Actors - Reagan assassination attempt

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	Actors - Reagan assassination attempt

The Reagan assassination attempt occurred on March 30, 1981, just 69 days into the United States Presidency of Ronald W. Reagan. While leaving the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC, President Reagan, and 3 others were shot and wounded by John Hinckley, Jr., who had previously stalked President Jimmy Carter and had a history of mental illness.

Ambush outside Washington hotel

President Reagan was leaving the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC on March 30, 1981 after making a speech. Would-be assassin John Hinckley Jr. was waiting outside in a small crowd including news media. As the President made the short walk to his car, Hinckley emerged from the crowd and fired a Rohm RG-14 .22 cal. revolver six times at Reagan. The gun was loaded with six Devastator bullets that were designed to explode on impact, but all failed to explode. Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delehanty were wounded. Hinckley was quickly subdued by the Secret Service. The entire incident was captured on video by television reporters.

Moments after the shooting began, Reagan was whisked away by the Secret Service agents in the presidential limousine. It was not initially realized that Reagan had been wounded, as the bullet which hit him had entered under his armpit. However, when they realized he appeared to be injured, they diverted to nearby George Washington University Hospital, where an emergency surgery was performed. He subsequently recovered quickly (remarkable considering his age of 70 years), and was able to continue his presidential duties.

The shooter

According to the March 31, 1981 edition of the Houston Post, and reported by AP, UPI, NBC News and Newsweek, Hinckley is the son of one of George H.W. Bush's better supporters in his 1980 presidential primary campaign against Ronald Reagan; John Hinckley Sr.'s Vanderbilt Energy had been threatened with a $2-million fine the morning of the assassination attempt. John Jr.'s older brother Scott Hinckley and Neil Bush had a dinner appointment for the next day.

The motivation behind Hinckley's attack was, strangely, an obsession with actress Jodie Foster. While living in Hollywood in the late 1970's, he apparently saw the film Taxi Driver 15 times, apparently identifying strongly with Travis Bickle, the lead character played by Robert DeNiro. Near the end of the film, Bickle becomes fixated on the protection of a 12-year-old prostitute, played by Foster. Over the following years, Hinckley trailed Foster around the country, going so far as to enroll in a writing course at Yale University in 1980 when he learned that she was a student there. Convinced that a grand, sweeping gesture would be needed to gain her attention, Hinckley began to stalk then-President Jimmy Carter -- his decision to target Presidents also likely inspired by Taxi Driver.

The morning prior to the assassination attempt, Hinckley wrote a letter to Jodie Foster, saying that he hoped to impress her with the magnitude of his action. The shooting and aftermath were recorded on news cameras present for Reagan's address. Upon capture, Hinckley famously asked his arresting officers whether that night's Academy Awards ceremony would be postponed due to the shooting. It was.

"Honey, I forgot to duck"

Shortly before surgery to remove the bullet, which barely missed his heart, Reagan remarked to his surgeons, "I hope you're all Republicans." To his wife Nancy he jokingly commented, "Honey, I forgot to duck." Apparently he was quoting a famous remark made by boxer Jack Dempsey in 1926 explaining his loss of his heavyweight championship. After Dempsey lost to Gene Tunney, his wife Estelle Taylor asked him "What happened?" His reply was "Honey, I forgot to duck." A former actor, Reagan often quoted such witticisms.

James Brady

The two law enforcement officers also recovered from their wounds. However, the attack seriously wounded the President's Press Secretary, James Brady, who sustained a very serious head wound and became permanently disabled. Brady remained as Press Secretary for the remainder of Reagan's administration, but this was primarily a titular role.

Brady and his wife, Sarah, became leading advocates of gun control and other actions to reduce the amount of gun violence in the United States. They later became active in the lobbying organization that would eventually be renamed the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and they founded the not-for-profit Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

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