On today’s 15 with the Author, Teri Knight talks with Pulitzer Prize finalist and Washington Post columnist, Charles Lane with his book, “Freedom’s Detective, the Secret Service, the Ku Klux Klan and the Man Who Masterminded America’s First War on Terror”.  The book revolves around the fascinating figure of Hiram Whitley, who President Ulysses Grant soon appointed to head the Secret Service, a federal agency created in 1865 to squelch counterfeit currency. Under Whitley, the agency also infiltrated and impaired the violent, politically motivated Ku Klux Klan. Whitley flouted ethics, curried partisan favor and violated civil liberties. At the same time, he promoted a more genuine American democracy.  He talks about the parallels of terror then and now and how Whitley was not averse to using the same tactics on the KKK that they used on innocent people.