Joseph Clancy, a Secret Service retiree, will serve as interim director of the Secret Service after Julia Pierson's resignation.
"He is somebody who has earned the respect and admiration of the men and women who are his colleagues at the United States Secret Service," White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said, according to The New York Times. "He is also somebody who has the full confidence of the president and the first lady."
Clancy served under Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and was head of security in 2009 when infamous party crashers Michaele and Tareq Salahi made headlines.
It was initially reported that Clancy graduated from West Point, but Earnest later corrected the wrong information. Clancy dropped out of West Point due to poor math grades and transferred to Villanova University, where he graduated in the late 1970s. The New York Times attributed background information to Patrick Clancy, Joseph Clancy's father.
Mickey Nelson, who had served with Clancy for 25 years, was quoted in the New York Times article as saying, "He was deciding to go into the Secret Service or be a priest." Nelson told the New York Times that Clancy kept a low profile and had the nickname "Father Joe" due to his efficiency and practicality.
