Who is the Secret Service authorized to protect?
By law, the Secret Service is authorized to protect the President, Vice President, President-elect, Vice President-elect, and their immediate family members; former Presidents and their spouses; minor children of a former President until the age of 16; major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates, and within 120 days of the general election, their spouses; visiting foreign heads of government or heads of state; and others if authorized by the President. An individual who receives Secret Service protection is referred to as a “protectee." In 1997, Congressional legislation became effective limiting Secret Service protection to former Presidents for a period of not more than 10 years from the date the President leaves office. (Public Law 103-329) • How does the Secret Service “protect” the President? The Secret Service strives to maintain a safe environment for the President and other protectees. To accomplish this task, the Secret Service calls upon other federal, state and l
• The president, the vice president, (or other individuals next in order of succession to the Office of the President), the president-elect and vice president-elect • The immediate families of the above individuals • Former presidents, their spouses, except when the spouse re-marries • Children of former presidents until age 16 • Visiting heads of foreign states or governments and their spouses traveling with them, other distinguished foreign visitors to the United States, and official representatives of the United States performing special missions abroad • Major presidential and vice presidential candidates, and their spouses within 120 days of a general presidential election • Other individuals as designated per Executive Order of the President and • National Special Security Events, when designated as such by the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security
