United States Secret Service | 16 Jul 2024

Source: IE

Recently, Former US President Donald Trump, the 2024 Republican candidate, was shot at during an election rally. The shooter was killed by the Secret Service.

United States Secret Service:

  • The United States Secret Service was founded in 1865. It is mandated to protect the Vice President, the President-elect, their immediate families, former Presidents and their spouses (except when the spouse remarries) and children of former Presidents until age 16.
  • Originally focused on combating US currency counterfeiting, in 1902, the Secret Service assumed full-time responsibility for the safety of the US President after the 1901 assassination of President William McKinley.
    • Before McKinley, Presidents Abraham Lincoln and James A Garfield were assassinated in 1865 and 1881. 
  • After President Robert Kennedy's assassination in 1968, election candidates fell under the agency's jurisdiction. 
    • Robert Kennedy was running for the 1968 presidential election
    • Kennedy was shot and killed in Los Angeles on 5th June 1968, less than five years after his brother, President John F Kennedy, was assassinated.

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