“We are one of America’s oldest federal law enforcement agencies, originally created in 1865 to stamp out rampant counterfeiting in order to stabilize America’s young financial system. By the end of the Civil War, nearly one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit. As a result, the country’s financial stability was in jeopardy. To address this concern, the Secret Service was established in 1865 as a bureau in the Treasury Department to suppress widespread counterfeiting.”
They were investigating forgery before protecting presidents. Just so happens in 1901 there weren’t a lot of federal agencies with as much power and experience as them so they got tapped for the new job of protecting the president.
Also from their Website :
“We are one of America’s oldest federal law enforcement agencies, originally created in 1865 to stamp out rampant counterfeiting in order to stabilize America’s young financial system. By the end of the Civil War, nearly one-third of all currency in circulation was counterfeit. As a result, the country’s financial stability was in jeopardy. To address this concern, the Secret Service was established in 1865 as a bureau in the Treasury Department to suppress widespread counterfeiting.”
They were investigating forgery before protecting presidents. Just so happens in 1901 there weren’t a lot of federal agencies with as much power and experience as them so they got tapped for the new job of protecting the president.