Oct 7, 2014

When Secret Service officer Timothy McCarthy took a bullet to protect Ronald Reagan in a 1981 assassination attempt and agent Jerry Parr shoved the president into a limousine, their quick reflexes projected a Hollywood-style image of invincibility around the agency.

Fast-forward to today: the 149-year-old Secret Service is struggling to emerge from a succession of scandals that have tarnished that iconic reputation, forced the abrupt resignation of its director and raised questions about its ability to fulfill its most critical duty: protecting President Barack Obama and his family.

More: The White House in 2013 | Obama in Baltimore

: A U.S. Secret Service agent with an automatic rifle hurries people to evacuate the White House complex over a security alert moments after President Barack Obama and his family left for the presidential retreat, Camp David, in Maryland, September 19, 2014. (Larry Downing/REUTERS)

: A U.S. Secret Service agent keeps watch as U.S. President Barack Obama visits a restaurant in Washington October 1, 2014. U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned under fire on Wednesday after a series of security lapses came to light that exposed gaping holes in the protective cocoon around Obama. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

: U.S. President Barack Obama (L) and first lady Michelle Obama are applauded by attendees, as then-U.S. Secret Service Special Agent Joseph Clancy (2ndR) keeps watch at the “Together We Thrive: Tucson and America” event held to support and remember victims of the mass shooting, at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, in this January 12, 2011 file photo. U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned under fire on October 1, 2014, and Joe Clancy has been named acting director. Former NASA shuttle commander Mark Kelly applauds at right. (Jim Young/Files/Reuters)

: A U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division officer and his bomb sniffing dog walk along the North fence of the White House along Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, September 24, 2014. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

: A member of the U.S. Secret Service Uniformed Division brushes snow off his vehicle in front of the White House in Washington during a snowstorm January 21, 2014. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

: Members of the Uniformed Division of the Secret Service patrol the North Portico of the White House in Washington September 29, 2014. (Jonathan Ernst/Reuters)

: U.S. Secret Service agents step off a Marine helicopter before U.S. President Barack Obama departs Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington for Chicago, October 1, 2014. (Larry Downing/Reuters)

: Secret Service agents keep watch as U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about jobs and the economy during a visit to Millennium Steel Service as part of Manufacturing Day in Princeton, Indiana October 3, 2014. U.S. employers stepped up hiring in September and the jobless rate fell to a six-year low, bolstering bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike in mid-2015. Friday’s report on employment is the most significant gauge of the economy’s health ahead of Nov. 4 congressional elections. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)

: President Barack Obama sprints up the steps of the Lincoln Memorial surrounded by Secret Service agents, to visit with tourists, a day after Congress came to agreement on funding the federal government, emphasizing that national parks, monuments and museums are kept open and filled with visitors, in Washington April 9, 2011. (Mike Theiler/Reuters)

: U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Lissette (L) and Jose Bonilla at their home in Las Vegas, October 24, 2011. Obama unveiled new measures to help struggling homeowners in Las Vegas on Monday in the first leg of a campaign-style swing through western states that may be crucial to his re-election in 2012. (Jason Reed/Reuters)

: Members of a US Secret Service counter assault team wait for the arrival of US President Barack Obama at the Wall Street Heliport, October 7, 2014 in New York. Obama is traveling to New York and Connecticut to attend fund raisers for Democrats. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

: Members of the US Secret Service move a motorcade into position next to Marine One, with US President Barack Obama at the Wall Street Heliport October 7, 2014 in New York. Obama is traveling to New York and Connecticut to fun raise for Democrats. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

: Members of the US Secret Service escort US President Barack Obama as he walks to Air Force One at Gary Chicago International Airport on October 2, 2014 in Gary, Indiana. Obama is returning to Washington after a trip to Illinois where he attended a fundraiser and spoke about the economy. (Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images)

: This June 5, 2009, file photo shows US President Barack Obama walking down the steps of Air Force One trailed US Secret Service agent Joseph Clancy (R) at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. Clancy, former director of the service’s Presidential Protective Division (PPD), has been named acting director of the US Secret Service, a day after Direcor Julia Pierson stepped down from the post. Pierson resigned on October 1, 2014, after a series of security lapses at the White House involving the agency. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

: A member of the U.S. Secret Service stands guard as Marine One carrying U.S. President Barack Obama takes off from the South Lawn of the White House October 7, 2014 in Washington, DC. Obama is traveling to New York to attend high ticket fundraisers for the Democratic Party. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

: A member of the U.S. Secret Service stands guard as Marine One carrying U.S. President Barack Obama prepares to take off from the South Lawn of the White House October 7, 2014 in Washington, DC. Obama is traveling to New York to attend high ticket fundraisers for the Democratic Party. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

: A member of the U.S. Secret Service stands watch as U.S. President Barack Obama departs the White House October 1, 2014 in Washington, DC. Earlier today, U.S. Secret Service Director Julia Pierson resigned in the wake of Omar Gonzalez allegedly jumping over the White House fence and entering the residence of the President. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

: Members of the US Secret Service stand watch on the roof of White House September 30, 2014 in Washington, DC. White House intruder Omar Gonzalez, the man arrested last week after jumping the White House fence, went deeper into the building than what was previously reported. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

: A member of the US Secret Service patrols lafayette Park in front of the White House September 30, 2014 in Washington, DC. White House intruder Omar Gonzalez, the man arrested last week after jumping the White House fence, went deeper into the building than what was previously reported. (Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Sources inside and outside the administration say many problems such as low morale, a leadership crisis and a culture of covering up mistakes can be traced back 11 years to when the Secret Service was pulled out of the Treasury Department and absorbed into the sprawling new Department of Homeland Security, where it had to compete for turf and money.

Even as the agency’s workload has mushroomed, its manpower levels stagnated and its funding increases have failed to keep pace with growth in overall federal spending in the past decade, a Reuters examination of Secret Service budget data shows.

There is also growing pressure to consider whether the Secret Service’s divided mission, which includes investigating financial fraud and cybercrime, is diverting resources and attention from providing security for the president, his family and other top officials.

“We’ve seen what many think was a high point for the Secret Service,” said Carolyn Parr, who co-authored a memoir with her husband, Jerry Parr, the agent who raced a wounded Reagan away from the scene of the shooting after John Hinckley Jr. opened fire outside a Washington hotel 33 years ago.

“What’s happening now is sad. I don’t know why the ball got dropped.” – Reporting by Reuters

The Secret Service detail surrounding President Obama

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