Lincoln and Secret Service
06/05/24 14:36 Filed in: History
An interesting Presidential history fact:
On April 14, 1865, just hours before he was tragically shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating the Secret Service. At the time, however, the new department’s purpose was not to provide presidential protection — it was to combat counterfeit currency.
By the end of the Civil War, nearly one-third of the U.S. currency in circulation was forged; the Secret Service was founded as a bureau within the Treasury Department to rehabilitate and safeguard the country’s monetary system. The night of Lincoln’s assassination, just one local police officer was assigned to escort the President from the White House to the theater, but the officer’s whereabouts at the time of the shooting are unknown. It was not until after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, when Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took over, that the Secret Service’s mandate was expanded to include the protection of the President.
Theodore Roosevelt attended and watched Lincoln's funeral train at the age of six. Another Mt. Rushmore historical incident.
On April 14, 1865, just hours before he was tragically shot by John Wilkes Booth at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C., President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating the Secret Service. At the time, however, the new department’s purpose was not to provide presidential protection — it was to combat counterfeit currency.
By the end of the Civil War, nearly one-third of the U.S. currency in circulation was forged; the Secret Service was founded as a bureau within the Treasury Department to rehabilitate and safeguard the country’s monetary system. The night of Lincoln’s assassination, just one local police officer was assigned to escort the President from the White House to the theater, but the officer’s whereabouts at the time of the shooting are unknown. It was not until after the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901, when Vice President Theodore Roosevelt took over, that the Secret Service’s mandate was expanded to include the protection of the President.
Theodore Roosevelt attended and watched Lincoln's funeral train at the age of six. Another Mt. Rushmore historical incident.
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