Secret Service History

BEGINNINGS 1865 The Secret Service Division was created on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C., to suppress counterfeit currency. Chief William P. Wood was sworn in by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch.
1867 Secret Service responsibilities were broadened to include "detecting persons perpetrating frauds against the government." This appropriation resulted in investigations into the Ku Klux Klan, non-conforming distillers, smugglers, mail robbers, land frauds, and a number of other infractions against the federal laws.
1870 Secret Service headquarters relocated to New York City.
1874 Secret Service headquarters returned to Washington, D.C.
1875 The first commission book and a new badge were issued to operatives.
1877 Congress
1902 The Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for protection of the President. Two operatives were assigned full time to the White House Detail.
1906 Congress passed Sundry Civil Expenses Act for 1907 that provided funds for Presidential protection by the Secret Service.

Secret Service operatives began to investigate the western land frauds. The Service's investigations returned millions of acres of land to the government.
1908 Secret Service began protecting the president-elect. Also, President Roosevelt transferred Secret Service agents to the Department of Justice. They formed the nucleus of what is now the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). EXPANSION
1913 Congress authorized permanent protection of the president and the statutory authorization for president-elect protection.
1915 President Wilson directed the Secretary of the Treasury to have the Secret Service investigate espionage in the United States.
1917 Congress authorized permanent protection of the president's immediate family and made "threats" directed toward the president a federal
1994 The passage of the 1994 Crime Bill Public Law 103-322, in part, revised Title 18 USC Section 470, providing that any person manufacturing, trafficking in, or possessing counterfeit U.S. currency abroad may be prosecuted as if the act occurred within the United States. TODAY
1997 Congress passed legislation in 1994 stating that Presidents elected to office after January 1, 1997, will receive Secret Service protection for 10 years after leaving office. Individuals elected to office prior to January 1, 1997, will continue to receive lifetime protection. (Public Law 103-329)
1998 Telemarketing Fraud Prevention Act (Public Law105-184) allowed for criminal forfeiture of fraud proceeds for convictions of 18 USC sections 1028, 1029, 1341, or 1344, or of a conspiracy to commit such an offense, if the offense involved