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Lincoln created the Secret Service on day he was shot – True

Question asked:

“Abraham Lincoln created the Secret Service on the day he was shot.”
True
Confidence: High Checked on November 8, 2026

Summary

Abraham Lincoln signed legislation establishing the United States Secret Service on April 14, 1865, the same day he was assassinated at Ford’s Theatre. This timing is confirmed by multiple reputable sources.

Sources 58 searched

clintonwhitehouse3.archives.gov
  • The United States Secret Service - The White House

    As President, Bill Clinton deals with many major issues that affect all of us -- crime, drugs, and the environment, just to name a few. However, when our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln (1861-1865), was in office, times were very different. President Lincoln is well known for his leadership ...

whitehouse.gov
clintonwhitehouse4.archives.gov
  • The U.S Secret Service in History

    On the advice of Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch, President Lincoln established a commission to stop this rapidly growing problem that was destroying the nation's economy, and on April 14, 1865, he created the United States Secret Service to carry out the commission's recommendations.

secretservice.gov
  • Timeline of Our History

    Secret Service responsibilities broadened to include "detecting persons perpetrating frauds against the government." This appropriation resulted in investigations into the Ku Klux Klan, nonconforming distillers, smugglers, mail robbers, land frauds and a number of other infractions against federal laws.

  • U.S. Secret Service celebrates 156th Anniversary | United States Secret Service

    The Secret Service has grown from a small bureau staffed by a few operatives commissioned by the Treasury Department in 1865. President Abraham Lincoln established the Secret Service to suppress widespread counterfeiting, as it was then estimated nearly one-third of all circulating currency ...

cnn.com
snopes.com
historyfacts.com

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