —and this is, again, in 1990... ...may have been maybe twenty of us in the Secret Service , and for that percentage to be in on... ...still connect with Black females in the Secret Service . We still are asked to specificall... ...not just as a special agent with the Secret Service but as a Black woman, as well, in ... ...because of our experiences with the Secret Service , but because of our experiences whil... ...of our experiences while with the Secret Service , that we cross paths, and people see... ...with a Black female agent in the Secret Service , because it is so rare. It was rar... ...you could be your authentic self in the Secret Service . But I think those two things; how t... ...the one thing we learned about in the Secret Service is, your presentation is everything... ...was an informal group when I joined the Secret Service . It was called BASS, and it stood fo... ...and it stood for Black Agents in the Secret Service . I don't think it was any secret tha... ...I saw it, even at that tenure with the Secret Service , was that it wasn't anything made up... ...should have been seen and known by the Secret Service if there was a centralized and mor... ...there were several times when the Secret Service chose people who were less tenured... ...to develop a table of penalties for the Secret Service that all folks were held accountabl... ...our agency briefing, where all the Secret Service folks in the room, no matter what leve... ...Everybody who was with me in the Secret Service in that huddle—they walked upstair... ...me for sparing his reputation with the Secret Service . But what happened after that was... ...really doomed the reputation of the Secret Service . And surely if I had not done that, ... ...of ongoing incidents that had made the Secret Service really surface again in the media i... ...internal or external audits that the Secret Service had to undergo. And just as importan... ...have questions in these reports. The Secret Service is small, and I will tell you that whe... ...board, that reflected more of what the Secret Service looked like. So I think those thing... ...of the most significant shifts for the Secret Service during that time, good or bad? ... ...division to be assigned to in the Secret Service . And, again, I've heard som... ...folks assigned to uphold and protect Secret Service protectees felt doubtful—not doubtfu... ...surely this is not the road that the Secret Service could afford to go down, and this ha... ...say what your personal impact on the Secret Service has been. I think maybe the impact... ...which either an organization like the Secret Service or a country like the United States i... ...that you see in your life after the Secret Service . So I really just want to say than... ...again, I still would go back to the Secret Service . I had the ability to grow up in on... ...the way, and I am so grateful for the Secret Service for giving me that opportunity, an... Show more... Raffi Freedman-Gurspan ...I held there, and I went down to the Secret Service office and met with the folks there an... ...Building, and [laughs] god bless the Secret Service because I think they were just s... Thomas Tidwell ...down to go talk to those guys. The Secret Service was of course doing their thing... Brian Mosteller ...But it's a very specific events world. Secret Service isn't involved in most events... ...the gym here.” That stopped happening. Secret Service came on board; planes, motorcades... ...ascension to— Yes, the introduction of Secret Service , the fact that he would be recognize... ...transportation, these things. [Laughs] Secret Service came on—when did they come on? It wa... ...in the White House, so I knew the Secret Service methods and their approaches to things... ...were a little more brazen, and when the Secret Service said, “We have to do this. We only d... ...their hands on the fence.” And the Secret Service , the head agent in charge, said, “N... ...group. So basically just move—and then Secret Service had their lead for the debates. And w... ...our walkthroughs with the whole team, Secret Service , all the different folks. We starte... ...coming in. We weren't going to have Secret Service make it too prohibitive—that his visi... ...Malia [A. Obama] had gone downstairs. Secret Service , maybe Reggie, myself. And we're jus... ...actually a moment I do recall where the Secret Service had told me, I think, that day. The... ...in the caliber and the heft of the Secret Service teams when he left Grant Park to g... ...people that I hadn't seen before, new Secret Service agents, counterassault teams, whic... ...And who is going to coordinate with Secret Service about the Air Force? Because our Secre... ...about the Air Force? Because our Secret Service team has not been dealing with them... ...that I had good relationships with the Secret Service , with the Military Office, wit... ...just the White House staff. It was Secret Service , and military, and the White Hous... ...on his study wall. A gift from the Secret Service that was hanging in his private dinin... ...for the motorcade to pull up. And the Secret Service had totally dwindled. It went fro... Show more... Ken Salazar ...valley. Before it was finalized, the Secret Service said that he couldn't do it because o... ...a cab ride into his office. By then, Secret Service is everywhere, and all the securit... Andrew Stern ...have printed in my home. There were no Secret Service around when we got off a bus comin... ...after the swearing-in. I mean, no Secret Service . I almost thought, Are they trying t... ...we can slip in and say hello. There's Secret Service agents. I can't remember which of th... ...the president. So we get through the Secret Service . We're now right behind the president... ...in the presidential reviewing stand. No Secret Service . [Makes sound] I said, “Mr. President... Gloria Borland ...more threats against his life from the Secret Service than anybody. So there is a beginning... ...looking back, you can see I hear from Secret Service and other sources that the whit... Load more Transcripts Related Topics go to the Democrats Democrats go to the Counterterrorism Counterterrorism go to the Criminal Justice Criminal Justice go to the Chicago Chicago go to the Middle East and North Africa Middle East and North Africa