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Secret Service Agents May 4, 2010 - 11:29:18
Throughout history, people in power owe all of their power to one group in particular: those who safeguard them. Secret service agents are only the latest of the great tradition of royal guards and the like. At times, those guards closest to the kings have decided the fate of whole monarchies. He may seem to have all of the power to do what he wants outside of his throne room, but within it is a different story. Often, he has to do right by his own personal guards or face the consequences.
It was this thinking that made me ant to become a Secret Service agent. I was not the type of person you expect to have a career in law enforcement. I've always had a problem with authority, and I've never been particularly rigid in my moral views. I don't tend to see the world as a battle of good against evil, as most cops tend to. My desire to be a Secret Service Special Agent was purely motivated by selfish aims. I wanted to be near the halls of power to see how that power worked and to be a part of it.
All in all, I have found Secret Service agents to be a strange bunch and the career itself to be a pretty surprising one. I had expected the secret service agency to be pretty simple and straightforward, but there are actually layers upon layers to it. You see, Secret Service agents do more than just protect the president. They investigate leads that are deemed to compromise national security, conduct drills to improve security routines, and even handle certain types of criminal investigations. I started out to be one of the palace guards, but ended up as a full-time law enforcement official.
Still, in the end I can't really complain. Secret Service agents earn a good living. The pay is excellent – much higher than most law enforcement agencies – and the practical risk is low. Although technically a Secret Service agent is trained to dive in front of a bullet protect the president, the situation is so rare as to constitute a negligible risk. There have been very few Secret Service agents harmed as a result of an assassination attempt on the president's life. The situation is simply too rare. A Secret Service agent, you see, isn't there to respond to an assassination attempt – we are there to prevent them in the first place. At this job, we are very good.
- mrknowitall
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