Vance\u2019s code name for the Secret Service is \u201cBobcat,\u201d the Daily Mail reported, quoting one of Vance\u2019s friends.<\/p>\n
Presidents, vice presidents, first ladies, and other prominent people under the protection of the Secret Service are assigned code names.<\/p>\n
Both Ohio University and Breathitt County High School, located in Jackson, Kentucky\u2014the family hometown that Vance wrote about in his best-selling memoir \u201cHilbilly Elegy\u201d (2016)\u2014are referred to as \u201cBobcats.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey once had a real cloak-and-dagger purpose to help protect the nation\u2019s top leaders.\u00a0But these days, in the era of encrypted technology, the names are largely ceremonial and used for ease of communication in fast, high-pressure situations,\u201d Fox News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cCode names are selected by \u2018sheer whim,\u2019 a Secret Service spokesperson once told The Washington Post.\u00a0But they do appear to have some connection to the individual\u2019s personal history or heritage. And note the alliteration of code names within families, said to be tradition,\u201d the outlet added.<\/p>\n