# Why didn't Secret Service jump in front of the shoe? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2008, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426 "2008-12-16T18:09:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/21 "2008-12-16T20:55:52Z")
> [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](#): > > If the first lady took off her shoes and threw them at the president, would the SS intervene? Not if it were [Hillary Clinton](http://rakesprogress.wordpress.com/2007/11/06/lamp-tossing-at-the-clinton-white-house-welcome-to-the-real-world/). ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/22 "2008-12-16T21:02:31Z")
Within seconds, the door behind the two leaders opened and agents boiled out; someone else had already taken down the shoe-flinging journalist. It looked to me like the Secret Service reacted about as fast as it was humanly possible to do. Look at Bush’s expression after he ducks the first time; he’s bemused by the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/23 "2008-12-16T21:20:16Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > I can’t imagine they wouldn’t. Honestly, I can’t imagine that any police officer or military person wouldn’t put themselves between a civilian and a crazed gunman, too, let alone the President. That’s who they are. Secret Service, yes. Police? Not so sure. That really depends but not every policeperson is in love with their job to the point of literally jumping in front of a bullet for a civilian. ---
**Author:** ![puppygod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/24 "2008-12-16T21:41:10Z")
> [@toadspittle](#): > > I can’t imagine they wouldn’t. Honestly, I can’t imagine that any police officer or military person wouldn’t put themselves between a civilian and a crazed gunman, too, let alone the President. That’s who they are. Too much hollywood. They are trained specifically to not do this. Good tactic: stay beside cover, aim for center of mass, pump crazed gunman full of lead, stop the threat and go home. Bad tactic: throw yourself between crazed gunman and civilian, got shot, lose your weapon to crazed gunman, lose your radio to crazed gunman, prolong life of said civilian by two seconds (or whatever time it takes for crazed gunman to reload and shoot again), further complicate situation by adding to number of victims and fail in stopping the threat. Not to mention dying. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/25 "2008-12-16T21:51:26Z")
> [@MOIDALIZE](#): > > [Eddie Izzard has a bit](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lucFTJfgNq8) about the President Reagan assassination attempt and attacks on Prince Charles, how the Secret Service went from an image of “elite, highly trained” to one of “GET HIM, KEVIN, GET HIM! RUN, CHARLIE, RUN!” when something bad happened. The point being, when the shit hits the fan, you can’t always count on a proper reaction right away. I can’t watch the video here at work, but my recollection is that a Secret Service agent did indeed leap in front of President Reagan and take a bullet for him. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/26 "2008-12-16T22:03:49Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I can’t watch the video here at work, but my recollection is that a Secret Service agent did indeed leap in front of President Reagan and take a bullet for him. The video shows someone pushing him into a car, but no one leaps in front of him per se. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/27 "2008-12-16T22:17:52Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Within seconds, the door behind the two leaders opened and agents boiled out; someone else had already taken down the shoe-flinging journalist. It looked to me like the Secret Service reacted about as fast as it was humanly possible to do. **Look at Bush’s expression after he ducks the first time; he’s bemused by the whole thing**. [emphasis added] To be fair, that’s pretty much been his stock expression for the last eight years. ---
**Author:** ![Rodd\_Hill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/3ab097/32.png) [@Rodd\_Hill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rodd_Hill)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/28 "2008-12-16T22:19:25Z")
Oh, and \*\*Why didn’t Secret Service jump in front of the shoe? \*\* That room was full of chairs; they may have thought that there was a second shoe-er on the Parker-Knoll. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/29 "2008-12-16T23:02:10Z")
If you listen carefully you can hear Bush saying “I’m okay” to (I presume) the SS agent who jumps up. It happened _way_ too quickly to prevent it from happening, but the guy definitely had Bush’s back if anything else was about to go down. ---
**Author:** ![cmkeller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmkeller/32/118_2.png) [@cmkeller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmkeller)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/30 "2008-12-17T00:42:10Z")
They got cold feet once the shoe-ting started. ---
**Author:** ![hellpaso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecae2f/32.png) [@hellpaso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hellpaso)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/31 "2008-12-17T00:46:29Z")
Mr. Hellpaso and I noticed that he seemed to dodge the shoes quite skillfully. We think it may have happened before. Perhaps with size 7 Ferragamos from Neiman’s? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/32 "2008-12-17T00:48:28Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > If you listen carefully you can hear Bush saying “I’m okay” to (I presume) the SS agent who jumps up. It happened _way_ too quickly to prevent it from happening, but the guy definitely had Bush’s back if anything else was about to go down. Though, at that point, as far as they knew both shoes were packed with C4 and nerve gas, and about to go off. Maybe I have be fooled by hollywood, but I was pretty suprised they were not able intervene before the second shoe was thrown. I’d understand if this was a sleepy morning press conference in Washington DC, but this is IRAQ! One of the most dangerous places on the planet, I’d have thought the USSS would be on a hair-trigger over this kind of thing. I also suprised he wasn’t immediately rushed out of the room. I assume he was shortly after the filiming stopped, but if there HAD been something unpleasant in those shoes (besides dog turds and BO), then it could have been too late by then. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/33 "2008-12-17T00:49:00Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Not if it were [Hillary Clinton](http://rakesprogress.wordpress.com/2007/11/06/lamp-tossing-at-the-clinton-white-house-welcome-to-the-real-world/). “I remember landing under sneaker fire…” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/34 "2008-12-17T02:07:53Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > I can’t watch the video here at work, but my recollection is that a Secret Service agent did indeed leap in front of President Reagan and take a bullet for him. Yes. USSS Agent Timothy McCarthy: [Timothy McCarthy - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_McCarthy) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/35 "2008-12-17T02:27:33Z")
I wonder what the reaction would have been had the shoe assailant put foot powder in his shoes, and I’m not thinking of Dr. Scholls, either. ---
**Author:** ![Vox\_Imperatoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Vox\_Imperatoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vox_Imperatoris)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/36 "2008-12-17T02:43:51Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Yes. USSS Agent Timothy McCarthy: [Timothy McCarthy - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timothy_McCarthy) Interesting that the man who took a bullet for Reagan is a Democrat. Interesting as in “neat fact”, not as in “there’s something fishy”. Valete, Vox Imperatoris ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/37 "2008-12-17T02:47:18Z")
Normally, Secret Serices will jump in front of the President to take a bullet meant for him. But in this case maybe they thought “Jeez, he’s only going to be President for another month anyway.” ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/38 "2008-12-17T06:35:54Z")
No job is too hard for the person who does not have to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Martiju](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e8c25b/32.png) [@Martiju](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martiju)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/39 "2008-12-17T14:42:59Z")
They hadn’t been reading their gun threads. Everyone knows now that at the sign of any potential threat you dive on the floor simultaneously drawing your weapon … ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426/40 "2008-12-17T15:56:36Z")
> [@Rigamarole](#): > > It happened pretty fast and they may not have expected him to actually throw _both_ his shoes. > > If you take another look at the video, the Iraqi guy standing next to Bush makes a lame attempt to put his hand up and block the second shoe. But he puts comically little effort into it. The “Iraqi guy” is the Prime Minister of Iraq. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-didnt-secret-service-jump-in-front-of-the-shoe/477426.md?page=3)