Smells like heresay to me. Can you point to anything more substantial than what you heard as your friend’s family lore? I mean, if all we are going to do is exchange stuff other people said in casual conversation, I used to work from time to time with a fellow who retired from the Secret Service before he became a part-time deputy sheriff. He had worked executive protection and reported no such dramatic oaths.
From the Secret Service FAQs - About Us
This. I’m not too cool about working overtime; taking a bullet would be a total deal-breaker for me.
This. Regardless of what you think of the “hypothetical” president in the OP, and even if you otherwise wish him dead, I’d think you would probably agree that it would be best if the perpetrators were unable to successfully carry out this part of their plan.
Yeah, it’s pretty much the higher-stakes version of a county clerk not giving out marriage licenses to people she personally disagrees with: this is a job requirement, and nobody’s making you keep the job.
Would I? Hard to say, given that I don’t know the bizarre chain of events that would have made me qualified to be in the position in the first place. But I’d either do it or resign before it ever came up; I wouldn’t promise to protect someone and then not do it.
If you’re not up to the task, step down. Otherwise you’re part of the assassination. And face it, if you despise the duly elected president that much, you’re in the minority.
14 people said no. I wonder if they read the OP, or if they’re saying they wouldn’t take the job. Hard to believe many people would not do such a critical job after they’ve said they would.
If I worked at McDonald’s and they made me swear never to eat at Wendy’s even though I wasn’t sure if I could fulfill that promise I might just say yes and see if I could live up to it. Hard to imagine taking on a critical position like the Secret Service protectors of the POTUS and not mean it though.
Whether our president is a shitheel or not, losing a president will break our hearts. You know what happened the last time. We still collectively lose our shit over it. No country does well after they lose their leader, even if they have a viable alternative.
I signed up to take a bullet for the president. I would be honored to do it. it doesn’t mean I am taking a bullet for Trump. It means no less than me taking a bullet for my country, that I love so dearly, and which has been threatened.
Pretty much that.
For what it’s worth, the Secret Service does more than protecting the President, including anti-counterfeiting activities.
If I was in the Secret Service protecting the President, then I’d take the bullet because that’s the job, but if I felt I wasn’t willing to do that, I’d be the first to transfer to the counterfeiting department. (As an accountant with lousy eyesight, isn’t that where they’d have put me in the first place? 
)
I may not like the President, but I hate the mofos who want to take him out by killing him.
Yeah, I take the bullet if I can. From what I understand, the Secret Service considers this an honor.
And even if it is President Trump, think about all the rich goodies he’d shower you with if you survived. Although on second thought, with Trump he might just give you a pat on the back and call it even.
I’m not a SS agent, not my line of work… so no. I wouldn’t event take Tomahawk if it were to be pointed at the wrong convention.
If it was a Tomahawk, think if all the rich goodies you’d be peppered with as you tried to survive…
Well, technically, if you took the bullet, you’d be maimed or dead afterwards, so you couldn’t keep your job afterwards.
Edit: Yeah, I know what you mean, though. You have to have that ethos, actual shooting or not.
I am not in the Secret Service, so I can’t speak to what their actual training or expectations are, but in the one time in my life where there were shots fired at the president, one of the agents, Tim McCarthy, spread his body out in front of Reagan to shield him from the shots, taking a bullet in his abdomen in the process.
Not at all. Which is why I’m never going to be a Secret Service agent.
Sure I would, if I ever accepted the assignment, which I probably wouldn’t.
A professional discharges his responsibilities. A professional who rises to that level can be expected to, under extreme duress. I’m not a dedicated secret service agent, nor would I aspire to be one, so don’t ask me what I would do.
For example, Barry Richard, a registered Democrat, was the head of the law team that defended Bush before the Florida Supreme Court, in Gore v. Bush in the 2000 election. He probably voted for Gore, but defended Bush in court.
Without reading the thread -
No, because if I didn’t like or at least respect the President there is no way I would ever get put on the Detail.
I don’t know about any special oaths the detail takes beyond the oath they take for the job but they are certainly trained to throw themselves in front of whoever they are protecting. They train so that it becomes second nature and reflex. They are trained specifically to take a bullet.
I’ve worked a couple of presidential protection details. When the president travels into an area they pull all the Secret Service agents out of the local offices to work on the protection detail. Those regular agents are not going to be the ones closest to the president but you still have to be willing to put your ass on the line.