President Obama announced Tuesday Julia A. Pierson as the Director of Secret Services making her the first woman to ever head the agency.
Julia A. Pierson made history Tuesday when President Barack Obama her announced her Director of Secret Services. Pierson is the first woman to have ever headed the agency, whose main responsibilities include protecting the President, the Vice-President and their families.
Pierson, retired as director of staff to Mark J. Sullivan last month and will reportedly take over at a time when the Secret Service is still recovering from a prostitution scandal last year that held it up to public ridicule, generated Congressional hearings and cost a number of agents their jobs.
Pierson has 33 years of experience with the agency and boasts a résumé much like those of her predecessors, including a stint on the first President George Bush's protective details.
"During the Colombia prostitution scandal, the Secret Service lost the trust of many Americans and failed to live up to the high expectations placed on it," Senator Charles E. Grassley, Republican of Iowa. "Ms. Pierson has a lot of work ahead of her to create a culture that respects the important job the agency is tasked with. I hope she succeeds in restoring lost credibility in the Secret Service."
In a statement, Obama said Pierson "exemplified the spirit and dedication" of the agency but made no mention of the scandal.
"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."
Her appointment does not require Senate confirmation.
