Bob Sparks: Florida’s Pierson quits as Secret Service boss after White House breach

In April 2012 the United States Secret Service took a big hit. A public relations torpedo exploded when agents on the presidential detail, along with supervisors, were found to have cavorted with prostitutes in Cartegena, Colombia.

All of this occurred shortly before President Barack Obama was set to arrive. An investigation revealed this type of “partying” was not an isolated incident.

The mantra of the Secret Service is “Worthy of Trust and Confidence.” One wonders if some of today’s agents fully grasp that notion.

I have had the privilege to work on a film project with presidential detail agents from the 60s and 70s who epitomize that phrase. In those days, the hours were the only thing worse than the pay, but they were honored to protect their President and his family.

If shooting erupts, the human reaction is to become a smaller target. Secret Service agents are trained to protect, therefore they must make themselves a larger target. That takes a special person.

The White House and many in Congress lost that confidence in some of today’s agents. Several lost their jobs after the Colombia debacle.

A year later, then-Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan gave way to his Chief of Staff, Julia Pierson, who became the first female director in the 149-year history of the agency. Some hailed the appointment as groundbreaking; others thought Pierson was unprepared for the role.

Pierson comes from Orlando and is a graduate of the University of Central Florida. At one time she worked as a Disney character.

Pierson began her law-enforcement career as an Orlando police officer and joined the Secret Service with stints in the Miami and Orlando field offices. She later served on President George H. W. Bush’s protective detail before moving to management.

With the historic appointment of Pierson, the White House and the Department of Homeland Security hoped to change the culture within the Secret Service. For a while, the plan worked. But changing the culture of such a hidebound organization is tough.

Another Floridian, former Congressman Porter Goss, was asked to make changes within the CIA in 2004. That grand idea lasted only seven months before Goss was forced out as Director.

After Omar Gonzalez jumped the White House fence and entered the mansion with a knife on Sept. 19, the Secret Service came under intense scrutiny. Despite early accounts from the Secret Service, Gonzalez was not confronted near the unlocked, unattended front door.

The alarm designed to alert agents to a breach was muted. Gonzalez ran past the stairway leading to the family residence before an agent tackled him in the East Room.

This week Pierson was called before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee to explain the many failures. During the hearing, Pierson looked like Cruella de Vil, not Snow White.

As she endured the questions and criticism of the committee, some of her subordinates were leaking details of an incident in Atlanta three days before the Gonzalez breach. On that day, according to the leakers, the President rode in the same elevator with an armed felon.

Pierson’s appearance was almost universally panned. Her resignation on Wednesday brought Pierson’s tenure to a close.

Was her hasty departure to be expected? Past history says no.

Former directors faced criticism. Following the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, Secret Service Director James Rowley went on to serve 10 more years.

Rowley’s successor, H. Stuart Knight, weathered two 1975 assassination attempts on President Gerald Ford within three weeks. Knight, who helped save Vice-President Richard Nixon while an agent in 1958, retired eight months after President Ronald Reagan was nearly killed by John Hinckley in 1981.

Pierson could not survive the blunders made by those for whom she was responsible. She will not be around to fix what ails the Secret Service. Her successor must now build a cohesive team that shows they are up to the task.

It’s a matter of national security.

Bob Sparks is a business and political consultant based in Tallahassee. He and partners are working on a film project with former Secret Service agents from President John F. Kennedy’s protective detail. Column courtesy of Context Florida.