Kimberly Cheatle has stepped down from her role as Secret Service Director following a Congressional hearing where she was grilled by lawmakers on both sides of the bipartisan spectrum for the security failures that took place during Donald Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
During the hearing, Cheatle took “full responsibility” for any security missteps and oversights that occurred before the gunman opened fire and killed one attendee and injured three others including the former President.
On Tuesday morning, June 23, Cheatle chose to resign. Some misleading claims have surfaced during the unfolding of this debacle, including that Cheatle worked for Pepsi before ascending to the role of Secret Service Director. While there is some truth to this statement, it is not a position that defines Cheatle’s career as a whole.
A long and diverse career
Kimberly Cheatle has indeed worked for three years in the private sector as Senior Director in Global security before being appointed by President Joe Biden as Secret Services director in September 2022. However, before that, she had a career in the Secret Service that spanned nearly three decades.
Cheatle applied to the Secret Services while still in college but would only join the agency after finishing her degree and having worked for a hotel chain’s security department for a couple of years. She started her Secret Services career in Detroit in 1995.
A few years later Cheatle moved to Washington D.C. and would take part in the evacuation of Vice President Dick Cheney from the White House on 9/11.
For a time, Cheatle was the Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Strategic Planning and Policy. In February 2016, she joined the Senior Executive Service (SES), first as Special Agent in charge of the Training Center, and later as the Deputy Assistant Director for the Office of Training.
She oversaw all protective visits to the state of Georgia as Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Field Office. Afterward, and before being hired by PepsiCo., Cheatle was Assistant Director of the Office of Protective Operations, a position now held by Michael Plati. Cheatle also played a pivotal role in Biden’s security detail while he served as Vice President, which was when she established a trusting relationship with Joe and Jill.
While working as Secret Service Director, Cheatle upheld an agenda that promoted the ideals of inclusion, diversity, and equity. Some have argued that her emphasis on these core values diverted her attention from more pressing matters.
After realizing seemingly overnight that she had become a “distraction” to her agency’s mission, Cheatle backtracked on her assertions that she would not be stepping down as Secret Service Director. President Biden should be selecting and announcing Cheatle’s replacement sometime soon.