U.S. Secret Service Director Brian L. Stafford spoke to a packed house Friday night at the weekly Jefferson Literary and Debating Society meeting.
"His talk was very informative, well put-together and entertaining," said Lauren Purnell, a third-year College student and member of the Jefferson Society.
Stafford primarily spoke on the history of the Secret Service, but also discussed his own career and the importance of choosing a career you love.
"The Secret Service is a labor of love for me - I enjoy talking about it," said Stafford, who has directed the Secret Service since 1999, in an interview yesterday.
In 1865, on the morning of the day he was shot, President Lincoln signed the Secret Service into law. Originally, its mandate was to investigate and curb the rampant counterfeiting that plagued the country after the Civil War.
"The Secret Service didn't start to protect the president until 1901, after the assassinations of Presidents Lincoln, McKinley and Garfield," Stafford said.
Today, the agency not only protects the president, but also protects his family, past presidents and all foreign dignitaries traveling in the United States.
The Secret Service has 115 offices worldwide, including 18 overseas.
"Most offices are involved in investigations," Stafford said. Many people don't realize the agency is also responsible for investigating credit card, bank and telecommunications fraud, he said.
"Counterfeiting is not such a big problem" in the U.S. today, he added. But, "on any given day, about $580 billion in American currency is in circulation and 65 percent of that is outside the country."
After delivering a half-hour speech, Stafford fielded questions and comments from the audience.
"After September 11th, people are really curious about the Secret Service and how it's protecting the president," Purnell said. "Stafford was really willing to answer questions."
In response to a question about splitting the Secret Service according to its two purposes, Stafford defended the agency's structure.
"I strongly believe our dual responsibilities [of protecting the president and investigating financial fraud] complement each other," he said.
"I'm extremely proud of him," second-year College student Margaret Stafford said of her father. "We have a lot of confidence in him and never really worry about him, though he travels a lot."
Stafford, who also has served as assistant director of the Office of Protective Operations and the special agent in charge of the Presidential Protective Division, is the 20th director of the Secret Service.
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