Life With The Secret Service

Lesson 3: Leave the Shrubbery to the Gardeners
The Obamas might want to watch the security improvements made to their home. The Secret Service spent over $10 million on Richard Nixon's three residences, including some $12,000 a year to "keep the landscape from interfering with security." This raised more than a few eyebrows among Congress and the press, which alleged that Nixon had finagled inappropriate home improvements for his friends as well. (Nixon maintained the upgrades had been suggested by the agency).

Lesson 4: The Words ' Public Restroom ' Will Assume New Meaning
Presidents and their families quickly learn that even trips to the bathroom come with security precautions. Lyndon Johnson, never very subtle, had perhaps the most direct way of expressing his frustration. Once, after pulling his car over to the side of the road for a pit stop, agents quickly surrounded him as he relieved himself. A sudden breeze prompted one agent to alert the president, "Sir, you're pissing on my leg." Johnson, not budging, replied, "I know. That's my prerogative."

Lesson 5: You Are Not Normal
A proud Everyman, President Harry Truman liked to preserve a sense of normalcy at the White House by going on strolls to buy newspapers, walk the dog, spend time with his family, and deposit checks at the local bank. Unfortunately for Truman, gawking pedestrians and drivers weren't as nonchalant about his wanderings—and neither was the Secret Service. Agents responded by rigging traffic lights to turn red in all four directions as Truman walked past, though the president soon noticed and scolded them for ruining his walks.

Lesson 6: Mind the Models
While staying in a hotel room one night, Secret Service agents placed a small model, shaped like the Washington Monument, next to the bed of Vice President Dan Quayle and his wife. If they knocked it over, they would trip an alarm hidden inside—giving the Quayles a convenient means of alerting security to any problems. About half an hour after they had retired, the vice president accidentally knocked over the device, prompting agents to rush in and surprise a very off-guard Mr. and Mrs. Quayle.

Lesson 7: Kids Will Be Kids
Presidential kids often give their protectors trouble. Tricia Nixon was called a "tough and troubled cookie" for ordering agents to wait on her hand and foot, then claiming that she caught them staring at her legs. Luci Johnson liked to race ahead of agents in her car, trying to lose them in traffic. One time, she slipped out the back door during a private party so that she and her fiancé could enjoy a night on the town free of surveillance. In a famous First Kid escapade, in 2001, Jenna and Barbara Bush used Jenna's fake ID to order drinks at a bar in Austin, Tex. Secret Service agents hustled the girls out before police officers could detain them, but they were later cited for underage drinking.

Lesson 8: Play Nice with the Agents
She vehemently denied the reports, but rumors circulated widely in the early days of the Clinton administration that Hillary Clinton often yelled and cursed at her Secret Service detail. Some unproven reports even had her chucking objects in fits of anger—including, one time, a lamp intended for the president's head. Regardless of whether the stories are true, aides said Clinton was deeply upset by the possibility that Secret Service agents had started the rumors, making the relationship between agents and the president and First Lady tense.

© 2008