Behind The Scenes With The President's Now-Embattled Secret Service Unit

They haven't exactly covered themselves in glory lately, but the guys in suits surrounding the President of the United States are still ready to take a bullet to protect the leader of the free world.

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The Secret Service wasn't always intended to be the president's last, best line of defense. Abraham Lincoln created the United States Secret Service (USSS) to deal with the influx of counterfeit money after the Civil War - a move ironically made just hours before he was assassinated on April 14,1865. Four months later the Service was fully operational.

In the run-up to the 2004 presidential election George W. Bush spoke at Louisiana State University (LSU), where National Geographic took a closer look at the Secret Service for a documentary called "Inside the US Secret Service." The film follows the president's advance team as it worked with local law enforcement to make sure every conceivable threat to the president addressed before he arrived.

National Geographic doesn't spill all the secrets, but what they let us in on is still pretty cool.