A Twist of Fate for Mike Reilly, FDR's Head of Secret Service

The Simple Twist of Fate that May Have Saved FDR’s Life

History is full of human stories, and little twists of fate that seem inconsequential in the moment, but turn out to have a heavy historical impact.

For example, Mike Reilly only transferred from the Treasury Department to the Secret Service because he thought it would be better for his new marriage.

In 1935, he was transferred. In 1939, he saved Franklin Roosevelt’s life in Tehran (along with Churchill and Stalin) and, in doing so, altered the course of World War 2 and American history. He turned out to be one of the most famous Secret Service guards of all time—and on top of that, his marriage also thrived for more than fifty years.

Here’s an excerpt from Night of the Assassins about the twist of fate that started Mike Reilly on his journey to becoming FDR’s head of Secret Service:

Then marriage put a sudden damper on his roving, blood hound’s career. He had met a pretty red-haired secretary, Roby, who worked in the office of Senator Samuel Shortridge of California. Suddenly, all he could think about was commitment. After a whirl-wind courtship, they married in 1935 and Mike realized he’d need a new job, one where an investigator could stay in one place long enough to raise a family.

Mike decided a transfer to the Secret Service (also part of the Treasury Department) would do the trick. “I would be assigned to a district somewhere in the United States, and the extent of my travel would be an occasional few days, not more than an overnight from home,” according to the sensible future he’d plotted. It all went as he’d planned, at first. In June, 1935, his transfer to the Secret Service went through and he was quickly sent to his home state of Montana.

He figured Roby and he would put down stakes close to his relatives and life would play itself out with any dramas. Which was just what happened – and it left him bored silly. After all the heady cases tracking down genuine big-time villains, he found it dispiriting to be in shoved off to the hinterlands. His investigative challenges were few and far between, mostly low-grade tax avoidance cases. Worse, he knew many of the culprit from high school or college. In their former lives they had drunk a lot of beers, chased a lot of girls, played for the same teams.

If Mike had his way, he’d simply give any of his old buddies, he’d suggested, “a clout in the mouth and let him go.” That punishment would fit the crime. But having to put the cuffs on a man with whom he’d paled around, that didn’t sit right with Mike. He didn’t want to be the one who upended a friend’s life.

At the same time, he’d be violating his own sense of honor if he didn’t do the job the Treasury Department was paying him to do. Rather than having to go on making uncomfortable choices, Mike put in for a transfer.

Before the year was out he was assigned to Secret Service District 16. That was the White House detail.

His job – to protect the president.

Night of the Assassins is a suspenseful true-life tale about an impossible mission, a ticking clock, and one man who stepped up to the challenge and prevented a world catastrophe.