The affable and low-key Livingood served with the Secret Service for 33 years before being appointed Sergeant-at-Arms in Jan. 1995, standing as the top security officer on the House side during the tense moments of Sept. 11, 2011, the anthrax scares later that year, and the 1998 shootings of two U.S. Capitol police officers.
"Bill Livingood has served the House during the most challenging times faced by anyone who has ever held this demanding position," said Boehner in a statement announcing Livingood's retirement.
The 75-year-old Livingood, a native of Philadelphia, Pa., is the third-longest serving Sergeant-at-Arms in House history. He is best known to the public as the man who on State of the Union night bellows out "Mr. speaker, the president of the United States!" then escorts the president through the House chamber for the annual speech.
"Thanks to Bill's vision and leadership, we now have enhanced security throughout the Capitol complex, a larger and more professional U.S. Capitol Police force, greatly improved planning and training for emergency response and disaster recovery, and a host of other advances that are visible to few but valuable to all," Boehner added. "Bill's hard earned and well deserved retirement will be a real loss for the House, but we are grateful that he has assembled an outstanding team of professionals who share his dedication to round-the-clock protection of Members, staff and visitors here in the people's House."
In announcing Livingood's retirement, Boehner said a replacement would be named shortly and take office in January.
"Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Livingood has served the House of Representatives, and indeed the nation, with distinction," said Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who kept Livingood on as Sergeant-at-Arms even when she took over as speaker in 2007. "His retirement marks the end of an era defined by Bill's dedicated leadership, sound judgment, and laser-like focus on what is best for the institution, its members, staff, and visitors."
"He's overseen an era of greater security in the Capitol complex and an expansion in the responsibilities of the Capitol Police, always discharging his duties with bipartisanship and the utmost professionalism," Pelosi noted. "Announcing the president at the annual State of the Union address has made Bill Livingood known in the homes of many American families, and his service of nearly 17 years, and under four different speakers of the House, puts him in the history books."
Livingood is a graduate of Michigan State University. Followed a stint in the U.S. Navy, Livingood joined the Secret Service and was appointed to the Dallas field office in 1961. His assignments with the Secret Service included the presidential protective division and head of the Houston field office.
The sergeant-at-arms is "the chamber's principal law enforcement official, charged with maintaining security on the floor and for the House side of the Capitol complex," according to the office website.
