Recently, a man was able to jump the fence at the Whitehouse and get inside the building, having brushed off one secret service agent and overpowering another (female) agent in the process. This has called into question the nature of the secret service, with some stating that they’ve only managed to stave off total disaster because of luck.
The Secret Service is by and large a joke really. While there are few good agents who work there, like most law enforcement agencies, it has a bunch of opportunists and failures who could not work in the private sector.
Ironically, the Secret Service is also involved in investigating counterfeiting, which is basically taxpayers footing the bill for private enterprise. In other words, the institution that creates and maintains the monopoly on currency in the United States, the Federal Reserve, is a private organization that enjoys the benefits of Presidential-level law enforcement to protect their assets (emphasis on “ass”).
So while they brutally maintain a monopoly on behalf of private individuals, they are totally inept at protecting the President. Guess which objective is their top priority as an agency?
The truth about the Secret Service (or “SS” as they were called in Germany back in the 1930s) is that their protection of the President is really just for show. For the most part, bodyguards are there to demonstrate that a man is protected. It is a deterrent.
The ones who guard the Whitehouse gates and doors are probably little more than overpaid mall security guards. I have my suspicions that they are given those positions because they are totally inept at just about ever other aspect of the job. I suspect that their main job is to radio in and let the snipers on the roof take care of any disruptions. And yes, there are snipers on the roof of the Whitehouse.
One thing you have to keep in mind is that this level of “protection” not extends to the Whitehouse but just about every other major Federal building in the country from the Capitol to the Pentagon.
Except for the Botanical Gardens. You’re liable to get shot there if you reach for your pocket too quickly. I can attest to this personally.