Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

The head of the Secret Service announced Tuesday that he was retiring.

Joseph Clancy, a career agent who'd first left the federal protection force in 2011 for a job in the private sector, returned in 2014 to restore credibility to the scandal-plagued agency.

He weathered a few new controversies and guided the agency through a tumultuous presidential campaign that included violence at rallies for Donald Trump.

Let our news meet your inbox. The news and stories that matters, delivered weekday mornings. This site is protected by recaptcha

Related: Secret Service Agent Under Fire for Anti-Trump Facebook Posts

It was not clear what prompted Clancy's announcement. He is 70 years old with 29 years of service.

Congratulations Dir Clancy on your retirement! The men & women of the @SecretService are grateful for your 29 years of service & leadership — U.S. Secret Service (@SecretService) February 14, 2017

House Oversight Chairman Jason Chaffetz praised Clancy for helping to reform "an agency plagued with mismanagement, misconduct and security lapses." Clancy has been working to implement recommendations outlined in a report by the oversight committee titled "United States Secret Service: An Agency in Crisis."

Related: Report: ‘Secret Service Is In Crisis’ Following Breaches

Chaffetz added: “Moving forward, I encourage President Trump to appoint a director from outside the agency. A fresh set of eyes and new perspective is needed to restore the prestige and status expected of such an elite agency.”

Clancy joined the Secret Service in 1984. He was appointed special agent in charge of the presidential protective division in 2009. He left the agency in 2011 and became director of corporate security at Comcast Corp., which owns NBCUniversal.