Secret Service screw-ups

Major security lapses at the U.S. Secret Service have found their way into the news recently. What most people are not aware of is that these problems have been going on for a long time.

On Oct. 7, 1975, President Ford came to the Hyatt Regency hotel in Knoxville, Tenn., as part of a series of regional White House conferences. Keep in mind as you read this that all of what I am about to reveal for the first time happened just one month after Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme – one of the infamous associates of murderer Charles Manson – had tried to assassinate President Ford. And a mere 17 days after the Fromme incident, Sarah Jane Moore had also come close to doing the same thing.

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I was a senior in a Knoxville high school at the time, and a reporter for my school's newspaper. I learned of the president's visit just one day before he was due to arrive and, anticipating that I might have trouble gaining admittance, quickly procured letters of recommendation from my employer and from a school official requesting I be admitted to the conference.

On the day of the conference, I arrived early at the Hyatt Regency and found Gov. Ray Blanton speaking to an assembled group of onlookers near the lobby. After making some inquiries, I learned that the president's motorcade would soon be arriving at the side entrance and promptly made my way outside to take some photos as he stepped out of his vehicle. As I got outside, I was ushered into a group of reporters and photographers standing nearby awaiting the president.

But within a couple of minutes, a Secret Service agent was scanning the group I was in and asked me where my press badge was. I informed him I was present on behalf of my local school paper and explained why I hadn't acquired the requisite pass. He then hollered to another agent nearby to come, "Get this guy out of here. The president will be arriving at any moment." That agent then took me firmly by the arm and hauled me off to a group of bystanders several hundred feet away.

Being too na?ve to know any better – and irritated I wasn't going to get my pictures – I quickly went back around to the entrance of the Hyatt Regency as soon as the agent walked away. As I entered, Gov. Blanton was just ahead of me, beginning to walk out to the side entrance to greet the president. Thinking quickly, I opened my camera case – which was hanging on a strap around my neck – to make it appear to be covering my nonexistent press badge.

I then stepped into line with a group of people surrounding the governor and proceeded to walk outside with him and several government agents to greet the president. I was only a couple of feet behind the governor and literally had to be careful not to step on his heels. Dressed in a suit and sporting a short crew cut, I guessed that by staying close to Gov. Blanton and the others I would not stand out as a potential threat. My strategy worked.

As we got outside, I slipped back into the group of media people. But to my horror, the same Secret Service agent who had originally spotted me, looked in my direction and walked past me, but this time apparently did not notice me. Best as I can figure, he was looking for badges, not faces. Dumb luck on my part – I breathed a thankful sigh of relief.

The president arrived, and I managed to get two pictures before he went inside. Shaking from the adrenalin rushing through me, and not wanting to push my luck too far, I did not follow everyone in right away. A few minutes later, I located a Secret Service agent – identified by a lapel pin they all were wearing – and asked who I should speak with about gaining entrance to the conference. I was directed to go to a room several floors upstairs that was being used as their base of operations.

As I came to the room, the door was open and nobody was guarding the entrance. I quietly stepped inside to find myself in a suite and surrounded by a lot of electronic gear. People in an adjoining room were talking, and though several of them looked right at me, nobody challenged my presence. I decided not to interrupt them and waited patiently, looking around at all of the interesting things in the room.

After a few minutes, a young female agent approached me and asked where my pass was. Informed that I didn't have one, she turned to another agent and asked why I had been allowed in the room. The agent informed her that he "thought he was one of us." Both were clearly flustered.

The lady then turned back to me and asked why I was there. I explained my situation and she took me downstairs to meet with the senior agent in charge. He quickly informed me that due to their security protocols, there was no way I was getting into the conference on such short notice. I asked if there was anyone I could appeal his decision to. He responded, "Baby, I'm it," with a disgustingly smug look on his face.

I had to seriously restrain myself from telling him just how lax his security really was, and that if I were a true threat to the president, he would have already lost his job. But wisdom prevailed, and I kept my mouth shut.

Considering the president had recently been the target of two assassination attempts, I have often wondered just what was going on at the Secret Service at that time that would allow me to do what I did. Judging from recent events, little has been done since then to address their security problems.