Secret Service Protection at the Eisenhower Farm

The front farm lane with its gate and guard shack staffed by a member of Eisenhower's security detail.

NPS

January 20, 1961 was a significant day in the life of Dwight David Eisenhower. His successor, John F. Kennedy, was inaugurated as the 35th President of the United States. A peaceful transfer of power in the executive branch of government was completed. The awesome power and responsibility of the presidency was lifted from Ike’s shoulders. He was now officially retired.

Following the inauguration and a luncheon, the former president and first lady, Mamie Eisenhower, rode by car in a snowstorm to their farm in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. Their Gettysburg home was the first and only residence that they ever owned. They had spent many weekends at the farm during the presidency.

When the Eisenhowers arrived at the front gate and lane of the farm, their Secret Service escort bid them farewell and headed back to Washington, DC. After more than eight years of Secret Service protection for the Eisenhowers, their security coverage ended rather abruptly as they were now former president and first lady.

In 1961, there were no federal laws that provided Secret Service protection for former presidents and first ladies. Eisenhower who had access to the highest secrets of the country and the nuclear “football” codes that morning was essentially on his own by that afternoon. By today’s standards of Secret Service protection for former presidents, it is hard to fathom this dramatic change.

The State of Pennsylvania and its elected leaders decided to fill this security void and to provide executive protection for the former president. Pennsylvania was Ike’s adopted home, and his Pennsylvania German roots were deep in the state. In fact, his family’s roots were much deeper in the Keystone State than in Kansas. Pennsylvanians were proud that Ike’s adopted home was Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.

The Pennsylvania State Police had been providing executive protection for the governor and lieutenant governor since 1942. This protective security function required state troopers who were specially trained for executive protection. The executive protection troopers usually did not wear the normal trooper uniform. They wore suits and ties and sometimes casual attire that blended in with the general population.

The state police protection for the Eisenhowers resembled the governor’s protective detail and was twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week. The coverage was not a detail from the state police station in Gettysburg, but a separate detachment from the headquarters in Harrisburg. The size of the coverage was small and was usually only one to two troopers. The men stayed overnight on the Eisenhower farm.

A state police assignment at the Eisenhower farm was considered desirable duty. The men thought that the Eisenhowers were very nice and warm to the them. The farm setting was relaxing and a beautiful place to work. Two long term members of the detachment were officers Mike Holleran and Art Cronin. The historian of the state police museum shared a story from the late Art Cronin. He said that “I recall Art had told me that he heard Mamie screaming really loud one day. In a panic, he ran to see what was happening. A bee was in one of the rooms of their house, and apparently she didn’t like bees.”

President Kennedy's assassination in November 1963 and subsequent investigations by the US Congress and special commissions reviewed the laws or lack of laws governing Secret Service protection for former presidents and first ladies. In 1965, Congress passed and President Johnson signed legislation protecting former presidents and first ladies for the rest of their lives. The legal statute was 79 Stat 791.

Secret Service guard posts still ring the perimeter of the Eisenhower farm.

NPS

After a four years and eight months hiatus, Secret Service protection for the Eisenhowers was restored. The state police detachment departed the farm, and the Secret Service returned. The first task of the Secret Service was evaluating what equipment and infrastructure remained and was operable from the presidency. There were several technological improvements during the break in service.

During Eisenhower’s presidency, approximately forty Secret Service personnel accompanied Ike to the farm. The Secret Service did shift work and stayed at a motel, which also provided meals in the restaurant. The motel was close to the farm along the Emmitsburg Road. In 1965, the new contingent of Secret Service protection at the farm was smaller and approximately one third of the size during the presidency. Also, the agents lived in the Gettysburg area. After their shifts, they simply returned to their homes. A posting or assignment to the Eisenhower farm was considered good duty for the agents and a nice transition into eventual retirement in the Gettysburg area.

Secret Service protection continued at the Eisenhower farm until former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower’s death in November of 1979. There are numerous traces of the Secret Service still visible today at Eisenhower National Historic Site in Gettysburg.