At the height of its power from the s to the s, it was the largest private law enforcement organization in the world. Pinkerton became famous when he claimed to have foiled the Baltimore Plot to assassinate President-elect Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln later hired Pinkerton agents to conduct espionage against the Confederacy and act as his personal security during the American Civil War.
Following the Civil War, the Pinkertons began conducting operations against organized labor. During the 20th century, Pinkerton rebranded itself as a personal security and risk management firm. Historian Frank Morn writes: "By the mids, a few businessmen saw the need for greater control over their employees; their solution was to sponsor a private detective system. In February , Allan Pinkerton, after consulting with six midwestern railroads, created such an agency in Chicago.
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.
Pinkerton detective Kate Warne was assigned and successfully delivered Lincoln to the U. As a result of the public notoriety of this success, the business adopted an open eye as its logo and the slogan "We never sleep". 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. Presidents' security to this day. The official Secret Service was founded on July 5, , [ 19 ] less than three months after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
However, as news leaked about the Pinkertons' involvement in strikebreaking, lawmakers began pushing against government contracts with the Pinkertons. The most notable example of this was the involvement of the Pinkertons in the Great Railroad Strike of However, it was the confrontation in Homestead, Pennsylvania , in that led to a national outcry against the Pinkerton Detective Agency.
