Quora

How Does the Secret Service Adapt to Different Presidents?

A Secret Service agent stands guard outside of Trump Tower as Donald Trump leaves to vote in the primary in New York City on April 19.

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Answer by Jason Wells, former U.S. Secret Service agent:

The Secret Service has learned a lot since they lost President Kennedy. Yes, it was their fault. They were responsible for President Kennedy’s life, and they did not appropriately secure the area that he was visiting. The result was one of the most politically changing moments in our country’s history and the loss of one the United States’ most popular presidents.

Could it have been avoided? Absolutely. Many of the current standard procedures for protection that are used today by the agency came from studying the Kennedy assassination.

Yes, the U.S. Secret Service will absolutely do a better job protecting President Trump than they did protecting President Kennedy. Just like the agency did with Presidents Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan (minus the Hinckley attack—another learning experience), Bush 41, Clinton, Bush 43, and Obama.

The truth is that the Secret Service gets better at their protection mission with every sitting president and every election cycle, because every president, their families, their vice presidents and their families, and political candidates all have different lifestyles and ways they operate in the world. It forces the Secret Service to adapt to these lifestyles.

When the agency took on the Vice President Quayle, they had never had a family that was so active; they were adventurers who loved the excitement of the outdoors—kayaking, whitewater rafting, midnight camping. It was a learning experience for agents. They needed to learn how to protect and (possibly) evacuate a protectee in the wild.

Then they protected George Bush, a sub-6-minute miler for five miles. They needed to adapt to that. How can you keep up with a person like that while wearing all that gear? Agents who were “runners” just came off of eight years jogging with Bill Clinton, the McDonald’s-cheeseburger-eating president who was happy to stop every two blocks for a picture.

Then they were assigned (then) Sen. John Kerry, an avid skier. Another adaptation—agents needed to be trained in protecting a person on the slopes, something reminiscent of a James Bond-esque chase scene in the Alps.

The Trump family is another challenge. There is no question that the dual lifestyle of New York City and Washington will present logistical expectations that has never been experienced in the history of the agency. But the U.S. Secret Service will learn, evolve, and be ready for it when another multibillion-dollar, reality-show business tycoon is elected into the Oval Office one day.

Will the Secret Service do a better job protecting President Trump compared to 1963 when John F. Kennedy was assassinated? originally appeared on Quora. More questions on Quora: