Please note that the following is a digitized version of a selected article from White House History Quarterly, Issue 57, originally released in print form in 2020. Single print copies of the full issue can be purchased online at Shop.WhiteHouseHistory.Org No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. All photographs contained in this journal unless otherwise noted are copyrighted by the White House Historical Association and may not be reproduced without permission. Requests for reprint permissions should be directed to rights@whha.org. Contact books@whha.org for more information. 2020 White House Historical Association. All rights reserved under international copyright conventions.
FOREWORD
The Role Evolves it is rare for White House History Quarterly to cover a single topic by juxtaposing such seemingly incongruous stories as a bloody gunfight in broad daylight and a pet pony visiting the Oval Office or by following an image of a mortally wounded would-be assassin with a photograph of a two-year-old offering chewed gum to the president during a Rose Garden ceremony. But the history of how and when the president of the United States is protected and of who is responsible is characterized by such extremes, and with this issue we approach the broad topic from the multiple perspectives of an agent, historian, archivist, educator, and a witness to history. We begin with an account by Christopher Kenney, who served as the Director of Education McKinley Presidential Library & Museum until his untimely death in December of 2019. Kenney explains how three presidential assassinations in thirty-six years became the catalyst for change in presidential protection. When William McKinley was murdered in 1901, the shots that killed Abraham Lincoln in 1865 and James A. Garfield in 1881 were recent memories, and Kenney relates how the assassination of McKinley ultimately resulted in the legislation and funding that made his successor President Theodore Roosevelt the first president to officially receive fulltime protection by the Secret Service. Less than fifty years later, the Secret Service successfully protected President Harry S. Truman during a brazen attempt on his life. Alan Capps provides a moment–by– moment account of the dramatic less than
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three minute gunfight that left the young White House Police Officer Leslie Coffelt dead. Rebecca Youngblood Vaughn brings to the mix the unique perspective of an agent’s child, with memories of her father, Rufus Youngblood, who protected five presidents. Former Secret Service Agent Paul Landis shares yet another perspective, that of an agent detailed to protect the president’s children. Michael Sampson, an archivist with the Secret Service, gives us a summary of the evolution and role of the agency. Our photo-essay expands the view of the many circumstances in which agents routinely fulfill their duties. In our Presidential Sites Quarterly Feature, Elyse Werling takes us to the Wilcox House where following McKinley’s death and a breakneck midnight trek to Buffalo, Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took the Oath of Office. Two agents were immediately assigned to protect him. If you were to join the crowds that assemble to view the White House from Pennsylvania Avenue today, you would do so a few yards away from a plaque remembering Private Coffelt and under the watchful eye of the officers on rooftops, on foot, on bicycles, with dogs, and at their posts along the fence line—all powerful reminders of the need to balance access and security and the dedicated force that is prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice.
marcia anderson editor, WHITE HOUSE HISTORY QUARTERLY
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U. S . S E C R E T S E R V I C E
White House Police Officer Leslie Coffelt, who gave his life in what President Harry S. Truman called, “the faithful discharge of duty,� defending the president from an assassination attempt at Blair House, is remembered with a plaque on the fence of Blair House. There a wreath is placed each year on the anniversary of his death.
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