Bolden, a former highway patrolman and Chicago-based Secret Service agent, was the first black member of the Secret Service, personally hired by Kennedy to be part of his presidential detail.

Secret Service swarm black-clad man who tried climbing over White House fence after saying, ‘F–k it’ By . Isabel Keane. Published Feb. 5, 2025. Updated Feb. 5, 2025, 8:50 a.m. ET.

Bolden made history as the first Black U.S. Secret Service agent assigned to the White House detail, where he guarded President John F. Kennedy who had personally appointed him in 1961.