The Secret Service was created in 1865 as a federal law enforcement agency within the Treasury Department. It derives its legal authority from Title 18, United States Code, Section 3056. It was established for the express purpose of stopping counterfeiting operations which had sprung up in this country following the introduction of paper currency during the Civil War (Treasury, 2002, Online). The Secret Service maintains its role as guardian of the integrity of our currency, but today also investigates crimes involving United States securities, coinage, other government issues, credit and debit card fraud, and electronic funds transfer fraud. The most obvious of its other activities is executive protection, which began after the assassination of President McKinley in 1901(Treasury, 2002, Online).


In the 1800s, America's monetary system was very disorganized. Bills and coins were issued by each state through individual banks, which generated many types of legal currency.......

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Title: The Secret Service
Approximate Word Count: 5544
Approximate Pages: 23 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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