The Secret Service code names used by 12 presidents and first ladies, and the stories behind them
· Business Insider
SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images
- First families get their Secret Service code names at the very beginning of a presidential campaign.
- Presidents get to choose from a list provided by the White House Communications Agency.
- The code names are for security purposes, but they often get leaked or are overheard at events.
Secret Service code names are among the worst-kept secrets in Washington.
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Though they're intended for internal use, the monikers agents use to communicate about the first family's security quickly become public through government filings, leaks to news outlets, or when agents are overheard at public events.
Since new technology has enabled security agents to monitor officials in various ways, the names aren't as top-secret anymore.
The White House Communications Agency assigns each member of the first family a code name for Secret Service agents to use during their time in the White House. These names come from a list of agency-approved choices that either the president chooses from or agents pick.
Other members of the family are then assigned names that share the same first letter. Sometimes, it's the same letter as the family's last name, but not always.
Here are the Secret Service code names used by the past 12 presidents and first ladies.
President John F. Kennedy: LancerAPRIL 1961: President John F. Kennedy sitting in his White House office.Paul Schutzer/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Kennedy's code name harkens back to Lancelot, one of King Arthur's heroic Knights of the Round Table. After his death, Jacqueline Kennedy popularized the moniker "Camelot" in reference to his presidency.
First lady Jacqueline Kennedy: LaceFirst Lady Jacqueline Kennedy showing off James Monroe era candelabrum in White House.Ed Clark/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Jacqueline Kennedy's code name was fitting for her image as one of the most elegant residents of the White House. The fashionable first lady wore lace for her high-profile wedding and during events, such as a widely covered state visit to France.
President Lyndon B. Johnson: VolunteerPresident Lyndon B. Johnson.Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Johnson kept the same Secret Service code name that he used as Kennedy's vice president.
First lady Lady Bird Johnson: VictoriaLady Bird Johnson.Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
Lady Bird Johnson was a woman of many names. Her birth name was Claudia Alta Taylor, but a nursemaid nicknamed her Lady Bird, according to the White House Historical Association. To the Secret Service, she was known as Victoria.
President Richard Nixon: SearchlightPresident Richard M. Nixon, is shown at his desk in the White House in this Feb. 16, 1969, file photo.AP
Nixon's given code name adds an ironic tinge to his legacy in the context of the night raid that set off the Watergate scandal and led to his resignation.
First lady Pat Nixon: StarlightVogue, October 15, 1972 - Portrait of Pat Nixon (nee Thelma Catherine Patricia Ryan) First Lady of the United States and wife of President Richard Milhous Nixon, standing in the yellow Oval Room of the White House next to a yellow curtain held back by large tassels. She wears a white dress with long sleeves, a standing collar, and a tie belted waist.Horst P. Horst/Conde Nast via Getty Images
Pat Nixon chose the code name "Starlight," corresponding to her husband's choice of "Searchlight."
President Gerald Ford: PasskeyPresident Gerald Ford.Bettmann/Getty Images
Ford used the same Secret Service code name when he served as vice president under Nixon.
First lady Betty Ford: PinaforeBetty Ford.Bettmann Archive/Getty Images
A pinafore is a type of women's dress, but Betty Ford famously wore pants while dancing on top of the Cabinet Room table on her last day as first lady in 1977.
President Jimmy Carter: DeaconU.S. president Jimmy Carter smiling at a podium in front of an American flag, 1970s. (Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Jimmy Carter's open devotion to his Christian faith made "Deacon" a fitting code name. After his retirement from politics, Carter taught Sunday school at a church in his Georgia hometown for over 40 years.
First lady Rosalynn Carter: DancerUS First Lady Rosalynn Carter climbs the steps to her plane during a trip, Texas, September 1978.Diana Walker/Getty Images
Rosalynn Carter also used the code name "Lotus Petal."
President Ronald Reagan: RawhideIn this May 24, 1985 file photo, President Ronald Reagan works at his desk in the Oval Office of the White House as he prepares a speech on tax revision in Washington.Scott Stewart, file via AP
The former actor had appeared as a cowboy on-screen, but Reagan's passion for all things Western also shaped his image as president.
First lady Nancy Reagan: RainbowFirst lady Nancy Reagan.Dirck Halstead/Getty Images
The code name "Rainbow" was a nod to Nancy Reagan's affinity for wearing bright colors.
President George H.W. Bush: TimberwolfPresident George H.W. Bush.Diana Walker/Getty Images
Some of Bush's Secret Service agents served as pallbearers at his funeral in 2018, AP reported.
First lady Barbara Bush: TranquilityBarbara Bush, wife of American President George Bush, at the 1992 Republican National Convention.Arnold Sachs/Keystone/CNP/Getty Images
After her death, former Secret Service agent Jonathan Wackrow wrote for CNN that her code name "exemplified her demeanor and its calming, humanizing and gentle effect on those around her."
President Bill Clinton: EaglePres. Bill Clinton making phone call to former Pres. Jimmy Carter (re situation in Haiti) fr. WH Oval Office on September 18, 1994.Time Life Pictures/White House/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images
Though he never reached the rank of Eagle during his time as a Boy Scout, Clinton was given the patriotic code name.
First lady Hillary Clinton: EvergreenFirst Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton poised outside.Terry Ashe/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images
Hillary Clinton's code name while running for president as the Democratic nominee in 2016 was the same one she used as first lady.
President George W. Bush: TrailblazerPresident George W. BushDoug Mills/AP
Bush originally used the code name "Tumbler" when his father was president, and he was under Secret Service protection as the child of the commander in chief. It was changed to "Trailblazer" when he became president himself.
First lady Laura Bush: TempoFirst lady Laura Bush.Brooks Kraft/Corbis via Getty Images
The Bushes' twin daughters, Barbara and Jenna, went by the code names "Turquoise" and Twinkle."
President Barack Obama: RenegadePresident Barack Obama waves as he exits The White House before boarding Marine One on November 6, 2016 in Washington, DC.Zach Gibson/Getty Images
Though the name matched the bold optimism of Obama's campaign, the president reportedly just chose his favorite from an approved list of proposed words that started with the letter "r."
First lady Michelle Obama: RenaissanceUS First Lady Michelle Obama speaks during a campaign rally for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, on October 27, 2016. Michelle Obama, surprise star of the 2016 White House campaign, hit the trail Thursday with Democrat Hillary Clinton as the former and current first ladies fight to conquer battleground states before Election Day.JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images
The Obamas' daughters, Malia and Sasha, were known as "Radiance" and "Rosebud."
President Joe Biden: CelticSCRANTON, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 16: U.S. President Joe Biden smiles as he gives his remarks during a campaign event for re-election on April 16, 2024 in Scranton, Pennsylvania. President Biden, who grew up in Scranton, will be in Pennsylvania for three straight days of election campaigning.Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/Getty Images
Biden's Secret Service code name served as a tribute to his Irish Catholic heritage. He also used the code name "Celtic" as vice president.
First lady Jill Biden: CapriFirst lady Jill Biden.Grant Baldwin/Getty Images
Jill Biden also kept her Secret Service code name from her time as second lady.
President Donald Trump: MogulPresident Donald Trump speaks with the media after stepping off Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House, Sunday, March 24, 2019,Alex Brandon/AP
Though he said in a 2015 candidate debate that he would choose the name "Humble" for himself, the one he was ultimately assigned was likely inspired by decades spent in a real-estate dynasty handed down from his father. Trump has used the same code name during both of his terms in the White House.
First lady Melania Trump: MuseFirst lady Melania Trump participates in calls to US service members, on Christmas Eve, from the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, December 24, 2025.ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
The first lady's code name likely refers to her career in front of the camera as a model in New York City before she met her husband.
The name of Melania Trump's production company, Muse Films, is a nod to her Secret Service code name. Muse Films released the documentary "MELANIA," chronicling the lead-up to Trump's 2025 inauguration, in January.
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