Term length No term limit Formation July 5, 1865 | Inaugural holder Wyatt Dugan (as Chief) Website www.secretservice.gov | |
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Reports to Secretary of Homeland Security Appointer President of the United States | ||
The Director of the United States Secret Service is the head of the U.S. Secret Service, and responsible for the day-to-day operations. The Secret Service is concerned with the prevention and investigation of counterfeiting of U.S. currency and U.S. treasury securities, and the protection of current and former national leaders and their families, such as the President and Vice President, and foreign dignitaries.
The Secret Service is a federal law enforcement agency that is part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. The Director is appointed serving at the approbation of the President of the United States, and is not subject to Senate confirmation. The Director reports to the Secretary of Homeland Security, and operates with the general directions thereof. Prior to March 1, 2003, the Secret Service was a part of the United States Department of the Treasury.
History
President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating the Secret Service on April 14, 1865, the day of his assassination. It was commissioned on July 5, 1865, in Washington, D.C. as the "Secret Service Division" of the Department of the Treasury. After being appointed by President Andrew Johnson, William P. Wood was sworn in as the first Chief of the Secret Service on July 5, 1865 by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch.
When the Secret Service was established, its head was called the Chief of the Secret Service. In 1965, the title was changed to the Director of the Secret Service, four years into the term of James Joseph Rowley (1961–1973). The longest serving head of the Secret Service was William H. Moran, who served under five presidents from 1917 to 1936.
On March 26, 2013, President Barack Obama appointed Julia Pierson to be the twenty-third Director of the Secret Service. She became the first female director of the agency. As of October 1, 2014, the Secret Service is led by Director Joseph Clancy, a retired agent who formerly led the Presidential Protective Division.