Trailblazer: The Story of the First Black Female Secret Service Agent to Protect the President and Her Fight for Justice

by Cheryl Tyler

240 pages, Hardcover

Published September 16, 2024

Reviews

[CatReader · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cheryl Tyler achieved her childhood dream of being a United States secret service agent, but unfortunately the reality of the job forced her to confront a double whammy of workplace discrimination as a Black woman. After over a decade of service, which included being the first Black woman appointed to the protect the president (Tyler served in this role for the Bush I and Clinton administrations), Tyler joined a lawsuit with other Black secret service agents suing the Department of Homeland Security for discriminatory promotion practices. This suit was filed in 2000 and took a whopping 17 years for the courts to decide in favor of the plaintiffs (Moore v. Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security).

In her memoir Trailblazer, Tyler recounts her childhood, her circuitous career journey to the Secret Service, and her tenure at the job, which included intensive physical and mental training and years of grueling field office assignments in Atlanta and New York City before receiving her historic appointment on the presidential detail. At the end, she briefly talks about her work after resigning from the Secret Service in other branches of US government and her successful venture running her own security firm. This is an interesting read, though repetitive at times, and as a reader I definitely noticed Tyler's increasing cynicism and frustration as she dealt with discrimination, hazing, and repeated denials for promotions (she mentions many times she was rejected from promotions over 100 times at the Secret Service).

Further reading: career memoirs and biographies of Black women
Twice as Hard: The Stories of Black Women Who Fought to Become Physicians, from the Civil War to the Twenty-First Century by Jasmine Brown
The Beauty in Breaking by Michele Harper
The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Years of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby

Further reading: law enforcement memoirs
American Radical: Inside the World of an Undercover Muslim FBI Agent by Tamer El Noury
Whoever Fights Monsters: My Twenty Years Tracking Serial Killers for the FBI by Robert Ressler
The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists by Tracy Walder
Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA by Amaryllis Fox
Unlimited Access : An FBI Agent Inside the Clinton White House by Gary Aldrich

My statistics:
Book 4 for 2025
Book 1930 cumulatively

[Chris Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An incredible book showcasing the grit, hard-work, and honesty of a dedicated special agent in the United States Secret Service! With few opportunities due to her background, she forged ahead a legacy of sticking up for what’s right and fighting for justice! She documents her amazing story during her time in USSS and how the fight to make it better lasted almost 20 years!

[Candy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to say…WOW! Cheryl Tyler’s story kept me turning pages as I followed her life and career. What remarkable things she has experienced, always with her head held high. She discreetly told of instances of systemic racism without naming names. After a successful career, she fought back and won on her own terms. Her years with the Secret Service prepared her for the successful career she created after she left. It wasn’t until the epilogue that Ms. Tyler hit the racism and domestic terrorism and white privilege that, as she put it, was unveiled during the last administration by a hateful, narcissistic person given power. She is appreciative of the subsequent recognition of the need for acceptance that the current administration is trying to foster. All this, still without naming names (but in this epilogue she really doesn’t have to). A very worthwhile book that will make you think and give you plenty to discuss with friends or in book clubs.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cheryl Tyler is a person I am proud to call a friend and colleague.

Her accomplishments in the federal law enforcement workforce are remarkable, especially given the depths of institutional racism she had to overcome.

Told with her signature candor and sense of humor, Cheryl’s story is one that leaves you feeling determined and inspired.

[Killer Bee · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.62 overall rating