President Trump has picked Sean Curran, who led Mr. Trump’s personal security detail during the campaign and rushed to shield him during an assassination attempt, to be the next Secret Service director.
“Sean is a Great Patriot, who has protected my family over the past few years, and that is why I trust him to lead the Brave Men and Women of the United States Secret Service,” Mr. Trump wrote Wednesday on his social media platform, invoking the attempt on his life at a rally in July. “He proved his fearless courage when he risked his own life to help save mine from an assassin’s bullet in Butler, Pennsylvania.”
Mr. Curran is from the New York City area and started his career as a special agent in the agency’s Newark field office. He later worked in the dignitary-protection division and on President Barack Obama’s detail, said Jonathan Wackrow, a former agent who worked for years with Mr. Curran.
Mr. Curran is an unusual pick for Secret Service director, a position that does not require Senate confirmation. As a current agent who does not work at the agency’s headquarters in Washington, he is leapfrogging many positions to become director.
Although he lacks the managerial experience that past directors had when they rose to the post, Mr. Curran has a strong reputation as an agent, according to those who have worked with him.
“While this is not traditional, there is nothing about this incoming administration that is traditional,” said Mr. Wackrow, describing Mr. Curran as a trusted, detail-oriented agent with an intimate understanding of the agency and a sharp sense of humor. “He is very well-liked. He’s affable.”