Straying President, Tense Agent: a 1600 Nightmare

Opening the new Secret Service headquarters, President Clinton revealed some details Thursday about interactions the public seldom sees involving the security agency.

For instance, there was the time a tactical team member nearly shot him.

“I thought: This would be a heck of a note for the Secret Service. ‘Clinton killed by agent protecting the president,’ ” Clinton said.

The audience, which included several agents as well as Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers and National Security Advisor Samuel R. “Sandy” Berger, laughed heartily at the anecdote. But the event apparently was serious.

Early in his presidency, Clinton recalled, alarms sounded at the White House to warn that an intruder might have entered the executive compound. Secret Service agents went into action, but the new president was unfamiliar with their procedures.

Unknown to Clinton, who was on the third floor and heading to the second-floor residence, the elevator was stopped and the heavily armed Counter Assault Team took position on the staircase.

“So they’re all looking for somebody that’s invading the White House. I come tromping down the staircase to the third floor, this guy comes rushing up on the second floor, I look up and there he is with his weapon pointed at me,” Clinton said, chuckling. “That poor . . . I think he still has nightmares about that.”

Clinton alluded to rumors of his occasionally rocky relationship with agents over his desire to mingle with crowds.

“They’ve had to put up with me on so many different occasions, under such stress. You know, you wake up in the morning and you’re worried about something else, and you take it out by being a little short,” Clinton said. “You’re impatient because you’re tired and you’ve got a headache. They have to put up with all of it.”