The 'Reagan assassination attempt' occurred on
March 30,
1981, just 70 days into the
presidency of
Ronald Reagan. While leaving a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel in
Washington, D.C., President Reagan and three others were shot and wounded by
John Hinckley, Jr., who had previously stalked President
Jimmy Carter and had a history of
mental illness.
Motivation
The motivation behind Hinckley's attack was an obsession with actress
Jodie Foster. While living in
Hollywood in the late 1970s, he saw the film ''
Taxi Driver'' at least 15 times, apparently identifying strongly with
Travis Bickle, the lead character played by
Robert De Niro.
[1][2] The arc of the story involves Bickle's protection of a 12-year-old
prostitute, played by Foster, with a violent climactic scene in which he kills her
pimps and a
john. 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 after reading an article in ''
People magazine''.
[3] He wrote numerous letters and notes to her in late 1980.
[4] He called her twice and refused to give up when she indicated that she was not interested in him.
2 Convinced that by becoming a national figure he would be Foster's equal, Hinckley began to stalk then-President
Jimmy Carter — his decision to target presidents was also likely inspired by ''Taxi Driver''.
[5] He wrote three or four more notes to her in early March 1981. Foster gave these notes to her
dean, who gave them to the Yale police department, which sought to track him down but failed.
[6][7]
Ambush outside hotel
Speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel
Hinckley arrived in
Washington, D.C. on Sunday,
March 29, getting off a
Greyhound bus
[8] and checking into the Park Central Hotel.
He had breakfast at
McDonald's the next morning, and noticed
U.S. President Ronald Reagan's schedule on page A4 of the ''
Washington Post'', and decided it was time to make his move.
[9] Knowing that he might not live to tell about shooting Reagan, Hinckley wrote (but did not mail) a letter to Foster about two hours prior to the assassination attempt, saying that he hoped to impress her with the magnitude of his action.
[10]
On
March 30,
1981, Reagan delivered a luncheon address to
AFL-CIO representatives at the Washington
Hilton Hotel. He entered the building around 1:45 pm, waving to a crowd which included
news media, Canadian Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau, a number of other foreign dignitaries, and Hinckley, who waved back and decided to wait to make his move.
The shooting
Chaos outside the Washington Hilton Hotel after the assassination attempt on President Reagan on
March 30,
1981
Shortly before 2:30 pm EST, as Reagan walked out of the hotel's T Street NW exit toward his waiting car, Hinckley emerged from the crowd and fired a
Röhm RG-14
.22 cal. blue steel
revolver six times in three seconds.
[11] Sixteen minutes after the assassination attempt,
ATF found that the gun was purchased at Rocky's Pawn Shop in Dallas, Texas.
[12] It was loaded with six Devastator
bullets, designed to expand on impact, though all failed to do so.
[13]
The first bullet hit
White House Press Secretary James Brady in the head.
[ The second hit District of Columbia police officer Thomas Delehanty in the back.][Hunter, Marjorie. "2 in Reagan security detail are wounded outside hotel", ''New York Times'', March 31, 1981][Feaver, Douglas. "Three men shot at the side of their President", ''The Washington Post'', March 31, 1981.][14] The third overshot the president and hit the window of a building across the street. The fourth hit Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy in the abdomen.[ The fifth hit the bullet-proof glass of the window on the open side door of the president's limousine. The sixth and final bullet ricocheted off the side of the limousine and hit the president under his left arm.9]
The entire incident, including the apprehension of Hinckley by the Secret Service, was captured on video by only two pool cameramen. (The majority of the White House Press Corps was still inside the hotel). Upon his arrest, Hinckley famously asked the officers whether that night's Academy Awards ceremony would be postponed due to the shooting, and indeed it was — it aired the next evening.5
Reagan taken to George Washington University Hospital
President Reagan with
Mrs. Reagan inside George Washington University Hospital four days after the shooting
Moments after the shooting began, Reagan was whisked away by the Secret Service agents in the presidential limousine. At first, there was no realization that the President had been wounded; the bullet which struck him entered under his armpit. However, when Secret Service agent Jerry Parr checked him for gunshot wounds, Reagan coughed up bright, frothy blood, indicating that his lung was punctured. Reagan, already in great pain, believed that one of his ribs had cracked when agent Parr pushed him into the limousine. Parr ordered the motorcade to divert to nearby George Washington University Hospital. Upon arriving, Reagan wiped the blood from his face, exited the limousine and walked unassisted into the emergency room, where he complained of difficulty breathing and collapsed. He was admitted immediately for emergency surgery. Shortly before surgery to remove the bullet, which barely missed his heart, Reagan purportedly remarked to the operating doctor, "I hope you're a Republican." The head surgeon, liberal Democrat Joseph Giordano, purportedly replied, "Mr. President, today we are all Republicans."[ He recovered quickly, despite being 70 years old, and was able to continue his presidential duties.]
Later when Reagan's wife, First Lady Nancy Reagan, arrived at GWU Hospital, he jokingly explained, "Honey, I forgot to duck" (borrowing Jack Dempsey's line to his wife the night he was beaten by Gene Tunney).[ Reagan had been scheduled to visit Philadelphia on the day of the shooting. He told a nurse, "All in all, I'd rather be in Philadelphia," a reference to the W.C. Fields tagline.]["March 30, 1981" Reagan's reflections on the assassination attempt, Ronaldreagan.com. Retrieved 5 March 2007]
Haig takes control
Members of the Cabinet, including Secretary of State Alexander Haig, Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, and National Security Advisor Richard Allen met in the White House Situation Room, where they discussed various issues including the availability of a Nuclear Football, the apparent presence of more than the usual number of Soviet submarines off the Atlantic coast, and the presidential line of succession. Upon learning that Reagan was in surgery, Haig declared "the helm is right here. And that means right in this chair for now, constitutionally, until the vice president gets here."
In fact the Secretary of State is not second in the line of succession but fourth, after the Speaker of the House (at the time, Tip O'Neill) and the President ''pro tempore'' of the Senate (at the time, J. Strom Thurmond). Haig was accused, by Weinberger and others, of overstepping his authority.[15][16] However, there had been no opportunity to brief the Vice President or others in the line of succession about military issues.
At the same time, a press conference was underway in the White House. One reporter asked deputy press secretary Larry Speakes who was running the government, to which Speakes responded "I cannot answer that question at this time." Upon hearing Speakes's remark, Haig rushed to the press room, where he made the following controversial statement:
Reported Hinckley family connections
According to the March 31, 1981, edition of the ''Houston Post'', and reported by AP, UPI, NBC News and ''Newsweek'', John Hinckley Jr. is the son of John Hinckley Sr., chairman of oil company Vanderbilt Energy Corp., and one of Vice President George H.W. Bush's larger political and financial supporters in his 1980 presidential primary campaign against Ronald Reagan. Also, John Hinckley Jr.'s older brother, Vanderbilt vice president Scott Hinckley, and the Vice President's son Neil Bush, had a dinner appointment scheduled for the next day. [17]
Associated Press published the following short note on March 31, 1981:
The family of the man charged with trying to assassinate President Reagan is acquainted with the family of Vice President George Bush and had made large contributions to his political campaign....Scott Hinckley, brother of John W. Hinckley Jr. who allegedly shot at Reagan, was to have dined tonight in Denver at the home of Neil Bush, one of the Vice President's sons....The Houston Post said it was unable to reach Scott Hinckley, vice president of his father's Denver-based firm, Vanderbilt Energy Corp., for comment. Neil Bush lives in Denver, where he works for Standard Oil Co. of Indiana. In 1978, Neil Bush served as campaign manager for his brother, George W. Bush, the Vice President's eldest son, who made an unsuccessful bid for Congress. Neil lived in Lubbock, Texas, throughout much of 1978, where John Hinckley lived from 1974 through 1980.
Aftermath
James Brady in August 2006
The two law enforcement officers 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. Later, 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 also became active in the lobbying organization that would eventually be renamed the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, and they founded the non-profit Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence.[18] The Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act was passed in 1993 as a result of their work.[19]
More immediately, Reagan's plans for the next month or so were cancelled, including a visit to the Mission Control Center Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, in April 1981 during STS-1, the first flight of the Space Shuttle. He would instead visit during STS-2 that November.
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity on June 21, 1982. The defense psychiatric reports had found him to be insane[20] while the prosecution reports declared him legally sane.[21][22] Following his lawyers' advice, he declined to take the stand in his own defense.[23] Hinckley was confined at St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, D.C., where he was still being held as of May 2007.3 After his trial, he wrote that the shooting was "the greatest love offering in the history of the world," and did not indicate any regrets.[24]
The not guilty verdict led to widespread dismay,[25][26] and, as a result, the U.S. Congress, and a number of states, rewrote the law regarding the insanity defense. [27] The old McNaughten test was replaced by the Federal Test that shifts the burden of proof of insanity from the prosecution to the defendant. Three states have abolished the defense altogether.27
Jodie Foster was hounded relentlessly by the media in early 1981 because she was Hinckley's target of obsession. She commented on Hinckley on three occasions: a press conference a few days after the attack, an article she wrote in 1982,[28] and during an interview with Charlie Rose on 60 Minutes II;[29] she has otherwise ended several interviews after the event was mentioned.[30]
See also
★ Curse of Tippecanoe
★ List of United States Presidential assassination attempts
References
Footnotes
1. Taxi Driver: Its Influence on John Hinckley, Jr.Retrieved 26 February 2007.
2. Taxi Driver by Denise Noe. Crime Library. Courtroom Television Network, LLC. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
3. John W. Hinckley, Jr. Biography - UMKC Law Retrieved 20 March 2007.
4. I'll Get You, Foster by Denise Noe. Crime Library. Courtroom Television Network, LLC. Retrieved 7 March 2006.
5. The American Experience - John Hinckley Jr. by Julie Wolf. Retrieved 7 March 2006.
6. Teen-age Actress Says Notes Sent by Suspect Did Not Hint Violence, Matthew L. Wald, New York Times, 2 April, 1981. Retrieved February 28, 2007
7. Yale Police Searched For Suspect Weeks Before Reagan Was Shot, Matthew L. Wald, New York Times, April 5, 1981. Retrieved February 28, 2007
8. A Drifter With a Purpose, by Mike Sager and Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, 1 April, 1981. Retrieved 28 February, 2007
9. The Trial of John W. Hinckley, Jr.
by Doug Linder. 2001 Retrieved 10 March 2007.
10. Letter written to Jodie Foster by John Hinckley Jr. March 30, 1981. Retrieved 26 February 2007.
11. The President is Shot by Denise Noe. Crime Library. Courtroom Television Network, LLC. Retrieved 27 February 2007.
12. Guns Traced in 16 Minutes to Pawn Shop in Dallas, Charles Mohr, New York Times, April 1, 1981. Retrieved February 28, 2007.
13. The Exploding Bullets, by Pete Barley and Charles Babcock, Washington Post, 4 April, 1981. Retrieved 28 February, 2007.
14. Fears of Explosive Bullet Force Surgery on Officer, by Charles R. Babcock, The Washington Post, April 3, 1981
15. White House Aides Assert Weinberg Was Upset When Haig Took Charge, by Steven R. Weisman, New York Times, April 1, 1981. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
16. Bush Flies Back From Texas Set To Take Charge In Crisis, by Steven R. Weisman, New York Times, March 31, 1981. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
17. Bush's Son Was To Dine With Suspect's Brother, by Arthur Wiese and Margaret Downing, The Houston Post, March 31, 1981
18. Brady Campaign Official Website Retrieved 3 March 2007.
19. Text of the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
20. Psychologist Says Hinckley's Tests Similar to Those of the Severely Ill, by Laura A. Kiernan, The Washington Post, May 21, 1982. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
21. John Hinckley's Acts Described as Unreasonable but Not Insane, by Laura A. Kiernan, The Washington Post, June 11, 1982. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
22. Hinckley Able to Abide by Law, Doctor Says, by Laura A. Kiernan, The Washington Post, June 5, 1982. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
23. John Hinckley Declines to Take the Stand, by Laura A. Kiernan, The Washington Post, June 3, 1982. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
24. Hinckley Hails 'Historical' Shooting To Win Love by Stuart Taylor Jr. New York Times. 9 July 1982. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
25. Verdict and Uproar by Denise Noe. Crime Library. Courtroom Television Network, LLC. Retrieved 27 February 2006.
26. Public That Saw Reagan Shot Expresses Shock at the Verdict by Peter Perl, The Washington Post, June 23, 1982. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
27. The John Hinckley Trial & Its Effect on the Insanity Defense
by Kimberly Collins, Gabe Hinkebein, and Staci Schorgl. Retrieved 17 March 2007.
28. ''Why Me?'', An Article by Jodie Foster to Esquire Magazine, December 1982. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
29. Jodie Foster, Reluctant Star 60 Minutes II. 1999. Retrieved 24 April 2007
30. Jodie Foster UMKC Law - Jodie Foster, Retrieved 9 March 2007.
External links
★ The Trial of John Hinckley Jr. University of Missouri at Kansas City Law School
★ The American Experience - John Hinckley Jr. by Julie Wolf.
★ Crime Library - The John Hinckley Case by Denise Noe.
★ Reagan's reflections on the assassination attempt
★ Unedited footage of assassination attempt on Reagan
★ CNN interrupts normal programming to report attempted assassination of President Reagan. (Quicktime)
★ 1981 - President Ronald Reagan Shot A report from Wayne Cabot of WCBS Newsradio 880 (WCBS-AM New York) Part of WCBS 880's celebration of 40 years of newsradio.
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