They live in the American imagination as what they’ve long been and still often are: focused, ethical, no-nonsense, alert. It is painful reading because Secret Service agents have been unique among government workers in that everyone knew of them and admired them. “Agents and officers gave me a guided tour, showing me step by step how the Secret Service was becoming a paper tiger,” weakened by bad leadership, underfunding, an insular culture and declining professionalism. The service’s reputation has been battered the past two decades by embarrassing scandals involving agents and managers, but the greater problem is that it is no longer keeping the president safe. It’s clear she means to save the agency from many forces, including itself. But she is “in awe of the agents and officers” who do what they do each day. The Washington Post reporter interviewed more than 180 people including current and former agents, directors and other officials, and worked under some pressure: Secret Service leaders and alumni had vowed to attack her work, she says, on the grounds she meant only to embarrass the institution. It is just terrific, to use a phrase from the 1960s, when the service became universally admired. Here is journalism as a true and honest public service: Carol Leonnig’s new book, “Zero Fail,” about the rise and fall of the Secret Service. Images: Getty Images Composite: Mark Kelly Main Street: Federal Judge Amy Berman Jackson's ludicrous tirade targets former Attorney General William Barr and highlights the great liberal frustration that the special counsel couldn’t bring down President Trump.
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