First Family Secret Service Code Names Revealed

All eyes are always on the First Family.

So, needless to say, security is of the utmost importance, and it is up to the US Secret Service to ensure that the President, First Lady and their children get from here to there and back again without incident.

For nearly 80 years, US presidents and their families have been given nicknames by the agency, nicknames that theoretically reflect their personalities. While the Secret Service first began using codes in 1945 for security reasons when electronic communications could not be encrypted, they are still used today for clarity.

“Over time, the protectors almost assumed the persona of the call sign they had selected,” former Secret Service special agent Jonathan Wackrow told CNN in 2020. “With former chairman Barack Obama‘Renegade’ is a great example: how he went against the establishment in some of the things he did, and like Barbara Bushwhose call sign was ‘Rêstens’, symbolized calm and peace in a time of war.

This year, the office theoretically does not have to come up with new names, president-elect Donald Trump already has a nickname from his first administration before his swearing in on January 20 as the 47th President of the United States– four years after he lost his bid for re-election in 2020 to now outgoing president Joe Biden.