As a senior executive service member and special agent in charge of the Secret Service’s Rome, Italy, field office, Rinehart is responsible for managing operations in more than 60 countries.
He said that when pressure mounts composure is key because “losing your cool can set back foreign relationships.”
A big part of his role is developing and maintaining international partnerships with foreign officials, deployed Secret Service personnel and the families of those team members.
“I know it’s not about me. I believe God has placed me in this position to serve others, not myself or my career,” Rinehart said, explaining he strives to model servant leadership.
Rinehart graduated from Delaware Christian High School in Delaware, Ohio, and earned a degree in marketing from Cedarville University in 1993.
“My Cedarville education taught me to pay attention to the details,” he said. “That’s laid the foundation for the work that I do.”
After college, he was preparing for a career in corporate America when business opportunities fell through and he started working as a professional firefighter and paramedic for the Worthington Fire Department.
“I didn’t know it at the time, but my time as an emergency responder was preparing me for the idea of federal public service,” he said.
While working as an on-call paramedic in Worthington during former President Bill Clinton’s visit to Columbus, he got his first glimpse into the Secret Service on duty. He talked with some of the agents and “felt like the job could be for me.”
Although Rinehart was initially rejected for the role because of his lack of law enforcement experience, he was eventually hired by the Secret Service in 1998. He began working in criminal investigation and has held many roles since then, including serving in the Presidential Protective Division for President George W. Bush.
“Working as a special agent for President Bush at the White House meant getting to see history written right in front of me,” he said.
“What surprised me most about the role was the president’s personal consideration for those who served him ... Around the holidays, he always delayed his travel so all the agents could be home with their families on Christmas Day. In a career so defined by duty and sacrifice, that gesture has stood out to me for years.”
Rinehart said he hopes more students consider the growing global need for public service professionals, including pursing roles in the Secret Service.
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