Paul Ryan 'Bowhunter' Code Name Given to Secret Service; Wife Called 'Buttercup'
Paul Ryan's not-so-secret code name for the Secret Service has been revealed, according to one report.
Paul Ryan, as a newly elected vice presidential candidate, was assigned Secret Service agents last month. But instead of "chicken flew the coop," Ryan has hand selected his own code name, according to a campaign official.
The known huntsman and archer has asked for his Secret Service code name to be "Bowman" a campaign official told GQ magazine. Alternatively, his wife's code name has been revealed as "Buttercup." In the past, Ryan has posed for numerous photos with dead animals which he has killed with either a gun or bow and arrow, so the code name may be fitting, albeit a bit unfriendly for vegetarians and vegans alike.
Get Our Latest News for FREE
Ryan is apparently a big fan of hunting, and will also appear on the next front cover of "Deer and Deer Hunting" magazine.
"Studying the strategy, preparing food plots, the strategy of where a dominant buck is living or will be moving and then being in position to get a shot, that's really exciting," Ryan told the publication.
Code names with the Secret Service go far back, although they don't have a particular use any longer. Code names were developed before communication became between the Secret Service and White House became encrypted.
"Given modern capabilities to secure communications through encryption," Ed Donovan, spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, told GQ in March, "there is no longer any security relevance to protected call signs."
That small fact however, has not ended the tradition. President Obama's code name is "Renegade" and his wife Michelle's name is "Renaissance." Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney adopted the name "Javelin" in January.
In the former campaign John McCain was donned with the name "Phoenix" and Sarah Palin was referred to as "Denali."
