IIRC there are just a basic check where they check the FBI database for convictions

Then there is the full blown federal gov't security clearance checks.

Those are everything, interviews of family, friends, former employers for like the last ten years or something, health records, criminal background check, credit check. Anything to make sure you are stable and not easily compromised.

My neighbor back in the day was having his clearance refreshed and a federal marshall showed up and asked me about his behavior as a neighbor. Any parties and the like.

Anyways, he moved to a new house and the new neighbors were cold.... standoffish. They would look away when he or his wife left the house. After a couple of months, she finally got to talk to one of the neighbors. It turns out, the cast was scheduled to perform Camelot at the White House for the Kennedys.

Secret service was doing background check on cast members, prior to the performance. Neighbors thought their new neighbors were criminals or maybe even "commies."




Too bad, Secret Service didn't do as thorough a job in Dallas.