As the Secret Service continues to face intense scrutiny and criticism following the near-assassin’s bullet death of former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, the agency has reportedly given his running mate, Sen. J.D. Vance, a new code name.
The Ohio Republican senator is President Trump’s running mate as the 45th president hopes to reclaim the White House.
Vance’s Secret Service code name is “Bobcat.” Daily MailQuoting Vance’s friend:
Fox News Digital has reached out to the Trump-Vance campaign and the Secret Service for comment.
Secret Service code names are given to the President, Vice President, First Lady and other notable people under the agency’s protection.
They once operated in secret to protect the nation’s top leaders.
But in today’s age of encryption technology, names are largely ceremonial, used to facilitate communication in urgent, high-pressure situations.
Code names are chosen “purely on whim,” a Secret Service spokesman once told The Washington Post.
But they seem to have some connection to an individual’s personal history or heritage.
Also note the alliteration of code names within the family, which is said to be a tradition.
Here are some known Secret Service code names as reported by Britannica and other sources.
Bobcat
Vice Presidential candidate Vance.
“Bobcats” is the nickname for both Ohio University and Breathitt County High School in Jackson, Kentucky, the hometown of Vance’s family that was featured in his best-selling 2016 memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy.”
Capri
First Lady Jill Biden married a Celtic.
Celts
President Joe Biden.
He was vice president of Renegades when he first got his code name, a nod to his Irish roots.
Dancer
First Lady Rosalynn Carter was married to Deacon, whose other code name was Lotus Petal.
deacon
President Jimmy Carter.
This “reflects his deep religious faith,” Britannica noted.
eagle
President Bill Clinton.
Because “Eagle Scout” is the highest rank in the Boy Scouts organization, “some have speculated that the code name may have had something to do with his affiliation to the Boy Scouts,” Britannica said.
evergreen
First Lady Hillary Clinton married an Eagle.
Hoosier
Vice President Mike Pence.
He is from Indiana (the Hoosier state).
Hummingbird
His second wife, Karen Pence, married a Hoosier.
race
First Lady, Jackie Kennedy.
Apparently, this is a tribute to her elegant style and the alliterative use of her husband’s code name.
Lancer
President John F. Kennedy.
According to Britannica, “The code name was appropriate, as his regime was often compared to Camelot…Lancelot was a legendary knight.”
lyrics
Caroline Kennedy.
Prophetic Nickname: President Kennedy’s daughter was the inspiration for Neil Diamond’s hit song “Sweet Caroline,” written in 1969, six years after her father’s assassination.
Muse
Mrs. Melania Trump, Married to a Mogul.
Perhaps it’s a tribute to the former model’s inspiring beauty.
Mogul
President Donald Trump.
He requested the code name “Humble,” according to Britannica, adding that “the Secret Service chose something a little less humble.”
Passkey
Nixon was succeeded by President Gerald Ford.
pioneer
Vice President Kamala Harris, She reportedly chose the name in August 2020, shortly after being nominated for vice presidential seat, just like Vance.
rainbow
First Lady Nancy Reagan marries Rawhide.
Rawhide
President Ronald Reagan.
Reagan appeared in a number of Westerns and often wore a cowboy hat while campaigning for governor of California.
Renaissance
First Lady Michelle Obama married a renegade.
traitor
President Barack Obama.
“He chose the nickname after being presented with a list of names beginning with ‘R,'” Time magazine reported in 2021.
Searchlight
President Richard Nixon.
Time magazine and other sources reported that his Secret Service nickname was “highly ironic” given the Watergate scandal that led to the downfall of President Nixon.
Sunburn
Senator Ted Kennedy.
According to Time magazine, “The light-skinned, Irish-Catholic New Englander had to suffer through the code name when he ran for president in 1980.”
tempo
First Lady Laura Bush married a trailblazer (see two names below).
Timberwolf
President George H.W. Bush.
Perhaps the nickname Top Dog is a tribute to his role as patriarch of a political dynasty.
Pioneer
President George W. Bush.
Britannica magazine pointed out that this was a code name for “compliment.”
Tranquility
First Lady Barbara Bush and the mother of another president.
“Snowbank” was apparently an alias code name for her.
tumbler
It was also used when George W. Bush’s father, Timberwolf, was president.
