Every day, the Secret Service heroically thwarts countless threats directed toward the president, yet their selfless acts often go unnoticed and unheralded. But these men and women deserve our respect, and amongst them is Mark Hudson, the Secret Service agent responsible for specifically protecting President Obama’s legs.
This is what a true hero looks like.
Whether morning, noon, or night, Special Agent Hudson is prepared to spring into action if any threat may suddenly arise against Mr. Obama’s shins, knees, or thighs. From checking floor vents for snipers to setting up waist-high panes of bulletproof glass to protect half of the president during speeches, Mark’s job is to keep the commander in chief’s lower three feet safe, and that’s a responsibility he does not take lightly.
“If the president’s legs are in danger, it’s my duty to protect them,” said Mark, as he crawled around on all fours on the tarmac outside of Air Force One to make sure that no low-altitude threats were present. “It’s my job to guard Mr. Obama from roughly the hipbone down, and I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve my president every day I crouch-walk next to POTUS looking for anything threatening his safety, from calf to quad.”
At the slightest hint of danger, Mark will drop to the ground and wrap his arms around the president’s legs, ready to take a low-flying bullet if needed. And the fact that Obama’s legs have gone unharmed seven and a half years into his presidency is a testament to just how good of a job Agent Hudson is doing.
From a young age, Mark knew he wanted to enter this patriotic line of work—his childhood hero was the secret service agent assigned to JFK’s legs. During that fateful day in Dallas when the president was killed, JFK’s legs went completely unscathed. And that’s the standard of excellence Mark holds himself to every day.
There’s no denying that President Obama is lucky to be protected by someone as focused and dedicated to the safety of his legs as Mark is. We salute you, Mark, for your heroic service to this nation.
