U. E. Baughman
U. E. Baughman | |
|---|---|
Baughman in 1961 | |
| 13th Chief of the United States Secret Service | |
| In office November 29, 1948 – August 31, 1961 | |
| President | Harry S. Truman Dwight D. Eisenhower John F. Kennedy |
| Preceded by | James J. Maloney |
| Succeeded by | James Joseph Rowley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Urbanus Edmund Baughman May 21, 1905 Camden, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | November 6, 1978 (aged 73) Toms River, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Resting place | Arlington Cemetery Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania |
| Spouse |
Ruth Baughman (m. 1936) |
| Parent(s) | Urbanus Edmund Baughman Sr. (1870–1936) Alberta Faunce Baughman (1873–1955) |
Urbanus Edmund Baughman (May 21, 1905 – November 6, 1978) was the chief of the United States Secret Service between 1948 and 1961, under Presidents Truman, Eisenhower, and Kennedy.
Baughman was the first Secret Service Chief to pen a memoir concerning the office he held. Entitled Secret Service Chief, it was a veritable tell-all on the intricacies and inner workings of the Secret Service and its evolution from a counterfeit detection department to the presidential protection unit.
Baughman was appointed to head the Secret Service by President Harry S. Truman shortly after the 1948 election. According to the book American Gunfight, by Stephen Hunter and John Bainbridge Jr., Truman dismissed Baughman's predecessor James J. Maloney in part because he had dispatched most of Truman's Secret Service detail to New York to prepare to guard New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey. Dewey was widely expected to be elected president but was beaten by Truman in one of the greatest upsets in presidential election history.