Secret Service code name

The United States Secret Service uses code names for U.S. presidents, first ladies, and other prominent persons and locations.[1] The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity, and tradition.[2][3] The Secret Service does not choose these names, however. The White House Communications Agency maintains a list that candidates choose from, often choosing ones that resonate with them personally.[4][5]

President John F. Kennedy, codename "Lancer" with First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy, codename "Lace"

According to an established protocol, good codewords are unambiguous words that can be easily pronounced and readily understood by those who transmit and receive voice messages by radio or telephone regardless of their native language. Traditionally, all family members' code names start with the same letter.[4]

The codenames change over time for security purposes, but are often publicly known. For security, codenames are generally picked from a list of such 'good' words, but avoiding the use of common words which could likely be intended to mean their normal definitions.

Presidents and their families

edit

Vice presidents and their families

edit
 
From left to right: President Bill Clinton, codename "Eagle"; Chelsea Clinton, codename "Energy"; Senator Hillary Clinton, codename "Evergreen"; Vice President Al Gore, codename "Sundance".

Political candidates and their spouses

edit

U.S. Secret Service codenames are often given to high-profile political candidates (such as presidential and vice presidential candidates), and their respective families and spouses who are assigned U.S. Secret Service protection. These codenames often differ from those held if they are elected or those from prior periods if they held positions needing codenames.

1968

edit

1972

edit

1976

edit

1980

edit

1984

edit

1988

edit

1996

edit

2000

edit

2004

edit

2008

edit

2012

edit

2016

edit

2020

edit

2024

edit

Government officials

edit

Other individuals

edit
 
Queen Elizabeth II, codename "Kittyhawk".

Locations, objects, places and parts of Secret Service

edit

U.S. Secret Service codenames are not only given to people; they are often given to places, locations and even objects, such as aircraft like Air Force One, and vehicles such as the Presidential State Car.

In fiction

edit

In popular culture, the practice of assigning codenames is often used to provide additional verisimilitude in fictional works about the executive branch, or high-ranking governmental figures.

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Junior Secret Service Program: Assignment 7. Code Names". National Park Service. Retrieved August 18, 2007.
  2. ^ a b "Candidate Code Names Secret Service Monikers Used on the Campaign Trail". RSSattr=Politics_4452073. CBS News. September 16, 2008. Archived from the original on September 19, 2008. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
  3. ^ "Obama's Secret Service Code Name Revealed". Eurweb. September 16, 2008. Archived from the original on January 7, 2009. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
  4. ^ a b c "First on CNN: Kamala Harris chooses 'Pioneer' as her Secret Service code name". CNN. August 17, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Huppke, Rex W. (November 10, 2008). "'Renegade' joins 'Twinkle,' 'Rawhide,' 'Lancer' on list of Secret Service code names". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 12, 2008.
  6. ^ Flynt, Larry; Eisenbach, David (April 26, 2011). One Nation Under Sex: How the Private Lives of Presidents, First Ladies and Their Lovers Changed the Course of American History. ISBN 9780230120358.
  7. ^ "(PBS) FDR transcript". Eleanor Roosevelt hurled herself into the war effort with all the energy that she had brought to the New Deal. During the course of the war, she traveled the world, visiting American soldiers everywhere. The Secret Service gave her the code name "Rover."
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh bi bj bk bl bm bn bo bp bq br bs bt bu bv bw bx by bz ca cb cc cd ce cf cg ch ci cj ck cl cm cn co cp cq cr cs ct cu cv Scher, Steven (February 5, 2010). The Secret Service of Alan Kahn. pp. 160–166. ISBN 9781450026413.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al Kessler, Ronald (2009). In the President's Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect. Crown Publishing Group. ISBN 9780307461353.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Jerald F. TerHorst; Ralph Albertazzie (1979). The flying White House: the story of Air Force One. Bantam Books. ISBN 9780698109308.
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae Walsh, Kenneth T. (2003). "Appendix". Air Force One: A History of the Presidents and Their Planes. Hyperion. p. 227. ISBN 1-4013-0004-9.
  12. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Anne Collins Walker (2012). China Calls: Paving the Way for Nixon's Historic Journey to China. ISBN 978-1568332666.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "11 Great Secret Service Code Names". Time. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  14. ^ Taraborrelli, Randy J. (2000). Jackie, Ethel, Joan: The Women of Camelot. Warner Books. p. 15. ISBN 0-446-52426-3. Retrieved February 26, 2007.
  15. ^ "JFK Jr.: As Child and Man, America's Crown Prince". Washington Post. July 18, 1999. Retrieved November 18, 2008.
  16. ^ "Saskatoon Star-Phoenix - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  17. ^ "Lynda Out of the Woods". Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  18. ^ a b "The First Daughters Club: Life After The White House". Guest of a Guest. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  19. ^ "Mrs Ford tells story different than Ron Nessen". Lakeland Ledger. May 18, 1978.
  20. ^ "Susan Ford serious about photography job". The StarPhoenix. August 16, 1975.
  21. ^ Bird, Kai (2021). The Outlier: The Unfinished Presidency of Jimmy Carter. New York: Crown. p. 156. ISBN 9780451495235. Citing Kraft, Tim (January 21, 1977). Unpublished diary. Diary folder Kraft papers, Kai Bird.
  22. ^ Watson, Robert P (2004). Life in the White House: A Social History of the First Family and the President's House. SUNY Press. p. 111. ISBN 9780791485071.
  23. ^ a b c d e f g h i "'Secret' Obama code name revealed". BBC. November 13, 2008.
  24. ^ a b Reagan, Maureen (September 2001). First Father, First Daughter. Little, Brown and Company. p. 329. ISBN 0-316-73636-8.
  25. ^ Sawler, Harvey (2004). Saving Mrs. Kennedy. General Store Publishing House. p. 73. ISBN 1-897113-10-2.
  26. ^ Watson, Robert. "Life in the White House: A Social History of the First Family and The President's House". State University of New York Press, 2004, p. 125.
  27. ^ "Obama becomes 'Renegade' on U.S. secret service list". Moscow News №45 2008. Moscow News. Archived from the original on December 25, 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2008.
  28. ^ Woodward, Bob (2002). Bush at War: Inside the Bush White House. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-7432-0473-6.
  29. ^ a b c Kornblut, Anne E. (June 17, 2007). "'Renegade' Joins Race For White House: Obama Is Given Code Name by Secret Service". Washington Post. Retrieved June 16, 2007.
  30. ^ "Bloomberg Politics". March 11, 2008. Retrieved March 11, 2008.
  31. ^ a b "First-family-to-be given code names". Chicago Tribune. November 9, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008.
  32. ^ Obama, Michelle (2018). Becoming. ISBN 978-1524763152.
  33. ^ a b Henry, Ed (November 10, 2015). "Just call him 'Mogul' – Trump getting Secret Service code name". Fox News.
  34. ^ a b c d "Here are the Secret Service codenames for Trump, Pence". CNN. July 27, 2016. Retrieved January 28, 2021.
  35. ^ a b "How Trump's Eldest Children Have Been Handling the WH Transition". ABC News. January 20, 2017. Retrieved January 20, 2017.
  36. ^ "Kamala Harris Secret Service Code Name Revealed". Huffington Post. August 18, 2020.
  37. ^ "The Trump family's Secret Service code names". qz.com.
  38. ^ Schor, Elana (September 12, 2008). "What's in a (Secret Service code) name". The Guardian. London. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  39. ^ Fung, Katherine (June 13, 2024). "Secret Service Speaks Out About Hunter Biden Jail Sentence name". Newsweek. Retrieved June 19, 2024.
  40. ^ a b c d e f Petro, Joseph; Jeffrey Robinson (2005). Standing Next to History: An Agent's Life Inside the Secret Service. Macmillan. p. 52. ISBN 0-312-33221-1.
  41. ^ "What's In A Code Name? It's Not Much Of A Secret". Orlando Sentinel. July 17, 1993. Archived from the original on October 18, 2014. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  42. ^ "Part 3 – By Karenna Gore". Slate. January 21, 1997. Retrieved November 11, 2008.
  43. ^ Keyes, Alexa (March 21, 2012). "Top Not-So- Secret Service Codenames". ABC News. Retrieved January 21, 2013.
  44. ^ William M. Arkin (2013). American Coup: How a Terrified Government Is Destroying the Constitution. Little, Brown. p. 135. ISBN 978-0-316-25125-9.
  45. ^ Pengelly, Martin (August 18, 2020). "Kamala Harris reportedly chooses apt Secret Service code name: Pioneer". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  46. ^ "JD Vance gets Secret Service code name 'Bobcat,' joins 'Mogul' in bid to take White House". Fox News. July 26, 2024. Retrieved July 26, 2024.
  47. ^ "The last days of George McGovern?". The Village Voice. November 2, 1972.
  48. ^ Carter character and career analyzed anew
  49. ^ a b c "Harlan Daily Enterprise - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  50. ^ a b "Daily Union - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  51. ^ "The Telegraph - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  52. ^ "Keke Anderson: I'm a mother, not a fighter Boca Raton News – Oct 16, 1980". Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  53. ^ "Texas Next: Can Carter win there?". Spokane Daily Chronicle. April 28, 1980.
  54. ^ a b c "Duster: Women can do anything". The Southeast Missourian. November 5, 1984.
  55. ^ "Personality Spotlight:John Zaccaro: Husband of Geraldine Ferraro". UPI. July 19, 1984.
  56. ^ a b c "The Windsor Star - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  57. ^ a b "Herald-Journal - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  58. ^ a b c d e f The Fix-Here are the 2016 candidates’ Secret Service code names — and your own
  59. ^ "Codename: Scarlett". Archived from the original on January 7, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  60. ^ "High Season For the Secret Service (Published 1996)". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 30, 2020.
  61. ^ "ON THE SIDELINES". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on August 12, 2018.
  62. ^ "Lieberman Gets D.c. Dough". Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  63. ^ "Aboard The Estrogen Express". Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  64. ^ a b "CNN Transcript, Aired July 29, 2004". Retrieved March 10, 2008.
  65. ^ a b "'Phoenix' and 'Parasol'". The Washington Post. May 11, 2008. Retrieved May 22, 2008.
  66. ^ a b c "Twitter / McCainBlogette: my dad was Phoenix, mom Parasol". Twitter.com. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  67. ^ a b "Palin Code Name: 'Denali'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
  68. ^ a b Ambinder, Marc (March 19, 2012). "Exclusive: GQ Reveals Romney's and Santorum's Secret Service Code Names". GQ. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  69. ^ Ambinder, Marc (November 8, 2012). "How the Secret Service Said Goodbye to Mitt Romney". GQ. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  70. ^ Martin Bashir Aired on April 27, 2012
  71. ^ a b Ambinder, Marc (September 4, 2012). "Exclusive: GQ Reveals Paul Ryan's Secret Service Code Name!". GQ. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  72. ^ "Anne Holton '80 talks failure, hope and humility at Princeton commmencement". Princeton University. June 4, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  73. ^ a b "Sanders's Secret Service code name revealed". The Hill. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  74. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Manchester, William (2013). The Death of a President: November 20 – November 25, 1963. ISBN 978-0316370721.
  75. ^ "Reading Eagle - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  76. ^ a b Stewart, Sara (November 10, 2013). "All the president's women". New York Post. Archived from the original on December 16, 2021. Retrieved February 28, 2022.
  77. ^ "November 22, 1963". Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  78. ^ Isaacson, Walter (1992). Kissinger: A Biography. Simon and Schuster. p. 314. ISBN 0-7432-8697-9.
  79. ^ "Personality Parade". The Spokesman-Review. July 6, 1974.
  80. ^ "Sunday Special". The Toledo Blade. July 13, 1974.
  81. ^ "Candidates – Dick Cheney". Retrieved November 25, 2013.
  82. ^ "Deacon & Dumbo". The Miami News. August 29, 1977.
  83. ^ McClellan, Scott (2008). What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception. Public Affairs. ISBN 978-1-58648-556-6.
  84. ^ Ambinder, Marc (May 14, 2009). "Revealed: Rahm Emanuel's Secret Service Code Name". Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  85. ^ "Finding the inner Geithner - POLITICO". Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  86. ^ "Kellyanne Conway is the Real First Lady of Trump's America". March 18, 2017.
  87. ^ Hickman, Leo (November 14, 2008). "The secret service name game: Barack Obama is codenamed 'Renegade' – but what secret service names would you choose for our UK VIPs". Guardian UK. London: Guardian News and Media Limited 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2010.
  88. ^ "Lawrence Journal-World - Google News Archive Search". news.google.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  89. ^ "Top Not-So- Secret Service Codenames". ABC News. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
  90. ^ Wallance, Gregory J. (May 3, 2012). "Sex and the Secret Service". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  91. ^ Loizeau, Pierre-Marie (2004). Nancy Reagan: The Woman Behind the Man. Nova Publishers. p. 91. ISBN 1-59033-759-X.
  92. ^ a b c d e f g h Williams, Stephen P. (2004). How to be President. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. ISBN 0-8118-4316-5.
  93. ^ William Manchester, The Death of a President, 1967 – 'vocabulary' pages
  94. ^ a b c "Project226". Archived from the original on March 8, 2012.
  95. ^ a b c d e f Manchester, William (1967). The Death of a President. New York, Harper & Row.
  96. ^ a b The Secret Service is investigating how a man who shot and injured Trump was able to get so close
  97. ^ ""1600 Penn" and the Tedium of the Goofball White House Comedy". Retrieved July 14, 2024 – via The New Republic.
  98. ^ Air Force One script
  99. ^ "The American President script by Aaron Sorkin". www.dailyscript.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  100. ^ Andy Cadiff (director) (2004). Chasing Liberty (Film/DVD). Los Angeles: Warner Brothers.
  101. ^ Raeside, Julia (September 30, 2016). "Designated Survivor: where's Jack Bauer when you need him?". Retrieved July 14, 2024 – via The Guardian.
  102. ^ "First Daughter (2004) - Quotes - IMDb". Retrieved July 14, 2024 – via www.imdb.com.
  103. ^ a b "First Kid review". Archived from the original on May 17, 2008. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
  104. ^ "In The Line Of Fire Script - transcript from the screenplay and/or Clint Eastwood movie". www.script-o-rama.com. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  105. ^ List of jericho episodes#Season 2
  106. ^ Archer, Jeffrey (1982). The Prodigal Daughter. St. Martin's Paperbacks. p. 496. ISBN 978-0-312-99714-4.
  107. ^ a b "06x08 - A Stomach For Blood - Transcripts - Forever Dreaming". transcripts.foreverdreaming.org. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  108. ^ "Why Is Mellie Foxtail On 'Scandal'? This Could Be Mellie's Move To Presidency". Bustle. May 14, 2015. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  109. ^ a b Gillespie, Eleanor Ringel. "'The Sentinel': Smart action, familiar plot". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Atlanta, Georgia: Cox Newspapers. Archived from the original on February 19, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  110. ^ "'Squeeze Me' proves that the Trump era is Carl Hiaasen's moment". Retrieved February 12, 2021.
  111. ^ "Snakes of all kinds populate Carl Hiaasen's 'Squeeze Me'". Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  112. ^ Clancy, Thomas (August 1990) [1989]. "12. The Curtain on SHOWBOAT". Clear and Present Danger (Large Print ed.). Thorndike, Maine: Thorndike Press. pp. multiple, incl. p. 391. ISBN 0-89621-930-5.
  113. ^ Clancy, Thomas (1996). Executive Orders. Putnam. pp. multiple. ISBN 0-399-14218-5.
  114. ^ a b c d Clancy, Thomas (1996). Executive Orders. Putnam. p. 212. ISBN 0-399-14218-5.
  115. ^ a b c Clancy, Thomas (1996). Executive Orders. Putnam. p. 482. ISBN 0-399-14218-5.
  116. ^ Clancy, Thomas (1996). Executive Orders. Putnam. p. 557. ISBN 0-399-14218-5.
  117. ^ Clancy, Thomas (1996). Executive Orders. Putnam. p. 527. ISBN 0-399-14218-5.
  118. ^ Clancy, Thomas (1996). Executive Orders. Putnam. p. 131. ISBN 0-399-14218-5.
  119. ^ "The West Wing Transcripts – Episode 102". Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  120. ^ "The West Wing Transcripts – Episode 108". Retrieved November 9, 2008.
  121. ^ "The West Wing Transcripts – Episode 509". Retrieved May 15, 2007.
  122. ^ a b "The West Wing Transcripts – Episode 110". Retrieved January 21, 2009.
  123. ^ "The West Wing Transcripts – Episode 509". Retrieved September 21, 2010.
  124. ^ "The West Wing, Episode 7.03, LiveDash TV Transcript". Retrieved April 15, 2011.