Here are 37 Interesting Secret Service facts.
1-5 Secret Service Facts
1. The Secret Service agent who saved Ronald Reagan’s life had been inspired to join the Service by a 1939 film that starred Ronald Reagan as a Secret Service agent. – Source
2. While at the toilet, President Carter hit a secret “panic button” thinking it was a flush toilet button and Secret Service responded by bursting into the room while the president was still zipping up his trousers. – Source
3. All presidents and first ladies have Secret Service protection for life, and further that any children of former presidents get Secret Service protection until they turn 16. – Source
4. John F. Kennedy told the Secret Service to keep Jackie away from shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. She married him after Kennedy’s assassination. – Source
5. The United States Secret Service’s first and main mission was to fight counterfeiting of US currency. – Source
6-10 Secret Service Facts
6. The existence of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) was kept secret for over 20 years, even from the rest of the government. – Source
7. Part of the reason why the Allied Secret Services could fool the Nazis many times is that the deputy head of the German Abwehr, Hans Oster, actively sabotaged the Nazi war effort. – Source
8. The British Secret Service really can issue a “license to kill”. It’s called a Class Seven authorization and must be approved by the MI6 agent’s superiors all the way up to the Foreign Minister. – Source
9. The French Secret Service planted mines on a Greenpeace ship, sinking it and killing one person. – Source
10. In studies conducted by Paul Ekman, Secret Service Agents could spot a lie 80% of the time. – Source
11-15 Secret Service Facts
11. The US Secret Service uses code names (assigned by White House Communications agency) for the US Presidents, first ladies, and prominent persons. Earlier it was for security purposes but now it’s just for brevity, clarity, and tradition. – Source
12. During a visit to Washington DC in 1995, Russian President Boris Yeltsin was found by Secret Service agents in only his underwear on Pennsylvania Avenue trying to hail a taxi. – Source
13. Lyndon B. Johnson, 36th U.S. President once ordered a Secret Service agent to stand in front of him so he could urinate on the sidewalk. After a few seconds, the agent said, “Sir, you’re pissing on my leg,” to which Johnson responded, “That’s all right, son. That’s my prerogative.” – Source
14. During World War II, the British Secret Service set up fake charities to distribute care packages with special copies of the board game Monopoly to prisoners of war in Germany. The game contained real compasses, metal files, French, German, and Italian money, and maps. – Source
15. When a US President is out of office he/she is forever banned from driving on public roads for the rest of their life by the Secret Service. – Source
16-20 Secret Service Facts
16. The Belgian Malinois (Belgium’s Shepherd dog) is used by the US Secret service to guard the White House. – Source
17. In 1974, a US soldier stole a helicopter from Fort Meade in Maryland and flew to the White House in Washington D.C. As he hovered above the south grounds, the Secret Service shot and injured him, forcing him to land. He received a one-year prison sentence and $2,400 in fines. – Source
18. During the 50’s the Egyptian Secret Service thought that most things about IMI 6 in the James Bond books were real and even bought copies of each book to analyze and learn. – Source
19. The Secret Service raided a role-playing game company in 1990 with the assumption that it was a hacker ring in part because of the games they published (GURPS Cyberpunk, Illuminati). – Source
20. Because the Secret Service isn’t allowed into the Oval Office, they turned the floor into a giant, digital scale so that they can monitor where the President is at all times. – Source
