After Scandal in Colombia, a Woman Comes to the Secret Service

The U.S. Secret Service is turning pink. For the first time a woman, Julia Pierson, will be at the head of the elite federal body responsible for protecting the president of the United States and his family, as well as guaranteeing the safety of foreign heads of state and government visitors to the United States. President Barack Obama made this decision because of Julia Pierson’s great knowledge of the Secret Service, but also in order to alter the masculine culture that dominates the agency, according to administration sources quoted by The Washington Post, which first broke the news of the president’s choice.

Certainly, the masculine culture of the Secret Service was badly “exposed” last year during a presidential visit to Cartagena, Colombia, where a number of agents brought prostitutes into their hotel rooms and then made them the stars of noisy quarrels. This story, which created embarrassment for the administration and obscured the political aspects of Obama’s trip to Colombia for the Summit of the Americas in the press, involved thirteen agents, nine of whom were later dismissed or sent into early retirement.

The then head of the agency, Mark Sullivan, reacted with an iron fist and then went to Congress personally to apologize, saying that “the men and women of the U.S. Secret Service are committed to continuing to uphold the standards that the president, the Congress and the American people expect and deserve.” He also emphasized that the behavior of the employees involved and immediately removed from service “is not representative of these values or of the high ethical standards we demand.” In turn, however, Sullivan also retired last month after 30 years of service, of which the last seven were spent leading the elite corps. Without too much delay, Obama chose Pierson to succeed him. She is 53 years old and has spent the last 30 years in the same agency, becoming deputy director and chief of staff.

At the news of Pierson’s appointment, Sullivan promptly released a statement in which he said that in nearly 30 years of working side by side with her, Pierson “demonstrate[ed] sound judgment, leadership, character, and commitment to our Country.” This, he added, “is a historic and exciting time for the Secret Service.” The Secret Service is also entrusted with the protection of former U.S. presidents, as well as presidential candidates and vice presidents. Additionally, the elite federal body, established in 1865, has a number of investigative missions to protect the U.S. financial system, as well as to fight against counterfeiters. For this reason, in the beginning the Secret Service depended on the Treasury. The Secret Service has also distinguished itself in the fight against racism, while fighting the Ku Klux Klan, and against illegal alcohol.