The US President's security has evolved significantly over time. Prior to President James Garfield's assassination in 1881, there was no protection for the President, despite Abraham Lincoln's assassination nearly two decades earlier. It wasn't until President William McKinley's assassination in 1901 that Congress authorized the Secret Service to protect the President. Today, the Secret Service employs various methods to protect the President, including:
* Advanced technology, such as devices that can kill radio and cellular signals
* Highly trained agents who can spot potential threats
* Plainclothes agents who blend in with the crowd
* Sharpshooters who can take out potential threats
* The Presidential Limo, also known as "The Beast," which is essentially bulletproof and features advanced security measures, such as armor-plated windows and a steel layer of armor on the underside.
The Presidential Limo is also equipped with various accessories, including pump-action shotguns, 5.56 carbine rifles, and tear gas grenades. The President's vehicle entourage includes several SUVs with chainguns, and the President is also protected when traveling by air on Air Force One, which features advanced defensive countermeasures, including electronic countermeasures, decoys, chaff, flares, and laser systems.
The cost of the President's security is high, with even simple trips requiring the movement of dozens of personnel and assets, and costing tens of millions of dollars.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The date is July 2nd, 1881, and President James Garfield is walking through the Baltimore and Potomac train station with his two sons and Secretary of State James Blaine.
2. President Garfield has no additional protection, and there is not even a police presence.
3. Nearly two decades earlier, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated while enjoying a play.
4. The act did nothing to spur the protection of the leader of the United States.
5. The founding fathers had seen no need to protect the US president.
6. The White House was protected only by a single police officer and a secretary.
7. Assassinations were common throughout Europe, but the United States was a democratic nation that was free of such troubles.
8. President Garfield would be approached by a man, Charles Guiteau, who would then shoot him twice in the chest.
9. Bystanders to the shooting immediately grabbed Guiteau and subdued him, while medical attention was sent for.
10. The President of the United States was not even followed by a medical professional in case of emergency.
11. Garfield would go on to die of his wounds seventy-nine days later.
12. It would take the assassination of President William McKinley in 1901 for Congress to authorize a federal agency to protect the American president.
13. The task fell on the Secret Service, which had been established in the 1860s to combat counterfeiting.
14. A year later, the White House became officially closed to the public as the Secret Service created its first Presidential Detail.
15. The protection of the President would gradually expand to protecting not just the man himself, but his family as well.
16. Eventually, the Vice-President was also granted protection.
17. In 1968, after the killing of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Secret Service protection extended to presidential candidates.
18. Protocol stated that candidates only started receiving protection a set time before election day.
19. In 2007, the Secret Service extended protection for the future President Barack Obama out of fear over racially-inspired violence.
20. The Secret Service employs a sort of 'peacock' strategy, making the men and women around the president very obvious for all to see.
21. Agents in plain clothes work their way through the crowd, listening to conversations, watching individuals, and even surreptitiously patting down threatening individuals.
22. Overwatching the president is another set of agents that are typically not visible to the public, and these are highly trained marksmen.
23. The President's vehicle, known as The Beast, is essentially bulletproof and can resist even a direct hit by an RPG.
24. The windows can stand up to armor-piercing ammunition.
25. The doors are about eight inches thick and incorporate ceramic armor to disrupt the impact of high-velocity rounds.
26. Each door weighs as much as the cabin door on a Boeing 757 jet.
27. The front of the vehicle features both night vision and thermal cameras.
28. The underside of the vehicle is protected by a steel layer of armor almost half a foot thick.
29. The tires are made of puncture and shred-resistant Kevlar and have a steel rim inside.
30. The rear compartment where the President sits is basically a completely independent environment.
31. The small interior window that connects the president to his driver can only be opened by the president himself.
32. The entire rear cab is completely airtight, allowing the limousine to operate in even a Nuclear, Biological, or Chemical warfare environment.
33. Inside the limo, there are numerous weapons and accessories for the president or any secret service agents with him to protect themselves.
34. The gas tank is armor plated and filled with a specially engineered foam which prevents the fuel from exploding even if suffering a direct hit.
35. The limo is directly connected to the Vice President, the White House, and the Pentagon via jam-resistant Extremely High Frequency and other classified communications equipment.
36. The President can respond to any national or global emergency from inside the limousine.
37. The President can even command the US's nuclear forces from inside the limousine.
38. The limo is equipped with an automated fire-fighting system which can put out fires anywhere in the limo.
39. The limo has an oxygen supply that can keep the president alive for a classified amount of time.
40. The President's entourage includes several chaingun-equipped SUVs, which feature a chaingun not dissimilar to that used on American combat helicopters.
41. The chainguns can be fired from the safety of the bullet-resistant SUV using a video feed system.
42. The convoy also includes at least one air-threat response unit, which is equipped with short-range anti-air missiles.
43. The President is kept safe aboard Air Force One, which can operate in even Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical environments.
44. The big plane is equipped with numerous defensive countermeasures, many of them top-secret.
45. The President's travel is usually very tightly controlled due to the high cost of protection.