I'm doing some research on social and political effects of
Presidential Assassinations.  I am looking for detailed information on
the formation of the secret service along with any political
commentary and opinion around the nervousness the nation may have had
in giving the executive branch a 'personal guard.'  I am under the
impression that there was still some suspicion of a powerful central
government.

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Clarification of Question by jgrantl-ga on 23 Jan 2005 16:39 PST

As per my mention of Presidential Assassinations, I was looking for
information related to the granting of protective powers to the Secret
Service, rather than the initial forming of treasury protection. 
Thanks!

History time line.

The Secret Service Division began on July 5, 1865 in Washington, D.C.,
to suppress counterfeit currency. Chief William P. Wood was sworn in
by Secretary of the Treasury Hugh McCulloch.

http://www.secretservice.gov/history.shtml

The local police were helpless. The Government tried offering blood
money to potential informants, but this met with little success.
Banks, plagued by boodling, gave up hope of police help and hired
private security men instead. Merchants and bankers queued up by the
thousands to buy privately-printed manuals on currency security, slim
little books like Laban Heath's *Infallible Government Counterfeit
Detector.* The back of the book offered Laban Heath's patent
microscope for five bucks.

        Then the Secret Service entered the picture. The first agents
were a rough and ready crew. Their chief was one William P. Wood, a
former guerilla in the Mexican War who'd won a reputation busting
contractor fraudsters for the War Department during the Civil War.
Wood, who was also Keeper of the Capital Prison, had a sideline as a
counterfeiting expert, bagging boodlers for the federal bounty money.

        Wood was named Chief of the new Secret Service in July 1865.
There were only ten Secret Service agents in all: Wood himself, a
handful who'd worked for him in the War Department, and a few former
private investigators -- counterfeiting experts -- whom Wood had won
over to public service. (The Secret Service of 1865 was much the size
of the Chicago Computer Fraud Task Force or the Arizona Racketeering
Unit of 1990.) These ten "Operatives" had an additional twenty or so
"Assistant Operatives" and "Informants." Besides salary and per diem,
each Secret Service employee received a whopping twenty-five dollars
for each boodler he captured.

http://www.chriswaltrip.com/sterling/crack3e.html

Some back information about William P. Wood

Treasury?s history has been in the news lately. In May, the New York
Times ran a feature article (5/29/01, page A12) about the headstone
recently erected to mark the grave of William P. Wood, the first chief
of the U.S. Secret Service. Wood, who is buried in Washington?s
Congressional Cemetery, died in 1903 nearly penniless. Until recently,
his grave was marked with only a small stone engraved with his last
name. The Association of Former Agents of the U.S. Secret Service
raised funds for a larger stone which is inscribed with his birth and
death dates, as well as dates of tenure with Secret Service. The
headstone was dedicated this past Memorial Day.Chief Wood, who was
appointed in July of 1865, served for four years and is credited with
organizing the operation responsible for catching counterfeiters. In
the Timesarticle, Mike Sampson, current archivist of the Secret
Service, remarked, ?I don?t know if he would cut it as director today.
He was kind of gruff ?. But when they were start-ing out, they wanted
a no-nonsense guy.

http://www.treasuryhistoricalassn.org/newsletters/september_2001.pdf

I can't seem to find any information about peoples reactions to the
ssd when it went into effect.

History: Enforcement of Counterfeiting Prevention Act (2 Stat. 404),
April 21, 1806, handled through U.S. marshals and district attorneys
until an act of June 23, 1860 (12 Stat. 102), transferred
responsibility to the Secretary of the Treasury. Functions delegated
to the OST, 1863. National Currency Act (12 Stat 665), February 25,
1863, created a national currency and extended sanctions against
counterfeiting. SSD established in the OST, July 1865, with primary
responsibility for combating counterfeiting, forging, and the altering
of currency and securities. OST transferred to the Department of
Justice (DOJ) by the Department of Justice Act (16 Stat. 162), June
22, 1870. SSD remained in the Treasury Department, but continued under
the supervision of the Solicitor until 1879. Statutory recognition
accorded SSD by act of August 5, 1882 (22 Stat 230). SSD began
providing protection to the President following the assassination of
President William McKinley, 1901. White House Police Force created by
an act of September 14, 1922 (42 Stat. 841); placed under the SSD by
an act of May 14, 1930 (46 Stat. 328); and renamed the Executive
Protective Service by an act of March 19, 1970 (84 Stat. 74). SSD
assumed responsibility for physical security of Treasury Building
(Treasury Security Force) by departmental order, April 30, 1937. SSD
renamed USSS, 1943. See 87.1.

http://www.archives.gov/research_room/federal_records_guide/secret_service_rg087.html#87.1