Washington - MENA
US President Barack Obama on Tuesday appointed Julia
Pierson, a longtime Secret Service agent, as the first woman to head the agency best
known for protecting presidents, vice presidents and their families, The New York
Times reported.
Pierson, the chief of staff to the departing director, Mark J. Sullivan, will take
over at a time when the Secret Service is still recovering from a prostitution scandal
that held it up to public ridicule, generated Congressional hearings and cost a number
of agents their jobs last year.
In a statement, Obama said Pierson exemplified the spirit and dedication of the
agency but made no mention of the scandle.
Julia is eminently qualified to lead the agency that not only safeguards Americans
at major events and secures our financial system, but also protects our leaders and
our first families, including my own, Obama said. Julia has had an exemplary career,
and I know these experiences will guide her as she takes on this new challenge to
lead the impressive men and women of this important agency.
As the chief of staff, Pierson is the agency s highest-ranking female special agent
and has worked for the agency for three decades. She has worked as a field agent
and in a variety of management positions involving human resources, cyber-crime and
anti-drug operations, and she has overseen the presidential and vice-presidential
protective divisions.
Sullivan retired last month after almost three decades with the agency. He was tasked
with shaking up operations after Secret Service agents were caught employing prostitutes
while in Colombia to prepare for a presidential trip. He testified that those agents
did some really dumb things, but said that assuming such conduct is condoned or
authorized is just absurd.
A native of Orlando, Florida, Pierson joined the Secret Service in 1983 after three
years as a police officer. She moved to the presidential protective division in 1988,
became the agency s drug program coordinator in 1992 and was promoted to assistant
special agent in charge of the Office of Protective Operations in 1996. After a stint
in the Tampa area, where she established a task force to investigate cyber-crimes,
Pierson became special agent in charge in the Office of Protective Operations in
2000 and later deputy assistant director.
In a short biography prepared by the Partnership for Public Service, she was quoted
talking about the agency s challenges. I don t think people realize the amount of
preparation work that goes into a presidential visit, everything from where the president
is going to physically arrive, whether by airplane or limousine, to the actual event
site.


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