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The Secret Service, originally tasked with fighting counterfeiters, foiled a plot to steal Abraham Lincoln’s body in 1876. The would-be thieves were arrested, and the Secret Service became the presidential protector. They continue to protect presidents today, even carrying blood bags in the motorcade.
For US presidents, being dead doesn’t necessarily mean they’re out of harm’s way. Thank goodness for the Secret Service, which is always on the lookout for presidential dangers. Even 140 years ago, when the service wasn’t tasked with protecting anyone but instead fighting counterfeiters, it apparently couldn’t let a presidential threat pass.
The year was 1876, and the Secret Service had been tipped off by an undercover agent of a plot to steal Abraham Lincoln’s body from his grave in Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois and ransom it for $200,000. Chicago crime boss Big Jim Kennally and his gang planned to rob the grave, but also made the mistake of recruiting Lewis Swegles, who they thought was an expert at stealing bodies but was actually an informant. Already of interest to the Secret Service due to his counterfeiting operations, Kennally suddenly became a prime target.
As it turned out, he and his gang were less than skilled at the heist. They fumbled with the tomb’s lock, were unable to lift the 500 lb (227 kg) coffin, and even accidentally fired a gun while inside. They fled to Chicago, but it only took a couple of days for Secret Service to track them down and arrest them. For his hard work, the Secret Service got the reward that he has continued to give: the role of presidential protector.
Within the Secret Service:
When it rescued Lincoln’s body, the Secret Service would have thanked the former president: he founded the agency in 1865, shortly before his assassination at the hands of John Wilkes Booth.
When the president is on the road, the Secret Service ensures that blood bags matching his blood type are on hand in the presidential motorcade, in case a transfusion is suddenly needed.
To date, Leslie Coffelt is the only Secret Service agent to be killed while protecting a president. He successfully defended Harry S. Truman against an armed attack in 1950.
