Pinkerton Government Services

In the 1850s, Allan Pinkerton, a Scottish immigrant, met Chicago attorney Edward Rucker in a local Masonic Hall. The two men formed the North-Western Police Agency, later known as the Pinkerton Agency. Pinkerton used his skills in espionage to attract clients and begin expanding the agency. Historian Frank Morn writes: "By the mid-1850s, a few businessmen saw the need for greater control over their employees; their solution was to sponsor a private detective system. In February 1855, Allan Pinkerton, after consulting with six midwestern railroads, created such an agency in Chicago." The Pinkerton Agency began to hire women and minorities shortly after its founding because they were useful as spies, a practice uncommon at the time.

Forerunners to the Secret Service

Among the business's early operations was to safely deliver the newly elected President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, from Springfield to Washington, D.C., in light of an assassination threat. Pinkerton detective Kate Warne was assigned and successfully delivered Lincoln to the U.S. capital city through a series of disguises and related tactics that required her to stay awake throughout the entire long journey. As a result of the notability of this success, the business adopted an open eye as its logo and the slogan "We never sleep". Allan Pinkerton around this time also served in the "Secret Service" intelligence division of what was then known as the U.S. War Department.

These actions preceded and laid the groundwork for the establishment of the United States Secret Service, which is tasked with serving current and former U.S. Presidents' security to this day. The official Secret Service was founded on July 5, 1865, less than three months after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. However, the Secret Service initially began as an investigative arm of the Department of the Treasury, with their original responsibility focusing on counterfeit money. The Secret Service began providing security for US presidents part-time 1894, following the discovery of an assassination attempt against Grover Cleveland while investigating smuggling operations. It wasn't until 1901, following the assassination of William McKinley, 36 years after the assassination of Lincoln, that the Secret Service began providing security for presidents full time.

Video games

In the game Red Dead Redemption 2, the Pinkerton Detective Agency plays a pivotal role as an antagonistic faction. Bankrolled by the wealthy yet corrupt industrialist Leviticus Cornwall, they begin hunting down the Van der Linde gang after they rob one of Cornwall’s trains. Two of its members are central antagonists, Andrew Milton and Edgar Ross—the main antagonist of Red Dead Redemption. This portrayal was the subject of a lawsuit from the agency through its parent company Securitas AB against the developers, which was dismissed under artistic liberties.

In Bioshock Infinite, protagonist Booker DeWitt is a former Pinkerton Agent. In-game documents show his employment issued on January 22, 1892.