Secret Service Guards Obama, Taking Unusually Early Step
Doug Mills/The New York Times
When Barack Obama debated Hillary Rodham Clinton last month, his
campaign was relying on its own security. On Thursday, that changed.
Correction Appended
Senator Barack Obama, whose crowds at political rallies across the country have often numbered in the thousands, was placed under Secret Service protection yesterday, a spokesman for the agency said.
The secretary of the Department of Homeland Security,
Michael Chertoff, authorized the protection for Mr. Obama after
consulting with a Congressional advisory committee that reviews security
for presidential hopefuls. The decision to assign agents to Mr. Obama,
nearly nine months before voting begins in the Democratic primaries for
president, is the earliest the Secret Service has ever issued a security
detail to a candidate.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, Eric Zahren, said the agency was not aware of any specific threat against Mr. Obama. Mr. Zahren declined to provide details of what had prompted the elevation of security for Mr. Obama, a first-term Democratic senator from Illinois.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, is the only other presidential candidate who receives Secret Service protection, Mr. Zahren said. But her security comes through her role as a former first lady.
Presidential candidates often resist security protection until the last possible moment, saying it restricts movement and prevents them from campaigning directly with people. But since Mr. Obama announced his candidacy nearly four months ago, he has been accompanied by a private security detail hired by his campaign.
Aides said the guards, some of whom were former federal agents, were a response to the large crowds and the historic nature of his candidacy, which, if successful, would make him the first black president. The aides have declined to discuss whether Mr. Obama has received specific threats.
In an interview yesterday, Michelle Obama, the senator’s wife, said the Secret Service protection underscored the notion that “we are moving to the next level” of the presidential campaign. The 2008 race is accelerated in every respect, Mrs. Obama said, including unusually large crowds and attention.
“Security was one of many issues that I have and will have in the course of this campaign,” said Mrs. Obama, who has talked openly about fearing for her husband’s safety. “But I’ve thought through in my mind all the possible scenarios and how we’re going to handle it.”
Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, declined to comment on whether the security decision had been made in response to a specific threat, but said several criteria were taken into account before authorization was made.
“That includes things like the candidate having certain financial standings, pre-eminence in public opinion polls and actively campaigning,” Mr. Knocke said. “We’re not going to comment on the timing or the details.”
Generally, candidates are placed under security protection around the time they receive their party’s nomination. In the 2004 election, Senators John Kerry and John Edwards received their secret service details in February 2004, as the Democratic field narrowed and they emerged as the leading two candidates.
While Mr. Obama’s detail comes well ahead of that, with about a year and a half to go before the presidential election, he is not the first candidate to receive security in early stages of a race. The Rev. Jesse Jackson drew early Secret Service protection because of threats during his campaigns for president in 1984 and 1988.
Correction: May 5, 2007
An article yesterday about Secret Service protection provided to Senator Barack Obama referred imprecisely to such protection given to Senators John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004. While they indeed were each provided with the Secret Service detail in February, it was while they were both still seeking the presidential nomination; they were not being protected as the Democratic nominees at that time.
Senator Barack Obama, whose crowds at political rallies across the country have often numbered in the thousands, was placed under Secret Service protection yesterday, a spokesman for the agency said.
A spokesman for the Secret Service, Eric Zahren, said the agency was not aware of any specific threat against Mr. Obama. Mr. Zahren declined to provide details of what had prompted the elevation of security for Mr. Obama, a first-term Democratic senator from Illinois.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Democrat of New York, is the only other presidential candidate who receives Secret Service protection, Mr. Zahren said. But her security comes through her role as a former first lady.
Presidential candidates often resist security protection until the last possible moment, saying it restricts movement and prevents them from campaigning directly with people. But since Mr. Obama announced his candidacy nearly four months ago, he has been accompanied by a private security detail hired by his campaign.
Aides said the guards, some of whom were former federal agents, were a response to the large crowds and the historic nature of his candidacy, which, if successful, would make him the first black president. The aides have declined to discuss whether Mr. Obama has received specific threats.
In an interview yesterday, Michelle Obama, the senator’s wife, said the Secret Service protection underscored the notion that “we are moving to the next level” of the presidential campaign. The 2008 race is accelerated in every respect, Mrs. Obama said, including unusually large crowds and attention.
“Security was one of many issues that I have and will have in the course of this campaign,” said Mrs. Obama, who has talked openly about fearing for her husband’s safety. “But I’ve thought through in my mind all the possible scenarios and how we’re going to handle it.”
Russ Knocke, a spokesman for the Homeland Security Department, declined to comment on whether the security decision had been made in response to a specific threat, but said several criteria were taken into account before authorization was made.
“That includes things like the candidate having certain financial standings, pre-eminence in public opinion polls and actively campaigning,” Mr. Knocke said. “We’re not going to comment on the timing or the details.”
Generally, candidates are placed under security protection around the time they receive their party’s nomination. In the 2004 election, Senators John Kerry and John Edwards received their secret service details in February 2004, as the Democratic field narrowed and they emerged as the leading two candidates.
While Mr. Obama’s detail comes well ahead of that, with about a year and a half to go before the presidential election, he is not the first candidate to receive security in early stages of a race. The Rev. Jesse Jackson drew early Secret Service protection because of threats during his campaigns for president in 1984 and 1988.
Correction: May 5, 2007
An article yesterday about Secret Service protection provided to Senator Barack Obama referred imprecisely to such protection given to Senators John Kerry and John Edwards in 2004. While they indeed were each provided with the Secret Service detail in February, it was while they were both still seeking the presidential nomination; they were not being protected as the Democratic nominees at that time.
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