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U.S. Secret Service
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U.S. Secret Service agent performing protection duties
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U.S. Secret Service agent performing protection duties
U.S. Secret Service agent performing protection duties A U.S. Secret Service agent (foreground) performing protection duties as Pres. Barack Obama delivers a speech.

U.S. Secret Service

United States government agency
Also known as: United States Secret Service
Written by
Michael Ray
Michael Ray is an assistant managing editor who has worked at Britannica since 2003. In addition to leading the Geography and History team, he oversees coverage of European history and military affairs....
Michael Ray
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
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•History

U.S. Secret Service, federal law-enforcement agency within the United States Department of Homeland Security tasked with the criminal investigation of counterfeiting and other financial crimes. After the assassination of Pres. William McKinley in 1901, the agency also assumed the role of chief protective service for national leaders, their families, and visiting dignitaries. In the final days of the American Civil War, it was estimated that as much as half of circulating U.S. currency was counterfeit....

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