NARRATOR: They are an elite force.
Brave men and women who put
their lives on the line.
(shouting)
JULIA PIERSON: Failure's not an option.
You have to be perfect 100%
of the time.
NARRATOR: Their mission-
to guard the most powerful
person in the world.
RALPH BASHAM: This is serious business.
It is about the safety and
security of the United States.
NARRATOR: But just who are
these American heroes?
And what is their secret mission?
BARBARA GOLDEN: We're known
for protection and the guys with
the sunglasses and the trench coats.
But we also investigate crimes.
RALPH BASHAM: There's a lot
more to the Secret Service
and its mission than what people see on TV.
NARRATOR: There are those who
believe in the existence of a book.
A book that contains the most
highly guarded secrets of the
United States of America.
A book whose very existence is
known to only a select few.
But if such a book exists,
what would it contain?
Secret missions?
Secret technologies?
Secret threats?
Does there really exist
America's Book of Secrets?
April 20, 2012.
Cartagena, Colombia.
The United States Secret Service
faces a firestorm of controversy
after agents on President Barack
Obama's advance team are caught
in a highly publicized
prostitution scandal.
One dozen Secret Service agents
are sent home when one allegedly
refuses to pay one of the
several female prostitutes they
had invited to their hotel.
White House officials quickly
attempt damage control in an
effort to preserve the dignity
of the agency.
JAY CARNEY: The President has
confidence in the director of
the Secret Service. Uh, Director
Sullivan acted quickly, uh, in
response to this incident and is
overseeing an investigation as
we speak into the matter.
MARC AMBINDER: The reason why
the incident in Cartagena was so
embarrassing for the Secret
Service was, it became an
international news story overnight.
Whatever the president was doing
at the Summit of the Americas
was completely eclipsed
by this embarrassment that the
Secret Service itself created
and was responsible for.
DAN EMMETT: The actual
unwritten codes within the
Secret Service are really
applicable to common sense.
Don't embarrass the Secret Service.
Don't embarrass this country.
Don't embarrass the president.
DANNY SPRIGGS: The Cartagena
incident was an unfortunate
situation, and one in which I
believe actually put a stain on
the Secret Service, its mission,
as well as its personnel.
NARRATOR: Is it possible
there is something about a
Secret Service agent's
psychological profile,
especially those charged with
protecting the president, that
motivates them to act in a way
that challenges the upstanding,
all-American image of the Secret
Service that the public imagines?
MANCOW MULLER: Look, these
are these are hard-core
individuals- they work hard
and they play hard.
I think the Secret Service has
one of the most intense jobs.
I-I can't imagine how intense it
is, and I think they need to let off steam.
But, uh, if they're leaving
secret files around, that's a problem.
NARRATOR: But while wild and,
some would argue, politically
incorrect behavior may
occasionally be exhibited by
other government employees and
law enforcement officials, is
there another reason why the
Secret Service's behavior in
Colombia was so particularly shocking?
Could it be that the agency's
position- as the guardians of
the president of the United
States and his family- requires
that the character of the Secret
Service must be even more
exemplary, more so than any
other law enforcement agency in the nation?
AMBINDER: You can argue that
you should hold them to higher
standards because the job that
they have chosen freely- the
responsibility that we,
collectively, as a country, have
given them- is so great that
they just have to hold
themselves to higher standards.
They have to let go of the
temptations that most people
would fall and succumb to.
SPRIGGS: A Secret Service
agent or officer should never
put themselves in a position
where they could be
compromised- either through
extortion or other means- to
reveal classified information,
sensitive information, or
operational procedures.
And so, therefore it does, in
certain situations, present that
kind of image to the public-
that security has been
compromised, which could result
in the life of a president.
BARBARA GOLDEN: The scandal
that the Secret Service went
through, unfortunately, was a
sexy story for the media.
We are elite and I think a lot
of people do still believe in
that, um, because of what we do.
But in any organization you're
gonna have a knucklehead that
brings negative impact on the
whole agency, and that's what
happened in this case.
NARRATOR: But the scandal in
Cartagena was not the end of the
troubles facing the Secret Service.
Over the next two years, agents
continued to make shocking
headlines, prompting many to
wonder if there was something
going terribly wrong within the agency.
And if so, should the American
public be concerned?
RALPH BASHAM: Well, perhaps
there is a problem in the Secret Service.
I don't think it is a
deep-rooted problem, but there
are people who are problems in
the Secret Service.
STEVE MONTEIRO: No
organization can ever completely
defend itself against individual
acts of misconduct.
At the end of the day, we hire
human beings and human beings
make mistakes.
NARRATOR: According to many
health professionals, stress
could be a major factor in
recent incidents of agent misconduct.
It could also be a key reason
why many agents decide to quit
the force altogether.
On the outside, agents portray a
tough, professional exterior.
Maintaining composure while
under constant pressure.
But what is life really like for
these highly trained operatives?
What are the secrets cloaked
behind the stoic glances, iconic
sunglasses, and keenly pressed suits?
DAN BONGINO: I've seen people frustrated.
I've seen people upset.
You know, it's okay to kind of
yell and scream once in a while
but at the end of the day, you
are gonna secure this man's
life, no matter what.
So either get it done or move
on and find a new job.
EMMETT: Some people have
requested transfer because of the stress.
Continuous travel, up to 30, 35
days at a time without any
days off, continually changing
shifts, day shift, evening
shift, midnight shifts.
BASHAM: When you're off,
you're not really off.
I mean, you can be called 24
hours a day, seven days a week.
And you've got to respond.
NARRATOR: From agents in the
field on the Presidential
Protective Division to those on
the Emergency Response Team who
guard the White House grounds,
every representative of the
Secret Service is expected to
carry out their duties flawlessly.
JULIA PIERSON: Whether you're
getting close to making an
arrest or you're making
decisions about, uh, public
movement around our president or
any of our protectees, it's a
very difficult time.
Failure is not an option, and so
you have to be perfect 100%
of the time.
I think that would be very
demanding on anyone in any career.
NARRATOR: While most agents
are well equipped to deal with
the heavy demands that come with
the job, some, sadly, cannot
handle the pressure.
BASHAM: We've had,
unfortunately, a number of
agents who have literally taken
their own life because the
stress of the job.
Uh, and its impact on the family.
Law enforcement is just a very
demanding, very stressful job.
So, yeah, suicide is
unfortunately, uh, you know,
sort of the dark side of the job.
NARRATOR: Are the pressures
of being a Secret Service agent
too intense?
Are the rigid standards they
have to meet simply too high?
And, if so, is the agency's
ability to fill the ranks of
this historically elite force in jeopardy?
NARRATOR: Each year the
United States Secret Service
receives thousands of
applications for only a few
hundred available positions.
In fact, in 2011, only one
percent of the over 15,000 who
applied to become special
agents were accepted.
But with such a large pool of
applicants to choose from, just
how does the Secret Service
decide who gets an invitation to
join this elite force and who
gets rejected?
PIERSON: The Secret Service
has about 3,300 special agents
and about 1,400 uniformed
division officers serving in a
protective capacity every day.
We have offices in most of the
major cities across the United
States and about 40 offices
outside of this country.
EMMETT: When a person applies
to become an agent with the
United States Secret Service,
they are entering into the
mother of all vetting processes.
It goes on for about 12 months,
assuming that everything goes
according to plan.
NARRATOR: First, an applicant
must pass an extensive
background check that includes
scouring their finances.
An agent with significant debt
is considered greater risk.
Applicants must also pass the
dreaded polygraph test.
EMMETT: It's just simply to
find out, one, are you a criminal?
Two, are you a spy sent to
infiltrate the Secret Service?
BONGINO: It was probably the
worst eight hours of my life.
When I got on, I think they were
eliminating nine out of ten people.
It's very, very hard to cheat a
Secret Service polygraph.
MONTEIRO: A disqualification
could be someone lying about
perhaps their criminal history.
It could be their drug usage.
It could be employment activities.
For example, they've been fired
and tried to hide that from us.
NARRATOR: But it is not just
the prospective agents who are
under the microscope during the
arduous application process.
Their acceptance into the elite
group also depends on the
competence of their family.
EMMETT: One of the final
phases of the vetting process is
the home visits.
This is when a seasoned senior
agent will visit the home of the
applicant, interview the
applicant along with the spouse
and try and explain to them how
difficult this job really is.
And if, uh, the other side of
the relationship can't deal with
that, you're gonna have a
very unhappy agent, therefore a
very unproductive agent.
NARRATOR: After enduring
almost one year of interviews
and tests, those men and women
accepted as trainees will spend
their first three months at the
Federal Law Enforcement Training
Center in Glynco, Georgia.
After which, those who make the
cut will move on to the James J.
Rowley Center in Beltsville, Maryland.
There, trainees endure another
18 weeks of intense hands-on
instruction on everything from
investigative techniques to
physical protection tactics,
marksmanship and even water
survival skills.
BASHAM: You go through
another several months of very
specific training that deals
with the Secret Service's mission set.
That, too, can be extremely
demanding on individuals, and
people don't make it through.
NARRATOR: But just how well
do these training scenarios
really prepare agents to survive
real-world threats?
BASHAM: There are mock street
scenes, and they run through
every scenario.
Any day they may be blowing up
cars, or there may be motorcades
that are being attacked.
They try to develop as best they
can a realistic set of scenarios
where your body trains, your mind trains.
At the end of the day, that can
save your life or the lives of others.
NARRATOR: What sets the
Secret Service apart from many
other law enforcement agencies
is that its trainees are taught
how to take a bullet by using
their bodies as human shields.
SPRIGGS: On March 30, 1981,
I was present during the
attempted assassination by John
Hinckley against President Reagan.
(gunshots)
Tim McCarthy, the agent who
received a wound to the abdomen
as a result of that incident,
clearly put himself in the line of fire.
That's the sacrifice that you
have to be willing to make to
become a Secret Service agent.
NARRATOR: But, believe it or
not, once recruits become sworn
in as agents, they do not start
off on the coveted Presidential
Protective Division, or PPD, right away.
New agents must first spend
about six years in
investigations and temporary
protection before they can even
be considered for PPD, and that
highly coveted assignment
involves even more rigorous training.
And before an agent is even
allowed behind the wheel of the
tank-like presidential limo
known as Cadillac One or the
Beast, they must also pass a
series of unique driving tests.
EMMETT: PODC is the
Protective Operations Driving
Course, and before an agent is
qualified to drive the president
of the United States in an
armored limo, they first must
graduate PODC.
BONGINO: Learning how to
drive the president's limo is
like learning how to slalom with
a tractor trailer.
I mean, that's how difficult it is.
The driving course is meant to
really induce stress.
Driving like that, under high
speeds with a sweat in a
90-degree temperature day and
the sweat's coming into your
eyes, yeah, it's intense.
NARRATOR: But no matter how
realistic or challenging an
agent's training is, nothing can
adequately prepare them for the
real-world events that will test
their skills day by day, minute
by minute and second by second,
especially when it comes to
guarding the life of the most
powerful person in the world.
NARRATOR: November 22, 1963.
Dallas, Texas.
Along the presidential parade
route, sniper shots fired from a
nearby building turn an
otherwise uneventful afternoon
into a day of terror.
(people screaming)
In a split-second, President
John F. Kennedy is struck and killed.
And this single moment becomes a
game changer for how the United
States Secret Service will
forever guard the life of the
president of the United States.
PETRO: In President Kennedy's
assassination, we learned about
paying more attention to the
high ground and to buildings.
In 1972, George Wallace was shot
in a rope line, and I think we
learned a lot about how to do
rope lines better.
And then, just a couple years
later, Squeaky Fromme tried to
shoot President Ford.
And then, of course, President
Reagan's assassination attempt,
we learned the importance of
cover and evacuate.
But I think the overriding
concept that is true in every
one of those circumstances is
proximity, being close enough to react.
PIERSON: There are many
things that the Secret Service
has done to adapt protection in
an evolving society.
I don't think many Americans
understand the complexity that
goes into securing the president
of the United States.
It's more than just fencing the
White House.
It's air security.
It's cyber security.
It's biological, chemical and
nuclear detection elements that
we have to employ to ensure a
safe environment for the
president anywhere he travels,
whether it's in the United
States or around the world.
NARRATOR: March 28, 2010.
Bagram, Afghanistan.
Managing the movement of United
States President Barack Obama-
codenamed "Renegade"- and his
White House entourage is no
small task, especially when it
is a secret trip into a war zone.
BONGINO: Moving people,
moving weapons, moving bodies,
moving equipment thousands of
miles overseas in a very
distinct block of time, very
short block of time, is
extremely difficult.
Most people would never have to
think about the crazy things we
have to think about when we're
doing an advance.
Tactical, medical, chem-bio,
IED, airborne and fire.
If you can take care of those
big six threats, the president
is going to go home safe.
(sirens blaring)
NARRATOR: Although most
presidential movements are
heavily planned out in
anticipation of an attempted
assassination, threats could lie
in wait any day, at any time, anywhere.
So can the president of the
United States do anything that's
really spontaneous?
MONTEIRO: OTRs are referred
to as off-the-record movements,
and that is where one of our
protectees- for example, the
president- would decide to go
some place at the last minute,
off the schedule.
BONGINO: Not everything is as
spontaneous as it looks.
Even spontaneity requires some
degree of planning.
NARRATOR: During the George
H.W. Bush administration,
William Kristol served as chief
of staff to Vice President Dan
Quayle and witnessed firsthand
how agents adapted to unplanned situations.
WILLIAM KRISTOL: At times
the vice president would see
something and say, "Why don't we
stop there?"
And the Secret Service agent
would say, "Ooh, Mr. Vice
President, we'd kind of planned
on a different place half a mile away."
But, of course, no one likes to
be told exactly where to go 24
hours a day, and so they would
scramble and make it work.
When the Secret Service works
well, which it does, you know,
98% of the time, no one notices it.
DAN QUAYLE: The Secret
Service know exactly what to do.
I had this one Secret Service
agent, and every time right
before I'd go out and make a
speech, and he'd say, "Okay,
now, if some attack happens,
make sure you get down behind
the podium, because it's bulletproof."
And I said, "Well, that's really
not the last words I want to
hear before I'm gonna be making
a major speech.
Can you please tell me that,
like, 30 minutes ahead of time?"
But it was in his marching
orders to make sure that the
vice president knew what to do
in case of a... a situation arose.
NARRATOR: To those under the
protection of the Secret
Service, the orders from agents
may seem overbearing.
But the sacrifice of personal
space and privacy is really for
their own good and that of the nation.
Especially when the types of
threats being faced are
ever-changing and rarely made public.
GOLDEN: The president
routinely receives threats daily.
It could be in the form of an
e-mail, it could be in the form
of a verbal threat, it could be
a letter, it could be on a chat room.
But once the Secret Service is
made aware of those threats, we
do physically go locate the
person and do our assessment.
PETRO: I was in Intelligence
Division, and I was supervising
the duty desk at 2:00 in the
morning, and someone called
the White House and started
threatening the president.
We had this guy on the phone,
and kept talking to him, and we
traced the call to a phone booth
in Minneapolis or someplace.
Someone else is calling the police.
I'm still talking to him on the
phone, and he's threatening the
president, and you could hear
the knock on the phone booth,
and it was the police, arresting him.
(sirens blaring)
The Secret Service is in the
business of preventing things
from happening.
NARRATOR: But although
protecting the life of the
president, the vice president
and their families may always be
at the forefront of the U.S.
Secret Service's mission to
serve and protect, agents also
have another, even more secret mission.
And this one protects all
Americans, not just from people
wielding guns and bombs, but
from those whose sinister plans
may involve little more than ink and paper.
NARRATOR: December, 2013.
Target, one of America's largest
retailers, is hit by a crippling
credit card breech.
More than 70 million customer
accounts are attacked,
compromising card data and
personal information.
Much to the public's surprise,
it is the Department of Justice
and the Secret Service that are
charged with investigating the
financial criminal case,
described as one of the worst
security incidents in United
States history.
GOLDEN: We're known for
protection, and the guys with
the sunglasses and the trench coats.
But we also investigate crimes,
credit card theft, fraud,
identity theft, treasury check
forgeries, counterfeit money,
counterfeit credit cards.
PIERSON: Our investigative
mission dates back to 1865 with
counterfeiting during the Civil War.
Over a third of the money in
circulation was counterfeit at the time.
President Lincoln, oddly enough,
saw the importance of ensuring
that there was a federal
investigative team that was able
to help combat counterfeiting.
It was named the Secret Service.
NARRATOR: In an unmarked
building in Washington, D.C.,
the Secret Service hides an
arsenal of state-of-the-art
technology to combat much more
than just financial crimes.
The Forensic Services division
houses a laboratory with
highly restricted vaults, each
containing secret technologies
used to protect American citizens.
MONTEIRO: The laundry list of
things that we do in the
investigative side of the house
is pretty comprehensive, and
they go everything from fraud
cases to murder cases to child
exploitation cases.
PIERSON: I don't think most
Americans are aware of the
unique forensic capabilities of
the United States Secret
Service, as it relates to
counterfeit currency,
questioned documents, and some
of the other tools that we need
to do our important mission.
They include everything from
handwriting analysis to voice
recognition to specimen notes
dating back to 1865.
NARRATOR: Behind this door is
a vault that stores evidence of
currency counterfeiting that
only Stuart Tryon, the Assistant
Special Agent in Charge of
Investigations- and a select
few of his colleagues- can access.
STUART TRYON: This is the
only agency in the U.S.
government that can verify
authenticity of currency.
And we are the only agency in
the U.S. government that has a
counterfeit vault.
We have one sample of every
bill, every note, every bank
note that existed since 1865
that we've investigated.
PIERSON: Today, with inkjet
printers and the simplicity of
being able to use scanning
technology, I think more people
are tempted to try
counterfeiting than ever before.
TRYON: Each note has a
fingerprint, if you will.
Each note has a history.
We research the paper, we research the ink.
We look for the raised printing,
the intaglio printing.
We look for the offset.
We also look in the quality of
the actual note.
We compare that with a genuine.
This is where the buck truly stops.
NARRATOR: Just down the hall
from the counterfeit vault is a
high-tech latent fingerprint
lab, where specialists use the
most up-to-date chemicals and
technology to extract
fingerprints that are nearly
impossible to detect by most
other forensics labs.
ANTHONY CLAY: We investigate
a lot of, um, financial crimes,
so with that we receive a lot of
porous-type items, such as
counterfeit bills, counterfeit
checks, counterfeit money.
And also threatening letters
against the president.
Latent fingerprint technology is
the ability to make fingerprints
left on a crime scene visible.
The word "latent" simply means "hidden."
NARRATOR: The capabilities of
the Forensic Services division
are so advanced that the agency
has been called on to testify in
some of the nation's most notorious cases.
The technology here is used not
only to solve criminal cases
against U.S. citizens, but one
secret method in particular is
most prominently used to protect
the president.
MONTEIRO: When I was the
director of the Forensic
Services division, I was
particularly proud of the FISH system.
And FISH is an acronym for the
Forensic Information System for
Handwriting, which is the only
kind of system in the world that
helps us to identify writing samples.
TRISTA GINSBERG: This is a
computer program which was
developed by the United States
Secret Service, modeled after a
program which was previously
used by the German Federal Police.
This is a computer program which
only the Secret Service has access to.
MONTEIRO: We would take the
height of a letter, uh, the
spacing of a letter, and this
would all go into algorithms
which would sort of give us a
profile of this particular
sample of handwriting.
We would then take that and
compare that to the thousands of
samples that we have in our database.
NARRATOR: If there is a
potential handwriting match, the
program will generate a list of
candidates who may have authored
the threat.
GINSBERG: We have had over
300 FISH hits and were able to
identify that the same person
did writitose letters.
MONTEIRO: A perfect example
was a case that happened in New York.
They had received a threat
letter to blow up the subway
systems in New York.
And the, uh, joint terrorism
task force faxed a copy of the
letter to my office, and within
one hour we told them who wrote
the letter using the FISH system.
NARRATOR: But while the
Secret Service works behind
the scenes to safeguard the
financial security of the nation
and the personal safety of the
president of the United States,
they are also involved in other
even more secret operations.
And some are so well hidden,
they happen right in front of the public...
but completely out of sight.
MAN: Police!
OFFICER: Police with a
warrant, open the door!
NARRATOR: On March 16, 2012,
19 people are arrested in nine states.
They are charged with being part
of a criminal organization that
buys and sells personal and
financial information.
Dubbed Operation Open Market,
the sting was successful largely
due to a Secret Service agent
working undercover, distributing
fake IDs that could later be
traced to their buyers.
BASHAM: There's a lot more to
the Secret Service and its
mission than what people may
just, you know, see on TV.
It's the day-to-day gathering
intelligence, of working the
information that's really sort
of what the Secret Service agent does.
PIERSON: We've also had them
perform undercover assignments.
So you're never really sure
where a Secret Service agent can be found.
We spend a lot of time ensuring
that they can assimilate into
any assignment that we've given
them throughout the world.
GOLDEN: I did go undercover
for a counterfeit investigation.
The source was working with the
bad guy- or the target- and
that source would introduce me
to the target.
I was playing a girlfriend to
the source and being in the room
where you could hear what's going on.
So, what I learned in their
conversation I just took back to
the case agent, and he would
make a decision on how to move forward.
NARRATOR: But it is not just
the agents involved in criminal
investigations that work undercover.
Agents on protective detail
often dress as everything from
tourists and joggers to everyday
citizens in their efforts to
avoid detection and simply blend in.
May 19, 2013.
Atlanta, Georgia.
During President Barack Obama's
commencement speech to the
graduating class of Morehouse
College, a Secret Service agent
quietly and discreetly protects
the nation's leader while in
complete disguise.
PIERSON: I think you would be
surprised to see that we've had
Secret Service agents on the
stage during commencement
exercises dressed in graduation gowns.
We've had them participating in
picnics and sporting events
dressed as participants.
AMBINDER: If the Secret
Service distracts from what
people are looking at at a
particular event, they're in a
sense distracting from the job
of the politician.
And the job of the politician,
after all, is what really affects us.
There's a direct link between
their desire to be unobtrusive
and guarded and the smooth
functioning of democracy.
NARRATOR: October 30, 2001.
Yankee Stadium, New York.
President George W. Bush throws
out the first pitch in game
three of the World Series.
Planted in the stadium are
several Secret Service agents
scanning the crowd for potential threats.
BONGINO: The World Series
game where President Bush threw
out the first pitch, we had one
of our guys dress up as-as an umpire.
SPRIGGS: You always want to
try to maintain a 360-degree
coverage of your protectee.
And so therefore you find
yourself, uh, having to be
placed inside the crowd.
EMMETT: The agents generally
dress in accordance to the way
the president is dressing to
wherever he's going.
If the president is going for a
run, which President Clinton
frequently did, and President
Bush, then the agents go in running gear.
They at least try and blend in
as far as the dresses around them.
SPRIGGS: In the event that
the president is going to be
playing golf, you wouldn't want
to be in a three-piece suit.
It's twofold.
It's, uh, first, you're bringing
attention unto yourself.
And then, two, if there was
anybody that had ill will in
mind, they would clearly
identify you as the security component.
NARRATOR: But while many
agents dress to avoid detection,
there are some who deliberately
want their presence known.
They believe that by being
obvious, they can act as a
deterrent and thus prevent an
attack on the person they have
been assigned to protect.
PETRO: One of the highlights
of my career was the opportunity
to be the agent in charge of the
visit of Pope John Paul II to
the United States.
I got to be very close with the
Pope's chief of staff and the
Pope's head of Vatican security.
We were having dinner one night,
and they said, "Would you
consider dressing as a priest?"
And I said, "Absolutely not.
I want the public to know I am a
Secret Service agent and I am
here to protect the Pope."
But having said that, it doesn't
mean that we didn't have some
agents dressed as priests.
NARRATOR: But while the
Secret Service works tirelessly
to prevent the ever-present
threats that come from the
outside, might there be an even
greater threat?
One that comes from within?
NARRATOR: Federal agencies
such as the FBI, the CIA and the
NSA have all had spies or double
agents that have leaked
classified information.
Yet the Secret Service claims
that in its almost 150-year
history, the agency has not had
one traitor in its midst.
But how could it be possible
that not a single person has
ever infiltrated the organization?
EMMETT: Every five years, an
agent undergoes a background
reinvestigation.
Part of that reinvestigation is
looking at the person's finances
in terms of unexplainable affluence.
If an agent's making $80,000
a year but is living in a
$1 million house with a Ferrari,
something is probably not right.
And so the Secret Service wants
to know, where's that money coming from?
AMBINDER: The Secret Service
keeps pretty close tabs on its agents.
But, look, the nightmare scenario exists.
No one can say that it will never happen.
If you just think about it on a
basic level, you are allowing a
bunch of extremely
highly-trained Americans with
guns right next to the president.
MULLER: If a traitor ever
infiltrated the Secret Service,
the worst-case scenario is a
dead president.
I hope it never happens.
NARRATOR: Although the notion
of a Secret Service agent
turning rogue seems unthinkable,
some critics believe it is only
a matter of time before the high
standards of the agency become
compromised, especially in an
age of so-called political correctness.
March 27, 2013.
11 months after the prostitution
scandal in Cartagena, Julia
Pierson, the first female
director of the United States
Secret Service, takes the oath of office.
AMBINDER: The Secret Service,
like every other law enforcement
agency, has adjusted to the
reality of women who are rising
in the ranks.
If you're thinking of this frat
boy culture within the Secret
Service, if it does exist now,
it won't exist in ten years.
BASHAM: The new director is
taking some steps that is going
to go a long way in changing the
attitudes of certain people who
think that they are above the
organization or the White House.
You can't go out and do
something that's going to
damage the reputation of a
organization that I think is one
of the best law enforcement
organizations in the world.
NARRATOR: But as witnesses to
some of the most important
decision-making moments in
history, are today's agents
really willing to take the
secrets they have been entrusted
with to their graves?
Can their honesty and integrity
really be taken for granted?
SPRIGGS: It's an honor to be
on the front row seat of history
when you're assigned to the
Presidential Protective Division.
You could fill libraries with
the secrets of the Secret Service.
GOLDEN: During campaigns, we
protect the candidates.
And my first candidate was Jesse Jackson.
There are things I heard in the
limousine and interacted with
him that I would keep private.
You are sworn to secrecy, no
matter who it is.
KRISTOL: On Air Force Two,
for example, there'd be very
classified briefings, obviously.
And often there'd be an agent
who would be privy to such
information because he'd be
standing in the room.
And we never even gave a
thought, actually, to the fact
that that would be a problem,
and it never was.
BASHAM: This is serious business.
It is about the safety and
security of the United States.
The Secret Service motto is
"Worthy of Trust and Confidence."
And it just becomes a part of
your religion in the organization.
NARRATOR: Given the
ever-changing threats facing
today's world, the Secret
Service stands ready to combat
any sinister plot against the
White House, the nation and the
American public.
PIERSON: The challenges for
protection of the president are
gonna continue to grow.
The types of threats against our
financial infrastructure and
other core critical
infrastructure for this country,
as it becomes more easily
accessed and maintained by cyber
networks, are going to be more
vulnerable than ever.
So we'll continue to grow and
adapt and meet each of these
evolving threats.
NARRATOR: For nearly 150
years, the United States Secret
Service has been highly regarded
as one of the most elite law
enforcement agencies in the world.
They have quietly stood guard
everywhere from the gates of the
White House and top secret
laboratories to undercover
field operations and alongside
the president of the United States.
But what of the future?
Will the brave men and women of
the Secret Service continue to
dedicate their lives in order to
protect the security of a nation?
And in an age of tell-all books
and social media, can they
really be trusted to keep the
contents of America's Book of
Secrets to themselves?
Captioning sponsored by A&E TELEVISION NETWORKS
Captioned by Media Access Group at WGBH access.wgbh.org
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