The Secret Service Demystified

Secret Service agents definitely look cool, but there are a whole lot of myths and misconceptions about the organization. From their paychecks to their official oaths, here are the false facts about the Secret Service you probably always thought were true.

If your job potentially includes taking a bullet for someone, it seems like your pay ought to go up or down depending on how hated or beloved the person standing next to you is. That's not how it works, though. In fact, the paycheck of a new Secret Service hire doesn't even come close to the sort of danger money you'd think a person would make in such a profession. A brand-new agent can expect to make between $38,500 and $55,400, with the potential for a moderate increase in places where the cost of living is higher. That's hardly minimum wage, let alone "taking a bullet for someone" type of money.

To be fair, though, new agents work in investigations before they're transferred for protective detail, so those first few years don't involve a lot of danger unless you count the danger of an especially boring case. After that, your salary starts to go up, and once you're a full-performance agent, you can expect to earn between $84,000 and $106,000.

While 37 agents have died in the line of duty, some of those fatalities include natural causes, like suffering from a stroke or heart attack. And as of right now, only one agent has died protecting the president from assassination, and that was back in 1950. So there's real danger vs. perceived danger. In other words, while they're definitely not earning danger money, it's not terrible money, either.

Most Americans' exposure to the Secret Service is through television or other forms of media. They're hanging out next to the president looking cool in their black suits and dark sunglasses, ready to take that bullet if and when it comes flying. So many people assume that that's all they do they stand next to the president, they offer up their vital organs to flying bits of lead, and they look cool.

Alas, that is not, in fact, the only thing that Secret Service agents do. Sure, Secret Service agents protect the president, but they also protect the vice president, the families of the president and vice president, the leading candidates for the presidency and the vice presidency, visiting heads of state, and other government officials considered high-profile. But that's not all. Many Secret Service agents don't protect anyone, unless you count all those dead presidents on money as actual people. Keep watching the video to see the secret service demystified.

#SecretService

'Danger' money | 0:13
Protecting the President | 1:23
It's a glamorous job | 2:29
Calling the shots | 3:20
Uncomfortable earpieces | 4:35
Protecting the President's family | 5:24
Political support | 6:19
Don't cross them | 7:14
Practically perfect | 8:29
They work for the President | 9:24
Life on the line | 10:19

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