Zandra Flemister

Zandra Iona Flemister (November 21, 1951 – February 21, 2023) was an American diplomat and United States Secret Service agent. She joined the Secret Service in 1974, becoming the first African American woman to serve as an agent.[1]

Zandra Flemister
Flemister in 2001
Born
Zandra Iona Flemister

(1951-11-21)November 21, 1951
Frankfurt, Hesse, West Germany
DiedFebruary 21, 2023(2023-02-21) (aged 71)
EducationNational Defense University
Northeastern University
Employer(s)United States Foreign Service
United States Secret Service
Known forFirst African American woman to serve as a U.S. Secret Service agent

Life and career

Flemister was born November 21, 1951, in Frankfurt, Germany, to American parents (her father was in the U.S. Army). Raised in central Connecticut, she graduated from Glastonbury High School in 1969.[2] She earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Northeastern University in 1973.[1]

Joining the Secret Service in August 1974, Flemister protected the daughters of two U.S. presidents: Susan Ford and Amy Carter. She experienced intense racial discrimination from fellow agents and supervisors and resigned from the agency in June 1978 to join the United States Foreign Service. During her thirty-plus years of employment with the Foreign Service, Flemister rose to the post of Consul General in Pakistan and represented the State Department in liaison with the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Terrorist Screening Center in Washington, D.C. In 2003, she earned a master's degree in national security logistics from the National Defense University. In 2006, she achieved promotion to the Senior Foreign Service.[1][3]

In 2000, Flemister gave sworn testimony in support of a class action lawsuit alleging that the Secret Service was rife with racial discrimination. She reported that white agents routinely engaged in overt racism, even using the n-word to refer to the presidents of Grenada and Senegal.[4] More than one hundred former agents joined the suit. In 2017, the Secret Service paid $24 million to settle the lawsuit.[1][5]

Flemister retired in 2011 with early onset Alzheimer's disease.[6] She died on February 21, 2023, at the age of 71.[1]

References
  1. Langer, Emily (2023-02-24). "Zandra Flemister, first Black woman in Secret Service, dies at 71". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Archived from the original on 2023-02-25. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  2. "Glastonbury: 272 Graduate High School". Hartford Courant. 1969-06-20. p. 6. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  3. Asma-Sadeque, Samira (2023-02-26). "Zandra Flemister, first Black woman in Secret Service, dies aged 71". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 2023-02-27. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  4. C. R. (2002-06-17). "Many black agents are seeing red". U.S. News and World Report. p. 30. Retrieved 2023-02-27.
  5. Miller, Bill (2001-05-24). "Secret Service Agents Charge Bias". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
  6. Collinge, John (2016). "A Foreign Service Officer's Alzheimer's Journey". American Foreign Service Association. Retrieved 2023-02-26.
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