Secret Service

The Secret Service was instituted as a bureau under the Treasury Department on July 5, 1865. At the time of its creation, the Secret Service bore sole responsibility for investigating the counterfeiting of American paper currency, which had steadily been on the rise since the beginning of the Civil War. Gradually throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the authority of the service expanded to include investigations of the Teapot Dome oil scandal (1921–1922), the Ku Klux Klan, and government land frauds. The service was also active in the area of counterespionage during the Spanish-American War and World War I.

The modern Secret Service continues to investigate counterfeiting of American currency, as well as fraud and forgery of U.S. checks, bonds, and other financial obligations. The Secret Service also has jurisdiction to investigate fraud relating to credit and debit cards, as well as computers and electronic funds transfers. In addition, it has assumed duties in the area of protection of public officials and is authorized by legislation to protect the president and vice president of the United States and their immediate families, the president and vice president elect and their immediate families, former presidents and their spouses, visiting foreign heads of state, major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and any individual at the direction of the president.

Through its Uniform Division, the Secret Service is also responsible for providing security at the White House, the vice presidential residence, all federal buildings in which presidential offices are located, the U.S. Treasury, and the Treasury Annex. These security duties began in 1922, during the presidency of Warren G. Harding; however, the Secret Service was not officially given these security functions until 1930, when it absorbed the White House Police Force. Since then, the role of the Uniformed Division, as it came to be known, has remained central to presidential protection at the Executive Mansion and the White House Complex.

Since the terrorist attacks on New York City, on the Pentagon, and in Pennsylvania on September 11, 2001, the role of the Secret Service has continued to expand based on the enactment of new counterterrorism legislation. Specifically, the role of the Secret Service in investigating financial fraud related to computer activity has been significantly extended. The USA PATRIOT Act of 2001 directed the Secret Service to take enforcement action in protection of the United States's financial payment systems and against transnational financial crimes directed by terrorists or other criminals, both domestically and internationally. In 2002, the[Page 840] Secret Service was transferred, via legislation, from the Treasury Department to the Department of Homeland Security, where its resources will continue to be used in targeting financial crimes instigated by terrorist organizations. The Secret Service officially began operating under the Department of Homeland Security on March 1, 2003.