Washington ( CNN ) -- In the Secret Service , there is pre-Kennedy and post-Kennedy . The shots fired by Lee Harvey Oswald that killed President John F. Kennedy on November 22 , 1963 , set in motion a series of reforms to the Secret Service , the agency in charge of protecting America 's most powerful leaders . In the 50 years since the assassination of America 's 35th president , the Secret Service force has increased nearly tenfold and its budget grown by roughly 58 % a year . The organization that exists today has 3,400 agents and budget of $ 1.6 billion , a significant increase from the 350 agents and budget of $ 5.5 million in 1963 , according to Secret Service spokesman Special Agent Brian Leary . `` As the threats change , the Secret Service has changed , '' Leary said . The Warren Commission , established after the Kennedy assassination , created the `` intelligence division '' designed to expand and improve relations with other agencies , including state and local law enforcement and mental health institutions , and the `` technical security division '' that assesses the security of an environment , including air quality and fire safety . In the 1970s the organization expanded to include a counter-sniper unit and counter-assault teams . 50 years on , nation pauses to remember Kennedy 's death . The uncovered limousine that Kennedy rode through Dallas a half-century ago is hard to imagine in today . According to former agent Jerry Blaine , who co-wrote `` The Kennedy Detail '' and was with the former president when he was shot , Kennedy chafed at the close proximity of his protective detail and was quoted saying `` Have the Ivy League charlatans drop back to the follow-up car ... we 've got an election coming up . The whole point is for me to be accessible to the people . '' Today , President Barack Obama is transported in a limousine known as `` The Beast , '' which could be described as an armored safe on wheels . Its doors alone weigh as much as those on a Boeing 757 , according to a Discovery Channel special on the Secret Service . Obama has called the car `` a fortified limousine '' and while in Tanzania earlier this year contrasted the current state of presidential travel with that of Robert F. Kennedy , who visited the country while he was a U.S. senator in 1966 . JFK assassination a collective memory for American children . `` It was a little different back then . Kennedy and his wife , Ethel , rode in the back of an open truck , '' Obama said at the state house in Dar es Salaam , Tanzania in July . `` The Secret Service has me and Michelle inside a fortified limousine . We call it 'The Beast . ' As Kennedy 's truck made its way through the crowds , he picked up two boys and let them ride alongside them . The Secret Service does n't let me do these things . '' Leary also pointed to other present-day protocols , including covered arrivals and departures , extensive use of magnetometers and separation from the media , many of which were instituted after the March 1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan and designed to increase the safety of America 's presidents . For agents who receive months of extensive training , historic events like those targeted attacks on Kennedy and Reagan serve as moments from which to learn . Leary said agents `` learn from all incidents '' to improve upon protective operations , which extend beyond the commander in chief . 5 things you might not know about JFK 's assassination . Former presidents , their spouses and children were added to the protected list in 1965 , major candidates and their spouses in 1968 , foreign heads of state in 1971 and the coordination of special events like inaugurations in 1998 . The extensive vetting process of presidential site visits , known as `` advance , '' has also grown . Leary described the advance protocols as `` comprehensive '' and said they include close cooperation with state and local officials surrounding everything from the president 's arrival at the airport to the motorcade route . It 's a process , about which the president references , most recently , at least publicly , at a June fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee in Miami Beach . `` Opening up your house is a big deal on any occasion . When you 've got Secret Service and everybody else running around , moving furniture , potentially bumping into that painting that 's probably worth a lot of money ... that makes you more stressed , '' Obama told Democratic donors . `` So can you all please move away from the painting ? Just wanted to make that point . '' And just as often , a more serious tone from the president about his protection is expressed . `` As president , I get to meet and work with a lot of extraordinary law enforcement officers every single day , from men and women who protect me and my family -- the folks in the Secret Service -- to local police who help out on motorcades in events around the country , '' Obama said at a Top Cops ceremony at the White House in May . `` I 'm incredibly grateful that all these law enforcement officers are doing such outstanding work . 50 years later , Jackie Kennedy 's pink suit locked away from view .
The assassination of JFK set in motion a series of reforms to the Secret Service . Secret Service today has 400 agents compared to 300 when he was assassinated . The agency 's budget has increased from $ 5.5 billion in 1950 to $ 10 billion over 50 years . Spokesman : ` ` As the threats change , the Secret Service has changed ''