Step 1 : Introduction to the question "What government organization did Abraham Lincoln establish just hours before his death?"
...On April 14, 1865, the very day he was assassinated, Abraham Lincoln signed the legislation that created the United States Secret Service. The timing, however, is less ironic than it appears. The agency’s original purpose was not to protect the President, but to combat widespread counterfeiting, which had become a serious threat to the U.S. economy in the aftermath of the Civil War. At the time, an estimated one-third of all U.S. currency in circulation was counterfeit, undermining both financial stability and public confidence.
