Hillary Clinton's life was in the Nebraskan's hands, and it was only his first assignment.

Matt Whisenhunt, 37, "walked the diamond" around the secretary of state, forming a perimeter around her with three other guys dressed like Secret Service agents.

His memory of the day isn't photographic - "there must not have been anything too crazy," he says.

After several months on the job with the U.S. Diplomatic Security Forces, it doesn't seem unusual being a body guard to some of the world's most influential people.

Whisenhunt and his fellow agents guard high-ranking foreign dignitaries, such as the Dalai Lama and members of the British royal family, in addition to the secretary of state.

His suit, sunglasses and earpiece are a big change from the brown and khaki of a Lancaster County Sheriff's deputy, the getup Whisenhunt wore for more than a decade, starting in 1997.

In 2008, he went from busting drunk drivers to being on Clinton's last line of defense.

"I went straight from training to her detail for a couple months," he said over the phone from his new home in Washington, D.C.

Since then, his duties have rotated from other protection details to investigations. The Bureau of Diplomatic Security also investigates passport and visa fraud.

Whisenhunt hasn't specialized, he said.

"We all basically do the same thing."

One week, he's an armed limousine driver. The next, he's walking the diamond. Then, he's off the streets and in the office.

"You have to be a quick thinker, and you have to be able to adapt," he said. With protection work, "a lot of it appears to be choreographed ... so you have to get it memorized."

Despite a long career in law enforcement, none of his past experiences prepared him for the new job.

He started his law-enforcement career as a police officer in Columbus, where he served for two years before becoming a deputy in Lancaster County.

He looked at jobs with the FBI and the military, among others, but got his heart set on Diplomatic Security.

"I would not have left if it were not for this," he said.

His wife, Leslie, and their 5-year-old son, Garrett, have enjoyed the move to D.C., Leslie Whisenhunt said.

She wanted to travel, and is happy her husband has a job that will take them abroad every couple years.

She doesn't worry about him, she said.

He went to Iraq, and he lived through that.

He's always been a cop and is always in cop mode.

"No matter what, they're trained to always be cops ... That's all Matt has ever been and ever wanted to do."

Reach Zach Pluhacek at 473-7234 or zpluhacek@journalstar.com.