WASHINGTON – During Abraham Lincoln’s presidency, anyone could go to the White House and see him. And that’s what they did: mothers who wanted their sons released from military service, wives who insisted their husbands be released from prison after resisting the draft, others who simply wanted to meet the president.
“Some just wanted comfort in a terrible time, and he gave that for free,” James B. Conroy wrote in his book “Lincoln’s White House: The People’s House in Time of War.”
The world has changed enormously since the 1860s, and so has the protection of presidents. Protective details have grown in size, responsibility and technology over more than a century of Secret Service protection of presidents.
When presidents leave the White House, they are accompanied by a phalanx of Secret Service officers and agents. Cars are no longer allowed to pass through what is often nicknamed “the people’s house” at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. The fence has been raised and don’t even try to pass through the gate without a marking or badge.
The number of people under surveillance also grew as vice presidents, former presidents, candidates, family members and others received protection.
During the Civil War, Lincoln was hesitant to make the White House look like an armed camp, but in late 1864 several police officers were assigned to protect him, the White House Historical Association said. President Franklin Pierce was the first to have full-time bodyguards, in 1853.
It was not until 1901, after the assassination of President William McKinley, that Congress asked the Secret Service – originally a division of the Treasury Department that went after counterfeiters – to take on the responsibility of protecting the commander in chief.
Since then, protective details have grown and evolved, often in response to murders, hazardous situations or other major security events. Former Secret Service agents say the agency is studying the attack on former president Donald Trump life at a rally in Pennsylvania a week ago and making changes to adapt to it.
The attempt to kill President Ronald Reagan in 1981 is often cited as a turning point in the way the Secret Service operates.
Reagan was leaving the Washington Hilton hotel when John Hinckley Jr. opened fire on a crowd of onlookers and journalists just 15 feet or less than 5 meters away. Hinckley fired six shots before Secret Service officers attacked him. The last shot ricocheted off a limousine and hit Reagan.
Some of the changes that followed are not so obvious to the outside observer, but critical nonetheless. For example, the Secret Service began assigning an agent to the small group of reporters traveling with the president so they would know if anyone was infiltrating the group.
After Reagan’s shooting, presidents were also taken into buildings through underground parking lots. When this is not possible, a canopy is erected around the entrance to obstruct the line of sight as the president enters or exits the vehicle.
“Nobody walks in the front door anymore,” said retired Secret Service supervisory agent Bobby McDonald, now a professor of criminal justice at the University of New Haven. “Presidents and Secret Service protégés have seen more loading docks and walked through more kitchens than ever before.”
Joseph LaSorsa, a retired Secret Service agent who served from 1976 to 1996 and was part of Reagan’s protective team, said the post-Reagan era also saw the increased use of metal detectors for crowds approaching the president to eliminate the possibility of a weapon entering the “safe area” around the leader.
The changes also followed the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy as he drove around Dallas in a convertible, former agents say. Presidents no longer sit in open vehicles, but instead wave to spectators through the thick glass of a heavily armored limousine nicknamed “the beast.”
Former agents also say the focus on advance work before trips has increased significantly and more has been done to secure the routes taken by motorcades.
The White House has also undergone changes designed to make it more secure.
On a day in May 1995, around 26,000 cars passed along Pennsylvania Avenue, passing the White House. The next day, the street was eerily quiet after workers piled concrete barriers at each end to prevent access.
Growing security concerns a month after the Oklahoma City bombing in a federal building prompted the closure. There were other changes as well, such as restrictions on air traffic after a small plane crashed on the White House lawn in 1994. Additionally, gunshots hit the mansion twice that same year.
Then-President Bill Clinton said closing the street was necessary to protect against the type of attack seen in Oklahoma City, but promised that “the people’s access to the White House and their president” would not be impeded. He even promised that protesters would still have the right to walk onto the White House grounds. Many still do.
Thomas Jefferson first surrounded the White House with a wooden post and railway fence around 1801. He replaced this with a stone wall in 1808, which was not good at offering views of m
To deter fence jumpers, sharp metal spikes were installed in 2015, and the height was later doubled to about 13 feet (4 meters). In this subsequent renovation, the space between the bars was a little wider – just enough to allow a small or mischievous child to pass.
Increased security around the president inevitably increases distance from Americans. While people can still visit the White House, they must request tours through their member of Congress and submit their identifying information to the Secret Service in advance.
Paul Eckloff, a retired Secret Service agent who served under three presidents during his 23-year career, said he often hears people say the president shouldn’t hold outdoor rallies or should be kept away from people.
He understands the tradeoff – more security means more separation between the president and the people. As an agent, Eckloff said, he always viewed his job not as protecting the person, but as the office of the presidency.
“If I woke up in a country where the president of the United States stayed in a castle, never engaged with voters, and no ordinary American had the opportunity to see him, I would not consider my sacrifice worthy,” he said.
