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03/30/1982-Year Anniversary of Shooting
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03/30/1982-Year Anniversary of Shooting
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Records of the Office of the First Lady (Reagan Administration)
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Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
Digital Library Collections
This is a PDF of a folder from our textual
collections.
Collection: Tate, Sheila: Files
Folder Title: Presidential Shooting 3/30/1981 [1 of 2]
Box: CFOA 6222
To see more digitized collections visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/archives/digital-library
To see all Ronald Reagan Presidential Library
inventories visit:
https://reaganlibrary.gov/document-collection
Contact a reference archivist at:
[email protected]
Citation Guidelines: https://reaganlibrary.gov/citing
APRIL 15, 1981
$1.50
Time First Lady's Press
Sheila Patton E.W.
Madness
What Happened-and Why
Can It Never Be Stopped?
15
0 10090
724404
STORIES
TIME. APRIL 13/1981
THE
Oh, My God,
It's
bullets, in two seconds of terror, fell the President and three others and raise
Happening'
resh fears that assassination is an American disease
Just before the shooting begins, Ronald Reagan is surrounded by (from left) Agent Jerry Parr (in raincoat), Press Secretary James Brady, a
military aide, Assistant Michael Deaver, an unidentified policeman, Officer Thomas Delahanty and Agent Timothy McCarthy. Seconds later
(below) an agent leaps over Delahanty and Brady to grab for the gunman, Parr has pushed Reagan into the limousine, and the car is ready to move
Nation
A Sense of Where We Are
Reflections on a week of anxiety, sadness and outrage
t took a week to get the picture. First came the gasps and
to penetrate. So after a while even he becomes real. At week's
"not agains"; then the nation assumed its old too familiar po-
end one understands not everything, but a lot more than seemed
sition before the tube, reluctant pros in this business by now,
possible on frantic Monday. The people were in control here.
ready to take in the slow-motion replays, the testimony of ex-
The interesting thing is that people can actually do this; can
perts, the edgy reporters, a bloody head, a shot-up limousine, an-
take a terrifying, chaotic act and eventually make some sense of
other blank-faced gunman. There was a jumble to sort out. The
it. What occurred outside the Washington Hilton was irrational
President was O.K. But then he wasn't. They took him to the
and destructive. Yet the reactions it generated were both sane
White House. No, to a hospital. Was it serious? Not very. Yes,
and helpful; and they were connected to one's best feelings about
very. Maybe
And so on through the long Monday after-
the country and the Government. When the President was shot,
noon, the emotions buffeted by every bulletin-sinking at the re-
Americans prayed very hard, not for the life of an abstraction.
port of White House Press Secretary James Brady's death; ris-
but for a man, one who as leader of the democracy carries some-
ing warily when the report is denied; a freeze at news that the
thing of everyone in that mortal chest. If people were ashamed
President is undergoing surgery; a thaw when someone repeats
and dismayed that such horrors could continue to happen in a
a Reagan joke. Who was that fool who asked if the operation
civilized place, they were also proud and relieved that the Gov-
was going to be filmed? More questions still-the public's ten-
ernment of that civilized place could not be rattled.
sions not at all alleviated by the figure of Alexander Haig claim-
But there were even more basic feelings brought out by Mon-
ing "I am in control here," in a voice full of jelly.
day's events. Trust, for one thing: the belief that in spite of all the
The press was hard on Haig after the recent who's-in-charge
initial misinformation, the facts would eventually be known. Pa-
tempest. Suddenly the Secretary of State is playing air raid war-
tience, for another; and a general absence of panic. Faith in sci-
den again and rearranging the order of succession to the pres-
ence, as the doctors were relied on to tell the country what its
idency to suit his pride. Yet he was only trying to do what
future looked like. Faith in God, for those who have it. Faith too
everyone wanted: to establish order and clear things up. By 7
in the press, remarkably; the same press that is excoriated as a
p.m. there was at least the start of a clearing up. To stage cen-
matter of daily habit, still counted on in a real emergency to get
ter stepped Dr. Dennis O'Leary of George Washington Uni-
the truth as best it can, as fast as it can-and to tell it. A sense of
versity Hospital, a gentle, cool customer, another instant media
national unity, in sadness and anxiety. A sense of outrage at vi-
star. Secret Service Agent Timothy J. McCarthy was hit in the
olence. If the U.S. really were as fundamentally violent as it is
stomach, but doing well. D.C. Policeman Thomas K. Delahan-
made out, there would never be such uniform despair and disgust
ty was hit in the shoulder and neck; his condition was stable. A
when violence occurred.
22-cal. bullet passed through Jim Brady's brain. And the Pres-
Then too there was kinship with the suffering, with Jim Bra-
ident? He became his chest for the moment: the bullet entered
dy, especially; old Brady "the Bear," Brady the joker, the poker-
here, bounced off this, settled in that. There was "oxygenation"
faced inventor of Goat Gap Texas Chili and Captain Brady's
and a "thoracotomy" and some "peritoneal lavage" to boot.
Nightie Night, who wasn't kidding when he described his new
But was he O.K.? Yes, he was fine, chipper. By nightfall the coun-
position as "the toughest p.r. job in the world." And kinship with
try was beginning to do some oxygenating of its own.
life, with Sarah Brady holding her husband's hand, waiting for
Within a day or two pieces were beginning to fit, even the
the squeeze to be returned.
weirdest. To the bare fact of the suspect's name, John W. Hinck-
Such feelings make it possible to survive a week like the
ley Jr., were added the details of a strangely American life, or
last one. They attest to the normalities of our lives, and suggest
half life. The son of oil-rich respectability quits school, takes to
that in the long run there is a gentleness and decency that pre-
the road, joins the American Nazi party, but can't make it there.
vails over the berserk flashes and the threats of sudden death.
He has a guitar, of course; drives a tan Plymouth with Texas
Yet these shootings leave scars, and they ought to. Why are all
plates; watches TV in cheap motels where he stops briefly. He is
these handguns still around? Why can't creatures like Hinckley
a traveling man. Soft-spoken and polite. He dines on Whoppers
be reached before they reach others? When the President en-
and writes love notes to a teen-age movie star at Yale-while go-
tered the hospital, he told his friend, Nevada Senator Paul Lax-
ing madder by the minute, buying guns and hitting the dream cit-
alt: "Don't worry about me. I'll make it." By the weekend the
ies of Denver, Nashville, Dallas and L.A., until he arrives by
country was thinking the same thing, with the same uncertain
Greyhound at the city of the country's heart, which he is driven
bravery.
-By Roger Rosenblatt
Michael Evans-The White House
21
Nation
Business as Usual-Almost
A powerful troika takes charge, while Haig overdoes it-once more
The first reactions
European allies. Altogether, the week's
better at the higher levels in such mo-
were shock, horror,
official activity appeared to justify the
ments. Heightened tension acts as a mag-
sickness at the thought
phrase that Reagan's aides were using
nifier, every word, and sentence, becomes
that the nation had to
while the President was still in the recov-
an act of international significance and
go through it all once
ery room: "Business as usual."
is rocketed around the globe where it is ex-
more. Then almost instantly came anxiety
Well, almost. The day-to-day opera-
amined and weighed."
-not only for the wounded President but
tions of the Government will continue
Even long-run policy formulation will
for the country itself. As citizens all over
about the way they would if the Presi-
not suffer badly during the next month
the U.S. and indeed around the world
dent were in the White House-as in fact
or so while Reagan is convalescing. Rea-
waited for the medical bulletins, questions
he might be this week, if his recovery pro-
son: the Administration decided from the
formed: Did, and would, the U.S. still have
ceeds on course.
start to make the economic program of
a functioning Government? Could deci-
TIME Contributing Editor Hugh Si-
spending and tax cuts its top priority, and
sions still be made, necessary actions be
dey, who has been reporting on Wash-
that program is well advanced. Says one
taken. while a President in office little
ington for 24 years, notes that calm pre-
White House aide: "There are peaks and
more than two months, barely enough
vailed during Dwight Eisenhower's
valleys in decision making. If this had
time to get his hands on the levers of pow-
several hospitalizations, Richard Nixon's
happened on Feb. 10, we would have been
er, recovered from the attempt on his life?
phlebitis, and even in the far graver cri-
in a totally different situation. Now, for
Fortunately, the answer came before
sis of the Kennedy assassination. Says
the time being, the economic decisions are
the worries had time to blossom. It was a
Sidey: "We have sometimes overplayed
already made."
resounding yes.
the difficulty of running the Government.
In the worst hours of uncertainty and
National trauma we have had. But the
till, no nation as heavily dependent
confusion, while Ronald Reagan was un-
postal clerk still comes to work, the sol-
conscious in surgery, the nuclear button
diers still drill. If anything, they are a lit-
S
on presidential leadership as the U.S.
can shrug off the wounding of its
was right where it should be, in the hands
tle more diligent in their duties, realizing
Chief Executive as if nothing had hap-
of Vice President George Bush. On his
that the country needs a special effort.
pened. Already last week, some decisions
flight back from Texas to Washington,
Men and women also tend to cooperate
were slipping: the Administration put off
Bush was accompanied by a mil-
announcement of a package of mea-
itary aide carrying the Vice Pres-
sures designed to help the U.S. auto
ident's version of the "football"-an
industry meet foreign competition.
unremarkable black leather case
Though aides publicly asserted that
containing top-secret signal codes
Reagan would confer late this
and military target information.
month with Mexican President José
Reagan, once he shook off the ef-
López Portillo as scheduled, they
fects of anesthesia, resumed some
conceded in private that the session
of his duties. The morning after the
might be called off.
shooting, with a tube still in his nose
Meanwhile, there are sure to be
and a needle dripping intravenous
shifts in the balance of forces with-
solution into his arm, the President
in the Administration, some with
signed a bill canceling an increase
lasting consequences. Even in an
in dairy price supports that other-
Administration officially dedicated
wise would have gone into effect the
to Cabinet Government, the White
next day. The only sign of stress:
House staff had been increasing its
his signature was a trifle shakier
influence before the shots rang out.
than usual.
The so-called troika at the top con-
With Reagan's approval, Bush
sists of Presidential Counsellor
presided over two Cabinet meet-
Edwin Meese, Chief of Staff James
ings, carefully taking his accus-
Baker and Deputy Chief Michael
tomed seat and leaving the Pres-
Deaver, Reagan's closest personal
ident's chair empty to symbolize the
aide. Within half an hour of the
temporary nature of his enhanced
shooting, the troika set up a kind
authority. The Vice President also
of command post at the hospital,
conferred with Netherlands Pre-
and once the President was recu-
mier Andreas van Agt and Polish
perating funneled briefing papers to
Deputy Premier Mieczyslaw Jagiel-
him (greatly condensed to avoid
ski, who had come to Washington
taxing his strength).
to see Reagan.
For at least the rest of
The Senate passed, 88 to 10, a
Reagan's hospitalization and the
budget resolution cutting spending
early period of his convalescence,
for fiscal 1982 by $36.9 billion; that
the troika's power will be greater
was roughly $2.8 billion more than
than ever. They will decide who
Reagan had requested. At week's
sees the President, which decisions
end Secretary of State Alexander
are referred to him and which are
Haig took off, on schedule, for a trip
postponed or settled at lower lev-
to the Middle East, and Secretary of
els. They will also be the primary
Defense Caspar Weinberger left for
Bush at White House reception for Netherlands Premier
communicators of Reagan's words
defense consultations with Western
In a moment of shock, he carried the "football."
and wishes to the rest of the
22
TIME. APRIL 13, 1981
Government and the outside world.
was continuing to operate. Said one White
be hampered in making an aggressive
The three, who breakfast together at
House staffer: "Al Haig is too strong a
case against those cuts that they contend
7:30 each morning, have worked out a
player to let go." Reagan himself sum-
hurt the poor. Says one liberal: "You could
smooth division of duties and interests
moned Haig to his hospital bed and gave
never get anyone to go after him person-
that should enable them to maintain their
the Secretary letters to hand carry to the
ally, because he's a nice guy. But now it
influence when matters settle down.
leaders of Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia and
will be difficult even to voice anything
Meese. who likes to lug home a bulging
Jordan. Nonetheless, Haig left on his
against the program. That would be vis-
briefcase, concentrates on developing pol-
Middle East trip an uncertain figure, wor-
cerally resented by a lot of people."
icy positions; Baker, who scorns paper-
ried about having unnamed enemies in
Nonetheless, the Democrats will try.
work, keeps a sharp eye on political af-
the White House who were out to get him.
House Budget Committee Chairman
fairs; Deaver is the devoted guardian and
Whether he can recover authority over
James Jones will unveil this week a bud-
shaper of Reagan's schedule. Says one
foreign policy is yet to be seen.
get proposal that would slash spending
aide who has watched them closely: "No
On the domestic front, the most ob-
$4 billion more than the Administration's
one can put himself in the President's
vious immediate effect of the assassina-
plan, but with a very different set of pri-
shoes, when it comes to personal and
tion attempt, and the courage with which
orities. Jones and the Democratic lead-
many political considerations, the way
the President withstood it, was a power-
ership would cut $4 billion out of planned
Deaver can. No one can put himself in
ful surge in Reagan's popularity. A quick
defense spending and $1.5 billion out of
the President's mind, when it comes to dif-
Washington Post/ABC News poll the day
energy outlays, for example, while restor-
ficult policy questions, the way Meese can.
after the shooting found 73% approving
ing $7 billion of cuts that Reagan wants
And no one can understand the intersec-
the way the President is handling his job,
in such programs as Medicaid, food
tion of the White House and the bureau-
up eleven percentage points from just the
stamps and child nutrition. On the tax
cracy, the bridge between intention and
week before.
side, the Democrats reject Reagan's three-
action, better than Baker."
year, across-the-board slash in income tax
Vice President Bush, too, seems sure
hether that tide of public sym-
rates in favor of a much narrower one-
to gain in clout because of the calm man-
W
pathy and admiration will win ad-
year reduction. The Administration's
ner in which he filled in for the President
ditional votes for Reagan's spend-
ability to counter this effort may be ham-
at Cabinet meetings and ceremonial func-
ing and tax cuts, especially in the
pered by the enforced scrapping of Rea-
tions. His demeanor, neither pushy nor re-
Democratic-controlled House where the
gan's personal selling campaign for his
tiring, impressed even some Reaganites
real battle will be fought, is in some dis-
program. The President had been sched-
who had considered him a mushy mod-
pute. Most of Reagan's senior advisers
uled to speak almost weekly to state leg-
erate. Said one: "He has been impressive.
agree with Office of Management and
islatures to plug his economic package.
He has a good sensitivity to the situation."
Budget Director David Stockman, who
"Nobody can sell the program like he
In contrast, Secretary of State Haig
says, "I don't think it will have any sig-
can," says one senior adviser. Another is
damaged his already shaky standing in
nificant effect on the Hill." On the other
concerned that "with Reagan in bed, we
the Government. The echoes of his los-
hand, some Democrats are afraid they will
will lose a crucial month." White House
ing effort two weeks ago to
aides, however, are exploring
have himself rather than Bush
other methods of using the
named as foreign policy crisis
President's persuasive talents.
manager had not died down
They say he will resume his
when he took the podium in
highly effective personal lob-
the White House press room
bying on congressional leaders
to proclaim, in a shaky voice,
once he leaves the hospital,
"I am in control here." Said
though he will receive them in
one State Department official
the White House residence
who is friendly with Haig: "I
quarters rather than the Oval
thought it was Seven Days in
Office. They talk of putting
May. Al didn't do it right, and
him on television for a speech
it's going to hurt him." At
in which his natural mastery of
week's end a new controversy
the medium might be en-
threatened to erupt when it
hanced by the emotional im-
was learned that Haig, without
pact of a recuperating Presi-
properly consulting other Cab-
dent once again addressing the
inet members, had given the
citizenry.
French tacit approval to sell
Meanwhile, the Govern-
600,000 tons of wheat to the So-
ment is carrying on sufficiently
viets. The White House at-
well that by week's end
tempted to play down the in-
some Reagan aides were voic-
cident in the hope that it would
ing an ironic worry: perhaps
blow over, but talk continued
they have convinced the public
to float around Washington
too thoroughly that everything
that Haig might resign, and
is business as usual. Says one:
that the White House was al-
"We spent two months trying
ready looking for a successor.
to erase an impression that the
Those rumors were vehe-
U.S. had elected Ed Meese
mently denied by the White
President, instead of Ronald
House staff. Late in the week
Reagan. Now we are almost
it made a concerted attempt to
going back to the point of say-
salvage Haig's credibility so
ing that this Administration
that he could deal effective-
does not need him." Compared
ly with foreign governments.
with the potential dangers of a
White House aides insisted
leaderless Government, how-
that Haig had only meant,
ever, that is a minor worry
quite properly, to reassure the
indeed. -By George J. Church.
world-and warn the Soviets
The President and Nancy strolling through hospital corridor Friday
Reported by Laurence L Barrett
-that the U.S. Government
The signature, shakier than usual, was the only sign of stress.
and Neil MacNeil/Washington
TIME, APRIL 13, 1981
23
Parr pushes Reagan while McCarthy, center, shields them
Brady lying seriously wounded on pavement outside the hotel
Six Shots at a Nation's Heart
Again, a moment of madness threatens a President and tarnishes the U.S.
The final Sunday of
miniature western saddles given to them
$42 a night, moderate by Washington stan-
March began with a
by their California friend Walter Annen-
dards. Hinckley sat for hours in Room 312.
slight haze and soft
berg. They carried a dozen of the min-
He made two local telephone calls, using
breezes; unseasonable
iatures to the Oval Office and arranged
the hotel's direct-dial system.
temperatures in the
them for display on a table at the left of
The sky turned a lead gray on Mon-
mid-70s welcomed the blossoming dog-
the President's desk. Then they dined to-
day, Ronald Reagan's 70th day in office.
woods. The day was so balmy that Ron-
gether in their residence. It had been a
A monotonous drizzle formed puddles on
ald and Nancy Reagan, after attending
comfortable day.
the city's streets. But the weather was still
services at St. John's Church, took a short
Hinckley checked into the Park Cen-
warm and the rain did not dampen Rea-
noontime stroll back to the White House,
tral Hotel on 18th Street. It is just two
gan's spirits. At an early morning break-
passing the pink magnolias in Lafayette
blocks west of the White House and di-
fast with 140 sub-Cabinet-level officials
Park.
rectly across the street from Secret Service
of his Administration in the East Room,
Shortly after 12:15 p.m., a pudgy young
headquarters. It often houses visiting Se-
Reagan gave a pep talk. He quoted Thom-
man with unkempt blond hair stepped off
cret Service agents. The cheapest room is
as Paine, declaring, "We have it in our
a Greyhound bus after a three-day ride
power to begin the world over again."
from Los Angeles. He leaned against a pole
in Washington's seedy terminal, then sat
restlessly in a blue plastic seat. He seemed
HALSTEAD DIRCK
Then followed short meetings with his se-
nior staff in the Oval Office and a na-
tional security briefing. All were in the
in no hurry to go anywhere.
normal workday pattern.
Enjoying a rare day without guests or
Hinckley got up early. He stopped in
meetings, the Reagans lunched together
the Lunchbox Carryout Shop, just a few
in the White House. They stayed indoors,
doors from his hotel, for coffee at 7:30 a.m.
catching up on some unstrenuous house-
An hour later, he ordered breakfast in
hold chores. One of them was to hang pic-
Kay's Sandwich Shoppe, adjacent to the
tures in the President's study in the fam-
hotel. He sat alone at the counter.
ily quarters.
The visitor to Washington was John
eagan greeted two dozen Hispanic
W. Hinckley Jr., 25, of Evergreen, Colo.
He was in a surly mood. He snapped at a
R
leaders in the Cabinet Room and
conferred with them in private af-
waitress who served him a cheeseburger in
ter photographers were allowed to take a
the terminal restaurant. He ate alone at
few pictures. Aides Lyn Nofziger and
the rear of the room, then walked back
Elizabeth Dole sat in on the meeting.
into the station's lobby, stalking about im-
One topic of the discussion: Reagan's
patiently for an hour. He seemed to be wait-
efforts to place Hispanics in Government
ing for someone.
positions.
The Reagans admired a collection of
Lyn Nofziger briefing reporters at hospital
Hinckley was out of his room at 10 a.m.
24
TIME, APRIL 13, 1981
ROGER SANDLER
Bush reading statement in White House after Reagan's operation
HALSTEAD DIRCK
ROBERT BURGESS
Maureen Reagan watching the news in Los Angeles
Dr. Dennis O'Leary showing how bullet was removed from Reagan
when a maid checked it. A two-suiter suit-
Unrue was driving, and Jerry Parr, chief
half-hour walk. If he went by cab or bus,
case filled with clothes was spread open. A
of the presidential protection detail, sat
he was unnoticed.
copy of TV Guide was near the bed. Also in
in the right front seat. Following them in
The President received a standing
the room was a newspaper clipping about
the motorcade was Presidential Press Sec-
ovation as he entered the Hilton's Inter-
the President's schedule, which disclosed
retary Jim Brady. Half an hour earlier,
national Ballroom to address 3,500 union
that Reagan would leave the White House
his deputy, Larry Speakes, had asked,
representatives. It was the largest audi-
at 1:45 p.m. to address a session of the
"You going with the President to the ho-
ence he had faced in person since his In-
AFL-CIO's building and construction trades
tel?" Brady's casual reply: "Yeah, I think
auguration. As he made his pitch for the
department at the Washington Hilton.
I will." With other agents following in the
union members to support his economic
The President had lunch at the White
"battlewagon" protective car, the caravan
program, Reagan's delivery was unchar-
House in the family quarters. He ate an
moved swiftly through the rain-slick
acteristically flat. He drew only tepid ap-
avocado and chicken salad, sliced red
streets to the hotel. Everything was going
plause, even meeting silence at a few
beets and an apple tart. Then he worked
smoothly; the trip seemed quite routine.
punch lines. Only one sentence in the 18-
on his Hilton speech and stretched out
Rechecking rooms at 1:15 p.m. to re-
minute speech would later be remem-
for a brief rest.
place some used towels, the maid found
bered. Noted the President: "Violent
When he returned to the hotel about
Hinckley in the room, wearing a light-
crime has surged 10%, making neighbor-
noon, Hinckley asked the desk clerk wheth-
colored jacket, sport shirt and casual pants.
hood streets unsafe and families fearful
er he had received any telephone calls.
He stood by the bathroom door and
in their homes."
There were no telephone messages in his
watched without expression as she hung the
Outside the Hilton, on an adjacent
key box. Then at 12:45 p.m. he sat in his
towels. Shortly afterward he left for the Hil-
sidewalk, Hinckley was pacing nervously.
room and began to write a five-paragraph
ton. It was almost a mile away, less than a
John M. Dodson, a Pinkerton's detective
letter on lined note paper. It started:
agency computer specialist, was
"Dear Jodie, There is a definite pos-
watching the Hilton's lower-level VIP
sibility that I will be killed in my at-
entrance from the seventh floor of a
tempt to get Reagan." It ended: "This
nearby office building. Dodson noticed
letter is being written an hour before
the young man wearing a tan rain-
I leave for the Hilton Hotel. Jodie, I'm
coat. "He looked fidgety, agitated, a
asking you to please look into your
little strange," Dodson recalled later.
heart and at least give me the chance
A group of TV and still photog-
with this historical deed to gain your
raphers also awaited Reagan's exit
respect and love. I love you forever."
in what they call "the bodywatch"
It was signed: "John Hinckley.'
-the need to record any presidential
Hinckley sealed the letter to Actress
calamity, or what Reagan has termed
Jodie Foster, 18, a freshman at Yale
"the awful-awful." Other reporters
University whom he had never met, but
were there, some with microphones
did not mail it.
and tape recorders, to ask the Pres-
The President climbed into his
ident for his reaction to the latest
armor-plated black Lincoln limou-
showdown between the government
sine at 1:45 p.m. for the seven-min-
and Lech Walesa's independent la-
ute drive to the Hilton. With him was
bor movement in Poland. As always,
Michael Deaver, his closest personal
curious onlookers pressed in for a
aide, Labor Secretary Ray Donovan
glimpse of the President. They in-
and two Secret Service agents: Drew Hinckley, flanked by officers, after arraignment
cluded some union members who had
TIME, APRIL 13, 1981
25
Nation
McCARTHY
CDEAVER
BRADY
REAGAN
PARR
VIP exit
REAGAN
Reagan
Parr
SMOCARTHY
McCarthy
DELAHANTY
Delahanty
Hinckley
HINCKLEY
Reagan leaves VIP exit of Hil-
Deaver
Brady
1
ton Hotel. The door of his lim-
Overhead view at the
ousine is open. He waves as he
moment of the
reaches the curb.
REAGAN
shooting
PARR
BRADY
DELAHANTY
TIME Diagram
by Nigel Holmes
President, President
CKLEY
2
At a shout from the press,
3
The shooting starts. Six shots are fired in two seconds. One hits a window
Deaver moves to the left, giv-
across the street, and one the window of Reagan's limousine. Other bullets
ing Brady room to talk to AP Re-
hit
Brady, Delahanty and McCarthy. Another bullet hits the rear panel of the lim-
porter Michael Putzel, who wants ousine, ricochets through the gap between the open door and the body of the car,
to ask a question.
and hits Reagan as he is bending over and being pushed into the car by Parr.
either arrived late for the lunch or left it
rue was in the driver's seat; the engine
transmission hump
early to get a closer view of Reagan. There
was running. Reagan raised his right hand
ahead of the rear seat,
were women with Kodaks, children, and
high, waving to people standing across the
Parr on top of the President. "Take off!"
even a mayor, Charles Wright of Dav-
drivetway.
shouted Parr to the driver. "Just take off!"
enport, Iowa.
Agent Parr was at Reagan's right side.
The limo lurched out of the driveway.
The unmarked entrance, consisting of
Aide Deaver was at his left, between the
Deaver, who had crouched beside
steel double doors under a concrete can-
President and the press group. Brady
the President's car until he saw Reagan
opy, was designed precisely to provide se-
walked a few steps behind Deaver and
was in it, ran for the Secret Service
curity for Presidents and other celebrities
closer to the wall. Agent Timothy Mc-
control vehicle. "Oh, my God, it's
who attend affairs at the Hilton. The
Carthy waited at the limousine, standing
happening!" he thought. The shots had
doors open onto a 13-ft.-wide sidewalk
behind the open rear door. Washington
been so close to him that he could
that runs along a curving driveway at the
Patrolman Thomas Delahanty, drawn
"feel the concussion and smell the pow-
base of a 15-ft.-high stone retaining wall.
away from his normal duties with the po-
der." In the car, he shouted, "Let's get
On this day the Secret Service had roped
lice canine squad to help guard the Pres-
out of here!" He grabbed Presidential
off an area along this curving wall about
ident, stood near the press rope. Reagan,
Assistant David Fischer and, referring
25 ft. from the doors. The press and oth-
now just a few feet away from his car,
to Reagan, asked, "My God, Dave, is
er onlookers jostled for position behind
turned to his left and waved toward the
he all right?"
the rope.
reporters.
Brady lay on the sidewalk, blood seep-
Among them was John Hinckley.
ing from a wound in his head and trick-
Standing close to the wall, he complained
r. President, Mr. President,"
ling into an iron grating. He tried to rise.
about the press, which had been griping
"M
came a familiar shout from be-
Rick Ahearn, a White House advance-
about onlookers getting in the way. ABC
hind the rope. A.P. Reporter
man, cradled Brady's face and shouted:
Cameraman Henry Brown had protested
Michael Putzel was trying to ask Reagan
"A handkerchief, a handkerchief!"
that the press area had been "penetrated"
a question. Brady stepped ahead of Dea-
Dropped in the turmoil, a police pistol
by people who were "interfering with our
ver to help field any press queries. Still
lay incongruously beside Brady's head.
work. Replied a man whom Brown as-
smiling, Reagan looked past McCarthy,
McCarthy had been trained to try to block
sumed was a Secret Service agent: "We Il
Deaver, Brady and Delahanty and at the
any shots at the President with his own
try to do something.' A.P. Radio Reporter
milling group behind the rope.
body; when the firing began, he turned
Walter Rodgers pushed his way along the
The man in the tan raincoat reached
away from the limousine toward the as-
wall, extending his fishpole mike, when he
out to point a .22-cal. "Saturday night spe-
sailant. Hit in the abdomen by a bullet
heard the young man complain about the
cial" at the President. The chambers of
that might well have struck the President,
reporters: "They ought to get here on time.
the revolver contained six Devastator bul-
McCarthy whirled away from the gun-
They think they can do anything they want.
lets, designed to explode on impact. He shot
man and fell prone. Patrolman Delahan-
Don t let them do that."
twice, paused, then fired off four more
ty, a bullet lodged in his neck, lay scream-
Reagan left the ballroom stage and
rounds-all in a scant two seconds.
ing in pain near the rope.
walked down a 100-yard carpeted corri-
At the first sound of firing, Deaver
Along the wall, agents, police officers
dor that leads to the VIP exit. When he
ducked. The President's grin vanished. He
and a union member leaped on Hinckley.
stepped out onto the sidewalk, the drizzle
looked startled, bewildered. Instinctively,
He struggled furiously for at least 20 sec-
had stopped. The President flashed one
Agent Parr pushed Reagan's head down,
onds before the gun was wrestled away from
of his usual jovial smiles as he headed to-
shoved him hard through the open car
him. One agent brandished his Uzi sub-
ward his car, parked 15 ft. from the exit
door. Reagan's head struck the roof of
machine gun to emphasize orders to his col-
and 10 ft. from the press rope. Agent Un-
the doorway. Both men landed on the
leagues as well as to fend off any threat
26
TIME, APRIL 13, 1981
Nation
from the aghast and screaming crowd;
Brady lost consciousness as he was lift-
or. Then he started to cough up some
for all he knew, it might hold other as-
ed onto a stretcher and placed into the
blood. My first impression was that some-
sailants. Another agent, jammed against
ambulance with an oxygen mask clamped
how a rib had broken and punctured a
the wall in the melee, waved his pistol to-
to his face. Two more ambulances, their
lung." Reagan had the same mistaken
ward the menacing street. "Get a police
sirens wailing, arrived to take Agent Mc-
idea. He later said: "It hurt, but I thought
car! Get a car!" cried the men holding
Carthy and Patrolman Delahanty to sep-
it was a broken rib."
Hinckley. Handcuffing Hinckley and
arate hospitals.
Parr ordered the driver to turn right
throwing a jacket over his head, the of-
and rush toward George Washington
ficers shoved him toward one police car,
n the President's Lincoln, Reagan pro-
University Hospital, 1½ miles from the
but found the rear door locked. They
tested: "Jerry, get off me. You're hurt-
Hilton. By radio Parr advised the Secret
pushed him into a second and sped off to
ing my ribs. You really came down
Service command post at the White
Washington police headquarters, some 30
hard on top of me." The agent apol-
House: "Rawhide is heading for George
blocks away.
ogized and helped Reagan sit upright
Washington." Rawhide is Reagan's apt
The three wounded men still lay on
on the rear seat. The car was speeding
Secret Service code name. His limousine
the ground. After five agonizing minutes,
down Connecticut Avenue toward the
is called Stagecoach.
an orange and white Washington am-
White House. Said Parr later: "I ran my
As Reagan's car pulled up to the hos-
bulance, parked at the Connecticut Av-
hands over his body, under his arms, his
pital's emergency entrance, Parr opened
enue entrance to the hotel, pulled around
back." He detected no wound. The lim-
the right rear door and called for help.
into the T Street driveway. Paramedic
ousine was less than 15 seconds away
Two more agents, following in the bat-
Bobby Montgillion jumped out, ran to
from the Hilton when Reagan said again
tlewagon, helped the President walk to-
Brady and grabbed his hand. "I asked if
that his ribs hurt. "He complained of hav-
ward the entrance. Reagan had gone
he knew what was going on," recalled
ing some problems with his breathing,"
about 45 ft., said Parr, when he sagged.
Montgillion. "He squeezed my hand."
said Parr. "He was getting an ashen col-
"He was perhaps going into shock, but I
Cheap Gun, Will Travel
years ago, has a sticker on the door that reads GUNS DON'T
CAUSE CRIME ANY MORE THAN FLIES CAUSE GARBAGE. In
the window a red, green, blue and black sign advertises
T
he origins of the 22-cal. revolv-
22-cal. revolvers for $47.
er that was used to shoot Pres-
"Hinckley did everything required to buy a gun," says
ident Reagan are in Sontheim, West
Isaac "Rocky" Goldstein, 70, a cigar-chomping, gray-haired
Germany. A picturesque town built
man who has run the shop for 51 years. "People are going
along a tributary of the Danube,
to blame us for selling the gun that shot the President, but
Sontheim is the home of Röhm
we have no way of knowing. We don't even remember him."
GmbH, a 74-year-old firm that
Goldstein, who also sold the small handguns that were used
makes drilling equipment and
in a series of gang shootings in New York City's China-
cheap handgun parts. West Ger-
town in 1978, has been shaken by events, however, and
mans have little use for Röhm
now says he is considering getting out of the gun business.
weapons. The country's gun own-
Hinckley purchased the ammunition that was used at an-
ership laws are strict, and the rel-
other pawn shop, this one in Lubbock, Texas. The type of
atively few people who do qualify
bullet he chose was interesting-and frightening. The car-
to possess handguns tend to choose
Gun Seller Goldstein
tridges were Devastators, made by Bingham Ltd. of Nor-
better-made and more expensive
cross, Ga. These projectiles, akin to dumdum bullets, con-
models. Thus, most Röhm gun parts-perhaps $1 million
tain a small aluminum canister filled with an explosive
worth a year, although company officials refuse to be exact
compound. They cost at least twelve times as much as or-
--are shipped through Bremen and Hamburg to the U.S.,
dinary 22-cal. slugs.
where there is one pistol for every four citizens, and where
Upon impact the unstable compound is supposed to ex-
there is a flourishing market for cheap "Saturday night spe-
plode and fragment the bullet, although most of the ones
cials." Last year the U.S. imported 298,689 foreign hand-
that Hinckley shot, including the one that hit Reagan, failed
guns, most of them from Italy and West Germany, and 3.1
to do so. Bingham spokesmen say that the Devastator was de-
million gun parts.
veloped for use by sky marshals in hijacking cases. By frag-
American law closely regulates the importing of entire
menting, the bullet would quickly incapacitate a person but
guns. But there are far fewer restrictions on bringing in gun
would be less likely than an ordinary bullet to pass through
parts that are then inserted into American-made frames.
him or to puncture the outer skin of an airplane. Because of
RG Industries, Inc., which is partly controlled by Heinrich
manufacturing difficulties, the company stopped producing
and Günter Röhm of the German firm, employs about 200
the Devastator last May.
people to do that kind of assembly work at a shabby white
concrete building in the garment district of northwest Mi-
THE DEVASTATOR BULLET
ami. The cheap alloy frame is smoothed with a file and
then placed on an assembly line where the barrel and Ger-
man parts are inserted. Then the metal is tinted a dark
1
2
3
blue. RG Industries last year sold 190,000 such weapons,
making it the nation's fifth largest handgun producer.
Because of its short (13/4-in.) barrel the model RG 14 re-
An aluminum canister
The "shock
volver that Hinckley used cannot be sold legally in the Miami
containing lead azide,
sensitive"
area. The one that Hinckley bought, serial number L731332,
an explosive compound,
lead azide
was shipped by Southern Gun distributors of nearby Opa-
and lacquer sealer is
can explode
Locka, Fla., directly to Rocky's Pawn Shop on Elm Street
inserted into a small
on impact
fragmenting
hole at the top
the bullet inside
in Dallas. This cluttered emporium, only a quarter of a mile
of the bullet.
the body.
from the site where President John Kennedy was shot 17
TIME. APRIL 13, 1981
29
Nation
never sensed it was life threatening. He
wife and Reagan's children. Meese sug-
was just pale, shook up." Only after the
gested that he and Baker go to the hos-
agents had lifted Reagan onto the table
in the trauma unit and scissored off his
Seriously, Folks
pital. It was a questionable move, since it
separated the dominant troika (Meese,
coat and shirt did anyone realize that the
Baker and Deaver) from the Situation
President had been shot.
The first reports all said that the Pres-
W
hen Nancy Reagan first arrived
Room in the White House. Recalled one
at George Washington University
participant: "Meese was like a rock. Bak-
ident had escaped harm. Nancy Reagan
Hospital, her husband deadpanned:
er was shaken."
learned of the shooting minutes after she
"Honey, I forgot to duck." The Pres-
While the troika set up a mini-com-
returned to the White House from a lun-
ident, a onetime radio sportscaster,
mand post at the hospital, Haig, Regan,
cheon meeting. Her own Secret Service es-
borrowed that line from Prizefighter
Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger
corts told her that her husband was at the
Jack Dempsey, who said it to his
and National Security Adviser Richard
hospital, but they too were unaware that
wife in 1926 after losing the world
Allen moved to the Situation Room in
he had been wounded. She reached the
heavyweight championship to Gene
the White House basement. It has elab-
hospital only minutes after his limousine.
Tunney.
orate communications links to U.S.
The White House staff first learned
The crack was the first in a bar-
military commanders and embassies
of the shooting when David Prosperi, one
rage of good-humored quips that Rea-
throughout the world. CIA Director Wil-
of Brady's assistants, ran to a Hilton tele-
gan tossed off after the shooting. The
liam Casey and Attorney General Wil-
phone. He reached the White House and
remarks, made before he had learned
liam French Smith soon joined the group.
demanded to talk to Assistant Press Sec-
that other victims had been critically
Only Haig had been through a crisis
retary Larry Speakes, shouting: "This is
injured, did much to reassure his fam-
in Government before. One of his first
an emergency!" To Speakes, Prosperi
ily, his staff and the American public
acts was to reach Bush. Since the tele-
cried: "The President has been shot at!
that he was still healthy enough to
phone link was poor, Haig said that he
And Brady's been shot!" Speakes quickly
laugh. They were also the envy of at
would send a wire by a secure radiophone
told Staff Director David Gergen. James
least one other comedian. Said John-
telecopier that Bush should read imme-
Baker, the White House Chief of Staff,
ny Carson to his audience at Holly-
diately. The message: "Mr. Vice Presi-
was sitting in his office when Gergen
wood's Academy Awards ceremony: "I
dent, the President has been struck."
rushed in at 2:30 p.m. to shout: "Brady's
was tempted to call him and ask if he
Aboard the plane, Bush gave the order:
been hit!"
had any more of those one-liners I
"We're going to refuel in Austin and go
Peter Teeley, press secretary to Vice
could use."
back." Then he wondered aloud: "How
President George Bush, immediately
Examples of the President's jests:
could anybody want to kill such a kind-
placed a radiotelephone call to his boss,
To surgeons, as he entered the op-
hearted man?"
who had just left Fort Worth-Dallas air-
erating room: "Please tell me you're
When Bush's plane landed in Austin,
port aboard Air Force Two after speak-
Republicans."
Secret Service agents insisted he stay on
ing to the Texas and Southwestern Cat-
In a written note, upon coming out
board. Recalled one of his aides there:
tle Raisers Association. He was on his way
of anesthesia in the recovery room
"The first thing on our minds was secu-
to Austin to address the Texas legisla-
(paraphrasing Comedian W.C. Fields):
rity. If they got the President in Wash-
ture. Teeley told Bush that the President
"All in all, I'd rather be in
ington, were they waiting for the Vice
was not hurt.
Philadelphia."
President in Austin?" Texas Governor
In another note, recalling a Winston
William Clements and his wife visited
aker rushed to tell Presidential
Churchill observation: "There's no
Bush as the plane was refueled. Then it
B
Counsellor Ed Meese the news;
more exhilarating feeling than being
headed from Texas back to Washington.
Meese too had heard it. He had
shot at without result."
At 3:10 p.m., some 35 minutes after
punched a button on 2 Secret Service com-
In a third note: "Send me to
the Secret Service had learned that Rea-
puter that tracks the President; it showed
L.A., where I can see the air I'm
gan had been shot, the White House final-
that Reagan was at the hospital. Both
breathing."
ly informed the press of the injury. That
hurried to the White House residence to
In yet another note written while
delay, and others that followed, contrib-
inform Nancy but discovered that she was
surrounded by medical staff: "If I had
uted to a sense of confusion as television
already on her way to the hospital. Back
this much attention in Hollywood, I'd
networks, breaking off regular program-
in his office, Baker took a telephone call
have stayed there."
ming, struggled to sift fact from rumor.
from Deaver at the hospital. The Pres-
Complimented by a doctor for be-
ident was not wounded, said Deaver, but
ing a good patient: "I have to be. My
aig contributed to the tension when,
Brady was badly hurt. "Oh, Jesus!" ex-
father-in-law is a doctor."
H
with the best of intentions, he sought
claimed Meese, listening on an extension.
To an attentive nurse: "Does Nan-
to clear up any potential confusion
Presidential Aide David Fischer took over
cy know about us?"
about whether the U.S. Government was
the telephone at the hospital to keep the
To a nurse who told him to "keep
functioning, particularly among Ameri-
line open. Secretary of State Alexander
up the good work" of his recovery:
ca's allies-and enemies-abroad. He
Haig called Baker on another phone to
"You mean this may happen several
was in the Situation Room about 4 p.m.
ask about the shooting. "I will keep you
more times?"
when Speakes gave reporters in the White
advised," said Baker. Two minutes later,
To Daughter Maureen: The at-
House a brief explanation of Reagan's
Deaver was on the hospital phone, speak-
tempted assassination "ruined one of
presurgery treatment at the hospital.
ing in somber tones. Then Reagan's per-
my best suits."
While TV cameras caught the scene,
sonal physician, Dr. Daniel Ruge, came
Greeting White House aides the
Speakes was asked, "If the President goes
on to deliver the bad news: the President
morning after surgery: "Hi, fellas.
into surgery and goes under anesthesia,
had been hit after all.
I knew it would be too much to
would Vice President Bush become the
In rapid succession, Treasury Secre-
hope that we could skip a staff
acting President at the moment or under
tary Donald Regan-whose department
meeting."
what circumstances does he?" Replied
includes the Secret Service-Haig and
When told by Aide Lyn Nofziger
Speakes, who was not prepared for the
others joined the group of White House
that the Government was running nor-
question: "I cannot answer that question
staffers in Baker's office. Initially, there
mally: "What makes you think I'd be
at this time." Watching, Haig sent a note
was little talk of military alerts or pro-
happy about that?"
to Speakes. It said, in effect: "Get off the
viding for a transfer of power; they dis-
air." The delivery of the note alarmed
cussed such matters as notifying Brady's
reporters present, particularly when
30
TIME, APRIL 13, 1981
Nation
Speakes understandably refused to dis-
Reagan had gone horseback riding at
close its contents and left the rostrum.
Quantico.
Haig felt that any uncertainty over
who was in charge could be dangerous.
"Part of the Job"
Early Tuesday morning, Reagan asked
about the man who had shot him, phras-
He rushed upstairs to the briefing room
ing the question in his usual casual man-
and tried to convey a sense of calm. In-
stead. he was perspiring, his voice shook,
S
hould Ronald Reagan, once he re-
ner: "Does anybody know what that guy's
covers, change his style and min-
beef was?" Later in the day, Dr. Ruge told
and his hands trembled. He assured re-
gle less with the public to minimize
Reagan for the first.time that three others
porters that there was no command va-
the risk of possible future attempts
had been wounded. Said Reagan: "That
cancy, that communications were open
on his life? Certainly not, says a man
means four bullets hit, good Lord." He
with the Vice President, and that no spe-
who should know: former President
wondered if the gunman had fired delib-
cial military-alert measures were neces-
Gerald Ford. Within a span of only
erately at the others or whether they had
sary. But then he blundered. Asked,
17 days in 1975, two women, Lynette
been struck by shots aimed at him. "I didn it
"Who's making the decisions?" he replied:
("Squeaky") Fromme and Sara Jane
want a supporting cast," he said. His eyes
"Constitutionally, gentlemen, you have
Moore, tried to shoot Ford in Cal-
filled with tears as he talked about the oth-
the President, the Vice President and the
ifornia. Last week he shared his
ers. "I guess it goes with the territory,' he
Secretary of State in that order and should
thoughts on the dangers of the pres-
said sadly.
the President decide he wants to transfer
idency with TIME West Coast Bu-
As news of the shooting flashed
the helm to the Vice President, he will
reau Chief Ben Cate. After the two
around the world, many nations ex-
do so. He has not done that. As of now, I
incidents in 1975, said Ford, "I didn't
pressed sympathy for the President but
am in control here, in the White House,
change my style, and I don't think
predictably criticized the American ten-
pending return of the Vice President."
any President should." To do so, he
dency toward mayhem. "I pray your in-
That, of course, is not the constitu-
said, would be to "capitulate to the
juries are not serious," cabled Britain's
tional order of succession; both the Speak-
wrong forces in the country."
Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. West
er of the House and the President pro tem
The ever-present threat of assas-
German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt re-
of the Senate, as elected officials, rank
sination is "part of the job-the peril
layed his "deep houror," and Egyptian
ahead of the Secretary of State. Perhaps
of the profession, if you will," said
President Anwar Sadat his "extreme
realizing his mistake, Haig was annoyed
Ford. "There's no way you can get
shock and sorrow." Japan's largest daily,
minutes later when Weinberger interrupt-
100% security unless you sit in the
Yomiuri Shimbun, said the attack "proves
ed Haig's discussion in the Situation
White House immunized. But you
that violence is deep-rooted in U.S. soil."
Room about the succession provisions of
can't isolate yourself. The job entails
West Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine
the 25th Amendment. With a slight edge
certain responsibilities. One of those
Zeitung charged that America is "a coun-
in his voice, Weinberger said jokingly,
responsibilities is moving around see-
try of pistols on hips." Soviet President
"Al, we already heard you explain your
ing people and appearing in public.
Leonid Brezhnev expressed his "indigna-
view of the Constitution." Haig stopped
If you're in the job, you have to ac-
tion" at "this criminal act" and wished
and glared at the Defense Secretary. "You
cept that gamble."
Reagan "a full and speedy recovery."
should check the Constitution," Haig re-
Meanwhile the Communist Party youth
plied. Everyone in the room sensed the
newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda, de-
tension. Then the moment passed.
picted the U.S. as a society "where terror
whisked into a U.S. district courtroom to
is a phenomenon of daily life." And Iran's
ar more soothing to a wondering na-
be charged formally with the attempted as-
Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini said about
F
tion was the surprisingly agile and
sassination of the President, a crime car-
Reagan, even before he knew the Pres-
articulate medical briefing at George
rying a maximum life sentence upon con-
ident was not seriously hurt: "We are not
Washington University Hospital. It was
viction, and assaulting a federal officer.
going to mourn for him."
given by Dr. Dennis O'Leary, a former
Before dawn, he was moved into a small
Abroad, as in the U.S., there was a
Marine major who has taught medicine
prison cell at the Marine Correctional Fa-
sense of déjà vu. "Oh no, not again!" said
at George Washington since 1973 and is
cility in Quantico, Va. Just two weeks ago
a man in Helsinki as he picked up a news-
now dean for clinical
paper at a kiosk. A news-
affairs. Handling repet-
paper in Athens charged
itive and sometimes
that-what else?-the
inane questions with
CIA was responsible.
precision and amiability,
At home, former
O'Leary insisted that the
Presidential Candidate
President "was at no
John Anderson declared
time in any serious dan-
that "we are all dimin-
ger. He has a clear head
ished, we are all de-
and should be able
meaned, by an act of vi-
to make decisions by
olence of that kind. The
tomorrow."
Wall Street Journal ob-
At Washington po-
served in an editorial
lice headquarters, Hinck-
that "the forces that
ley, sweating but mostly
move men to violence
silent, was held in a third-
seem to be on the up-
floor homicide squad
surge" and "we are dis-
room while federal and
mayed at our impotence
local officials decided
before them." Noted the
who had jurisdiction in
Los Angeles Times:
his case. The feds won,
"Doctors said
that he
and Hinckley was photo-
was in stable condition.
graphed and fingerprint-
The country is not." Ad-
ed by the FBI. At
miration for the Presi-
11:52 p.m. the heavily
Sarah Brady, at left of Bush (with notebook), outside her husband's hospital room
dent's courage and calm
guarded Hinckley was Said a shocked and tearful President: "I didn t want a supporting cast."
under fire, as well as for
TIME. APRIL 13. 1981
37
Nation
the vitality of his 70-year-old physique,
ber, and that someone was expecting him
his own life. Agent Parr too was com-
was widespread but not universal. At the
in the city just before the shooting. In
plimented for his fast reaction. Contended
Academy Central School in Tulsa, a few
Hinckley's hotel room, police and FBI
one veteran agent: "Everyone did exact-
students clapped and cheered when they
agents found clippings from a Dec. 10 ar-
ly what he was supposed to do. It was
heard news of the assassination attempt.
ticle in the Washington Post. The next
like watching a training film."
Former President Carter praised the
day Reagan visited the Hilton to address
Still, how did the gunman get so close?
Secret Service and said the assault showed
a meeting convened by the American En-
He carried no press credentials, which ac-
again the need for gun control. A sur-
terprise Institute, a conservative think
credited reporters and cameramen wear
prising possible convert to that cause was
tank. Reagan left the hotel through the
about their necks and are supposed to
South Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond,
same exit he used when Hinckley tried
keep visible at all times. The Secret Ser-
who said he is at least willing to consider
to kill him. Agents so far have been un-
vice insists there was no intention to cre-
banning the importation of parts for Sat-
able to trace the two calls Hinckley made
ate a closed press area at the Hilton site.
urday night specials. Senator Edward
after checking into the Park Central. Ho-
The spectators were not considered in-
Kennedy said he would again propose leg-
tel employees said two calls were made
truders. Why was not the presidential car
islation to outlaw totally the manufacture
to his room. One was a wrong number
parked directly in front of the exit, in-
and sale of that type of gun. But Carter
-a woman trying to reach a relative who
stead of 15 ft. away? The Service claimed
noted that members of Congress "didn't
was registered elsewhere in the hotel. The
that the positioning permitted a faster exit
move after 1963. They didn't move
and was normal. "They are wrong,"
when George Wallace was attacked.
insists TIME Photographer Dirck
And they didn't move after Bobby
Halstead. "I've covered that exit
Kennedy was killed. These guns that
many times, and the President's car
are only used to kill someone, not for
was always right in front of it."
hunting, ought to be regulated, but I
Secret Service Chief H. Stuart
predict they won't be."
Knight indirectly criticized the FBI
Within moments of Hinckley's
for failing to inform the Service that
arrest the FBI dispatched its agents
Hinckley had been arrested at the
to weave a net of evidence that would
Nashville airport for carrying three
form the legal case against him. They
handguns in his briefcase on Oct. 9.
found the unmailed letter to Jodie
On that day Jimmy Carter had been
Foster in his Washington hotel room
in the city to make a campaign
-a note that amounted to a highly
speech at the Grand Ole Opry house.
explicit confession. The investigators
Yet there was no evidence that
also found a tape recording of tele-
THERE AINT NO REPUBLICANS OR
Hinckley had been tracking Carter.
phone conversations between Hinck-
DEMOCRATS NOW WE ARE ALL FAMILY
Spirited into a helicopter at the
ley and a woman who might have
GET WELL QUICK RON
Quantico base by FBI agents, who
been Foster; it is possible that Hinck-
made him bend over and run, Hinck-
WE
NEED
YOU!
ley made the calls anonymously.
America
ley late last week was flown to an
Thrust innocently into a national
Army post near Washington. There
spotlight she had not sought, the ac-
he was transferred to a limousine
tress held a news conference at Yale
and brought in handcuffs to a fed-
to confirm that she had received
eral courtroom under security so tight
many "unsolicited" love notes from
that even the clerk of court had to
Hinckley. None had mentioned the
show identification. A paramedic with
President, she said, and none had
an oxygen tank sat behind Hinckley
contained any hints of violence.
in the courtroom. A court-appointed
But the letters became so persistent
psychiatrist, Dr. James L. Evans, tes-
that last month she gave the ones
tified that his three-hour examination
she had not earlier destroyed to her
of Hinckley showed he was "mentally
college dean. He turned them over
competent to stand trial." District
to campus police, who found noth-
A message to Reagan on the wall of a Washington factory
Court Chief Judge William B. Bry-
ing in them that would warrant
"Guns that are only used to kill ought to be registered.'
ant ordered that the suspect be ex-
warning anyone else about Hinckley.
amined further to establish his men-
The FBI now has these letters.
other was from an unidentified woman
tal condition. Hinckley's family had hired
Demonstrating the importance of reg-
who asked for Hinckley by name.
the firm headed by Defense Attorney Ed-
istering handgun sales, the Treasury De-
ward Bennett Williams to represent their
partment's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
he rapidity of the shots fired at the
son; the lawyers argued that any such ex-
and Firearms within minutes discovered
T
Hilton made it difficult for the FBI
amination should be done first by defense-
where Hinckley had purchased the weap-
to pinpoint the sequence of the mul-
chosen experts. Bryant denied the request
on: at Rocky's Pawn Shop in Dallas. If
tiple wounding. Studying the video tapes
but assured defense attorneys that their
Hinckley had somehow eluded capture,
and the ballistics evidence, the FBI ten-
psychiatrists would have "equal access"
tracing this sale would have given the FBI
tatively concluded that Reagan was hit
to Hinckley.
the gunman's identity.
after he had been doubled over by Agent
Finally John W. Hinckley Jr. was
FBI agents are convinced that there
Parr and was being pushed into his car.
flown by helicopter to the Federal Correc-
was no plot, no conspiracy and that
In a freak bit of chance, the bullet ap-
tional Institution in Butner, N.C., where
Hinckley had acted on his own. None-
parently bounced off the car's window
psychiatric examinations could take up to
theless, they were busy tracing his past
frame and through the narrow gap be-
three months. The legal question may turn
connections with the Chicago-based Na-
tween the open door and the car body.
out to be whether he was sane at the time of
tional Socialist Party of America. A neo-
But had the Secret Service done all it
the crime. The larger question for the U.S.
Nazi group, it claims to have expelled him
could to protect the President? As con-
was whether the course of its history must
in 1979 for being "too militant." Agents
gressional committees began a series of
continue to be influenced by the mental
were also puzzling over evidence suggest-
post-assault probes, there was lavish
misfits in its midst.
-By Magnuson.
ing that the suspect may have been stalk-
praise for Agent McCarthy, who had
Reported by Douglas Brew and Johanna
ing Reagan in Washington last Decem-
stepped into the line of fire at the risk of
McGeary/Washington
38
TIME, APRIL 13, 1981
An Interview with Nancy Reagan
What had to be done at that moment
was an exploration for abdominal bleed-
ing. Nancy's recollections now rush out.
"All you 're thinking is you 've got to hold yourself together
"They put me in a tiny, tiny little room,
really tiny, no window, and it was hot.
Control. Along with
When she arrived outside the emer-
There were so many people running back
cool charm, good looks
gency room she was at first informed, by
and forth in the halls, police and doctors
and an obsessive desire
Mike Deaver, that Reagan had been
and a lot of noise, a lot of people shout-
to walk in her hus-
wounded, but only slightly. Her worry es-
ing, 'Get back, get out of the way.' Then
band's shadow, control
calated slowly. Moments later, doctors
she went to the hospital chapel to say a
is a buttress of Nancy Reagan's persona.
told them that it was more serious than
prayer and weep a little.
That willed restraint is visible in hurly-
Deaver had thought, and she saw her pale,
Nancy and the man she still insists
burly crowd scenes, in interviews that usu-
prostrate husband.
on calling Ronnie have been as close as
ally leave reporters unsatisfied and on the
What did she feel? Fear? Anger?
any couple can be in politics. She travels
rare occasions when she speaks from a
"There's an unreal kind of feeling It's
with him constantly, she fusses over small
platform. And the control is there just four
hard to describe. There's an unrealness
details of his care and feeding, she casts
days after the attempt on her husband's
to it Nancy Reagan gropes for words,
looks of adoration or amusement, as the
life as she greets a correspondent in
NAMEE
scene demands. Now, in the worst mo-
the East Wing sitting room on the sec-
ments of their 29-year marriage, she
ond floor of the White House. The
was demoted to spectator. That passed
chamber has been Reaganized. There
in a few hours. The day after, she was
are two jars of jelly beans and a dish
bringing him jelly beans and his slip-
of bonbons. A pair of massive tradi-
pers. She also accompanied the White
tional sofas has come cross country
House physician, Daniel Ruge, when
from their former home in Pacific
he told Reagan that Jim Brady had
Palisades.
been seriously wounded. Reagan
The First Lady's friends say that
turned teary-eyed at the news.
she feels "guilty" about being else-
where* when the slug tore into Rea-
A
Il week two schools of thought were
gan's left side. She has spent the week
in conflict: a concession that at-
visiting hospital rooms-the Presi-
tacks on the President are inevitable
dent's and those of the three men shot
vs. outraged demands that something
with him. She has been consoling Sar-
--anything-be done. Reagan's eldest
ah Brady, knowing that a slight change
child, Maureen, went on television to
in the angle of the gun barrel could
pronounce her angry demand that vi-
have laid Reagan as low as Jim Bra-
olence be quelled by public indigna-
dy, or worse.
tion. Where does Nancy stand? "I
But her smile is as warm as the sun-
guess I'm somewhere in between
shine that engulfs the room. In a beige
there." Her composure is back and for
tweed skirt and tasteful silk blouse,
once she ventures into what she usu-
with every dark blond hair in place
ally pretends is terra incognita for her,
and her huge hazel eyes clear, Nan-
public policy. The excursion is signaled
cy Reagan looks as much like spring
with an apologetic little laugh. "You
as the tulips and hyacinths that fes-
know, I'd be happier if they didn't
toon the room. And when she starts
make the violent movies that they
talking, the control is there. No, she
make and maybe titillate people who
had not worried much about physical
are not mentally stable. I'd be hap-
assault, not any more. Reagan had
pier if sentences
if people were
been threatened frequently while Gov-
brought to trial more quickly and if
ernor in Sacramento; in 1968 a se-
the whole thing [criminal justice] were
curity man shot at someone trying to
tightened up. I think that would cer-
fire-bomb the Governor's residence.
tainly be an improvement."
"It was the tenor of the times," she
What about the ubiquity of psy-
says of that period. "But during the
chopaths and firearms? The answer is
past campaign, and certainly since
The First Lady bringing jelly beans to the hospital
rapid: "You know Ronnie's position.
the election, the only thing we felt
In between the concessions and the demands.
He just doesn't believe that's where the
was such warmth and affection that
problem is." In fact, she notes, Rea-
[fear of attack] wasn't up front."
something rare for her. Usually she dis-
gan mentioned his continued opposition
misses an unwelcome question politely, as
to gun control to several visitors in his hos-
H
er restraint begins to dissolve as she
if it were a boring suitor. This time she
pital room.
goes over the events of Bloody Mon-
seems as interested in finding the answer
Her husband's convalescence will
day. She was on the third floor of the man-
as the reporter is.
dominate Nancy Reagan's next several
sion, in guest quarters that are still being
"You're frightened, sure," she says
weeks. Eventually there will be trips and
renovated, when a Secret Service agent
finally. "Of course you're frightened, es-
public appearances. Maybe she will nag
told her: "There has been a shooting. The
pecially because he was having trouble
Reagan about wearing a bulletproof vest,
President has not been hit, but he is at
breathing. But it just seemed so unreal.
as he occasionally did during the pres-
the hospital." She decided to leave im-
And I guess you
must
go
into
a
sort
idential campaign. But will they be able
mediately, even though, as she recalls it,
of a
to go into crowds comfortably again?
she was told, "It is such bedlam there, so
The thought trails off. She sighs.
"Well, I don't know how it's going to feel
much confusion, maybe it would be
She hugs herself with both arms as
the first time. I don't know. It really comes
better if you stayed here a while."
if to feel the image before she speaks
down to this: you have a job to do and
it. "Then all you're thinking is
you do it the best you can. Time will tell
*Mrs. Reagan had attended a luncheon at the
you've got to hold yourself together
if it's going to be harder." Certainly Nan-
Georgetown home of Michael Ainsley, president of
the National Trust for Historic Preservation. She re-
and not be a bother to anybody so that
cy Reagan will need all the control she
turned to the White House minutes before the attack.
they can do whatever has to be done."
has.
-By Laurence 1. Barrett
TIME. APRIL 13. 1981
39
The stalker at his quarry's home: an undated photograph of John W. Hinckley Jr. sitting outside the White House grounds
A Drifter Who Stalked Success
and a swimming pool out back.
He was not a troublesome teen-ager
or even a loner. Indeed, in the seventh
"Something happened to that boy in the last six years"
and ninth grades he was elected presi-
dent of his home room, and as an eighth-
It cannot be said fairly
Hinckley Sr. took a job in Dallas, 100
grader managed the basketball team.
that John Warnock
miles south. The growing family was
John Hinckley was no aloof oddball then.
Hinckley Jr., 25, was
good-looking and healthy and Protestant,
Says his junior-high friend Kirk Dooley:
destined for infamy.
and all five settled down to life in Uni-
"No one rooted louder than Hinckley for
He is accused of a
versity Park, a moneyed Dallas suburb of
the Highland Park Red Raiders."
shooting that, perhaps even to him, is a
broad lawns and handsome houses. The
By 1970 John's father had amassed
surprise; the first openly extraordinary act
Hinckleys are "a fine Christian family,"
capital of $120,000 and set up his own oil
of his life. This son of Sunbelt affluence
according to one friend, and regular
exploration business. Hinckley Oil, now
-blond, blue-eyed, with the fleshy good
churchgoers; it was fitting that their first
known as Vanderbilt Energy Corp., af-
looks of a country club lay-about-had
home in Dallas was a former parsonage.
firmed the man's entrepreneurial mettle.
never been outwardly quirky or unpleas-
Scott, now 32, ever the good eldest child,
And Son Scott, an engineering major at
ant. His unremarkability. confounds the
sought and won parental approbation;
Vanderbilt University, would soon join his
desire for tidy, comforting explanations.
Diane, now 28, was exceptionally blond
dad's wildcat enterprise.
Says a family friend: "There but for the
and pretty in a neighborhood of blond,
In the fall of 1970, John Jr. began
grace of God goes anyone's kid." Beverly
pretty little girls; and John, never a prob-
classes at Highland Park High School,
McBeath was no friend at Highland Park
lem, joined the Y.M.C.A.'s Indian Guides
where his sister was a senior. That year
(Texas) High School, but she speaks for
and distinguished himself in grammar-
Diane Hinckley apparently burst forth as
all her schoolmates when she recalls that
school sports. Recalls Jim Francis, John's
a campus star; she performed in a school
John Hinckley was "so normal he ap-
basketball coach for three
operetta, she was head
peared to fade into the woodwork." None-
years during elementary
cheerleader, homecoming
theless, some time in the barren years
school: "He was a beau-
queen candidate, vice
since his 1973 graduation from high
tiful-looking little boy, a
president of the choir,
school, Hinckley went beyond mere or-
wonderful athlete, really a
member of both the stu-
dinariness. His solitude and fecklessness
leader. He was the best
dent council and the A-
became chronic, and he started drifting:
basketball player on the
students' National Honor
to seedy neighborhoods in Los Angeles
team." No wonder the fa-
Society. There are at least
and Denver, toward fascism, and then to
ther of such a child, told
ten pictures of her in the
his climactic infatuations with handguns
years later that his son was
yearbook, which cited her
and a teen-age movie star. Says his fa-
being held as an assassin,
as one of the class's eight
ther's business associate Clarence Neth-
would scowl in disbelief:
"favorites." She was a for-
erland: "Something happened to that boy
"It had to be a stolen ID."
midable sibling presence
in the last six to eight years to break him
In 1966 the Hinckleys
for Sophomore John.
from the family tradition and the family
traded up: they moved to
During his junior year
life-style." In fact, John Hinckley's past
Highland Park, the neigh-
John was a member of the
years seem not to constitute a break so
borhood-of-choice for
civic affairs club, and as a
much as Hollywood's slow fade to black.
haute Dallas. The house
senior he was in the Ro-
John Jr. was Jack and JoAnn Hinck-
on Beverly Drive where
deo Club, which organized
ley's last child. He was born on May 29,
John Jr. spent the years
barbecues; square dances
1955. in the southern Oklahoma town of
of his adolescence is
and junkets to rodeos. In
Ardmore, where his father worked as a
large, with a sweeping
his yearbook John's roster
petroleum engineer. Two years later
circular driveway in front Hinckley in a recent ID photo
of activities was scanty but
40
TIME. APRIL 13, 1981
unembarrassing. just as his senior-picture
member of the sect for more than a year.
hair length seemed perfectly median, nei-
and in March 1978 marched in a Nazi pa-
ther long nor short. Bill Lierman. the
rade in St. Louis. Allen claims they kicked
Rodeo Club's sponsor, recalled nothing
Hinckley out in 1979. Allen's explanation:
untoward. Says Lierman: "He wasn't a
"When somebody comes to us and starts
rowdy. He got along fine with all the
advocating shooting people, it's a natural
kids." And a sampling of schoolmates'
reaction: the guy's either a nut or a federal
reminiscences shows a consensus. David
agent." Hinckley was a voracious reader
Wildman. the basketball captain, calls
of newspapers, so it is logical that his af-
him "a middle-of-the-roader."
filiation with the Nazis began in early
Only Sally Bentley, 26, disputes the
1978: it was then that a spate of national
hazy image of genial blandness. "He was
news stories appeared about the National
well known because his sister was well
Socialists, mostly involving their planned
known," says the woman. "John was
marches through the heavily Jewish com-
mousy. His sister was friendly and cute
munity of Skokie, III.
and alive. I thought he was sour about
that. John never did anything outstanding
A
fter more than a year's hiatus from
or memorable."
Texas Tech-a period of deepening
Lubbock, dry and bleak, is 318 miles
disturbance for Hinckley-he registered
from Dallas on the flat cap rock of west
for classes in September 1979. He also be-
Texas. The population is 180,000, and
gan his acquisition of firearms with a .38-
22.000 are Texas Tech students. John
cal. pistol, purchased in Lubbock, where
Hinckley Jr. was one of them, a business
a year later he bought two new .22 pis-
major, as of September 1973. He never fin-
tols at a pawnshop. When the 1980 sum-
ished. but over the next seven years
mer session ended, Hinckley left Texas
Hinckley attended classes more than half
Tech for good to begin his last addled
the time. By 1977 he had dropped business
ramble around the country. His path
in favor of liberal arts and earned at least
seems one of accelerating aimlessness and
a B average-good enough to be on the
Jodie Foster as prostitute in TaxiDriver
fragmentation.
dean's list. But once away from home, he
A desperate, deluded infatuation.
Hinckley found himself in New Ha-
made not even a token effort to fashion a
ven, Conn., in September-within days
social life. Says a Texas Tech spokesman:
just before Hinckley left for Los Angeles.
after Foster's matriculation at Yale-and
"We can't find a single university-recog-
The film, according to a synopsis, con-
boasted to strangers that they were lovers.
nized activity he participated in."
cerns "a loner incapable of communicat-
In October he returned to New Haven
ing," who "usually spends his off hours
and left several notes for Foster at her
n 1975, John's parents moved to Ever-
eating junk food or sitting alone in a dingy
dormitory.
green. Colo., a Ponderosa town some
room." When the protagonist is scorned
A few days later, Hinckley was ar-
25 miles outside Denver. It is that city's
by Foster's character, he mails her a letter
rested-and promptly released on $50
choicest mountain suburb: a place of
and sets out to kill a presidential candi-
bond-at Nashville Airport as he at-
steep. piney cul-de-sacs and well-to-do
date. The coincidences are powerful and
tempted to board a flight for New York
placidity. On some of his periodic sabbat-
given credence by a letter that Scriptwrit-
City: in his carry-on luggage were three
icals from Texas Tech, John Jr. alighted
er Paul Schrader got last fall-from J.W.
handguns and 50 rounds of ammunition.
at the new family home, and while there
Hinckley. Schrader told TIME he thought
Although President Carter was making a
he often loitered at the local high school,
the letter was from a smitten groupie who
campaign appearance in Nashville the
presumably seeking companionship.
wanted to meet Foster, and he had his sec-
same day, the Secret Service was never
Not a single pal or girlfriend has
retary throw it away.
told of Hinckley's airport arrest. This may
turned up from those seven sketchy years
Hinckley returned to Texas Tech dur-
be the first clear, though unheeded, sig-
at Texas Tech. His few acquaintances re-
ing 1977, but his enrollment lapsed again
nal of Hinckley as stalker.
call Hinckley as an expressionless blank.
during 1978. It was then that he began his
Four days later in Dallas he bought a
Still he caused no alarm. Says German
flirtation with Nazism. According to Mi-
pair of .22-cal. revolvers at a pawnshop.
History Professor Otto Nelson: "I never
chael Allen, president of the National So-
Within a week Hinckley had surfaced in
picked up anything unusual or bizarre
cialist Party of America, Hinckley was a
Denver, where he applied for jobs at two
about him. He never asked a thing in
class." (Hinckley did, however, choose to
specialize: one paper focused on Hitler's
Mein Kampf. his other on Auschwitz.)
Says Mark Swafford, one of his Lubbock
landlords: "I only saw him with another
human being one time." Hinckley's stu-
dent life was a sad, remote vigil. "Every-
where there were empty bags from ham-
burger joints and cartons of ice cream,"
says Swafford. "He just sat there the whole
time. staring at the TV."
In late 1976 Hinckley went to Califor-
nia. He intended, John Sr. told a friend, to
"crash Hollywood." He ended up at How-
ard's Weekly Apartments, in the seamy
Selma Avenue district of Los Angeles-a
street market for whores, drugs and every
kind of sleaze. Perhaps during this period
Hinckley developed his obsession with
Actress Jodie Foster. Consider the plot
parallels of the movie Taxi Driver, star-
ring Foster as a prostitute and released
Cedar and moss-rock Hinckley home in Evergreen, Colo., a Denver suburb
TIME. APRIL 13. 1981
41
Nation
newspapers, claiming to one that he had
just finished a month of classes at Yale. A
Those Dangerous Loners
few weeks later, in a Denver suburb, he at-
tended two meetings of the right-wing
National Association for Constitutional
"I
must have fame, fame!" cried John Wilkes Booth, and then established him-
Government. In December, the FBI sus-
self as the first of the modern American assassins. Though full of fustian
pects, Hinckley visited Washington, but
about his love for the Confederacy (he managed to avoid fighting for it, or even
in January he was back in the Denver
living in it, during the Civil War), Booth was clear-headed and precise about
area, where, on Reagan's first full day in
the psychic rewards and second-hand renown that come with dispatching a fa-
office, Hinckley bought a .38-cal. revolv-
mous man. "What a glorious opportunity for a man to immortalize himself by kill-
er. In February he returned to New
ing Abraham Lincoln!" he remarked two years before his crime.
Haven a third time, and then perhaps to
Like Booth and unlike most assassins elsewhere in the
Washington.
world, Americans who try to kill the famous are engaged pri-
By the first of March, Hinckley was
marily in psychodrama rather than political drama. They do
again in New Haven; he delivered more
not seem to care much whether their victim belongs to the
missives to Foster. Back in Denver a week
left or the right. Arthur Bremer, who crippled George Wal-
later, he checked into a shabby motel.
lace, thought first of killing George McGovern. Lee Harvey
Says one of the motel's maids: "He didn't
Oswald apparently shot at General Edwin Walker, a right-
say much, but he was nice to everyone
wing fanatic, before killing President Kennedy. Giuseppe
--just a clean-cut, good-living kid." In his
Zangara, who took aim at President-elect Franklin D. Roo-
first days in Denver he applied for a job
sevelt in 1933 (accidentally killing the mayor of Chicago),
at a record shop and pawned his type-
said that he would just as soon have killed Herbert Hoover.
writer and electric guitar.
Most, but not all, American assassins fit this group por-
On March 25, Hinckley flew to Los
Oswald
trait: a young white male, a failure and a drifter, unloved and
Angeles via Salt Lake City, and the next
unloving; sexually dissatisfied, he has little or no contact with
day boarded a bus headed back to Salt
women. Ordinary murderers often come from violent homes or were violent as
Lake City-and on to Washington, D.C.
youngsters. But the assassins are deceptively calm, even passive. The pattern is
that of shy, well-behaved, often mousy loners, whose efforts to control themselves
F
or perhaps the past six months, John
succeed, until pressures explode in an assassination attempt.
Hinckley was under sporadic treat-
Most assassins seem to have been the equivalent of "model prisoners" in their
ment by Evergreen Psychiatrist John
own families, diminished by a powerful parent, unable to express themselves or
Hopper. No one but Dr. Hopper may be
let out their normal aggressive and sexual feelings. When the demons inside final-
equipped to sketch a psychiatric profile
ly burst through, an ordinary victim would not do. The target had to be as far
of Reagan's attacker. But particularly af-
above the average citizen as the parent was above the assassin-son.
ter the release of the final letter that
Many have zigzagged from city to city, partly to stalk their targets in an eery
Hinckley wrote to Foster, many psychi-
dance of death-drawing close, then pulling away-and partly to express in fran-
atrists have been willing to conjecture. Dr.
tic motion a personality threatened with disintegration. Os-
Thomas Gutheil, of the Massachusetts
wald traveled to the Soviet Union, New Orleans and Mex-
Mental Health Center, says that Hinck-
ico; John Lennon's accused killer, Mark Chapman, moved
ley may be a victim of erotomania in one
from Tennessee to Atlanta to Honolulu and New York.
of its forms: obsession with a celebrity.
Lacking in self-esteem, many have donned and doffed
Harvard Psychiatry Professor Donald
different identities like costumes. Some have tried to weave
Russell believes that Reagan, not Foster,
identities out of fictional strands. Bremer imagined himself
was central to Hinckley's psychology, and
as the son of Actress Donna Reed. Sara Jane Moore, who
several colleagues also doubt the impor-
tried to shoot President Ford, thought of herself as a Halo
tance of the movie-star crush. Says Rus-
shampoo girl. The movie Taxi Driver wove together many
sell: "He was obviously out to get these
themes found in the lives of American assassins. A taxi driv-
father figures." Hinckley's eclipse by an
er (played by Robert De Niro), obsessed with shooting a pres-
elder sibling was critical, says Chicago
idential candidate and protecting a young prostitute (Jodie Bremer
Psychiatrist Irving Harris. "The young
Foster), beset by aggressive urges as well as sexual ones
brother tends to be overshadowed. If the
(coded in the film as a pure-hearted defense of a prostitute), finds an acceptable
man can't find a socially accepted chan-
resolution: he spares the candidate and instead shoots the girl's pimp and one of
nel, he can become an assassin." Dr.
her johns, thus symbolically killing his lust and emerging in his own eyes as some-
James Gilligan, another Harvard profes-
thing of a hero.
sor, finds Hinckley's insanity improbable.
Assassins have rarely shown remorse after their killings. They have, how-
Says he: "Most violence is not done by
ever, been generally interested in explaining their acts and claiming to have
truly psychotic people. They are not com-
played a historic role. Zangara went quietly to the electric chair and lost his com-
pletely normal, but that doesn't mean they
posure only at the last minute when he learned no pho-
are crazy." Dr. Gutheil cautions that no
tographers were there to record the scene. Some psychi-
accurate explanation is apt to be simple:
atrists say the assassin homes in on his target, not just to
more likely in Hinckley's mind was a dis-
seize some of the victim's fame but to achieve, at long last,
sonant snarl of emotions and delusions,
a permanent identity. "They can gas me, but I am famous,"
which in concert led him to Washington.
said Sirhan Sirhan. "I have achieved in one day what it
Indeed, any explanation at all can
took Robert Kennedy all his life to do."
smack of the pat. The consequence of
Several assassins have conveniently left behind incrim-
lives like John Hinckley Jr.'s may be to
inating diaries and letters. Some have also left behind books
amend a patriotic platitude. Perhaps not
and clippings of previous assassinations, a reminder that
every little boy can grow up to be Pres-
these murders, like hijackings, can break out in mini-
ident, but he can, for the price of a
epidemics. Who knows? Another awkward loner may to-
pistol, grow up to be a presidential
Chapman
day be cutting out articles about John W. Hinckley Jr.
assassin.
-By Kurt Andersen. Reported
by Richard C. Woodbury/Evergreen and
Robert C. Wurmstedt/Lubbock
42
TIME, APRIL 13, 1981
Protecting the President
ment garage. The Secret Service argues
that the President risks being trapped in
a basement garage, and so prefers ush-
New questions about whether the Secret Service can do better
ering him through an exit that leads to
an open driveway-and the waiting lim-
"If anyone wants to
agents required for a presidential trip; for
ousine. Others recommend that the Se-
do it, no amount of pro-
a routine speech like the one that Rea-
cret Service start closing off streets around
tection is enough. All a
gan gave last week at the Washington Hil-
the exit to all spectators; some even sug-
man needs is a willing-
ton Hotel, perhaps two dozen agents will
gest that the President entirely stop min-
ness to trade his life for
be used. Every presidential motorcade has
gling and shaking hands with onlook-
mine." So observed President John F.
at least two cars filled with agents, in-
ers. Says Chicago Police Superintendent
Kennedy less than a month before his
cluding a station wagon, code-named War
Richard Brzeczek: "It's time to consider
words came tragically true. After last
Wagon, that is crammed with weapons
keeping some distance between crowds
week's attempt on the life of Ronald Rea-
(ranging from Israeli-made Uzi subma-
and the President, offering them a fleet-
gan, the question is again being asked with
chine guns to shotguns), first-aid supplies
ing glimpse instead of a slower wave."
great urgency: What can be done, if any-
and even tools for prying the President
But there are great drawbacks to iso-
thing. to better protect an American Pres-
out of his car in case of a crash.
lating a President from the people he must
ident from the risk of assassination?
The Secret Service keeps a list of some
serve. Presidents, like most U.S. politi-
In an attempt to find answers, two
25,000 people believed to pose potential
cians, relish contact with crowds; indeed,
congressional committees began hearings
threats to the President, and 300 to 400
they may come to rely on that kind of in-
last week to investigate the role of the Se-
considered especially dangerous. Yet
teraction to keep them going in so gru-
cret Service in providing such protection.
none of the persons involved in well-
eling a job. Ronald Reagan has already
At the same time, Treasury Secretary
Donald Regan has ordered his own re-
view of the agency, which is part of his de-
partment. More than likely the inquiries
will not solve a basic dilemma: How to
guard a President as fully as possible in
an open society? Says a longtime Secret
Service official: "It may be unsolvable:
Can you stop a free individual in a free so-
ciety, who is willing to take that ultimate
risk, and still avoid a police state?"
Founded in 1865 to combat the ris-
ing tide of counterfeit "greenbacks" then
flooding the country, the agency now
numbers some 1,500 special agents, up
from 389 at the time of Kennedy's as-
sassination. Once selected, a recruit is dis-
patched to offices around the country to
help track down counterfeiters and pur-
sue stolen or forged Government checks
and bonds. Only superior agents are even-
tually picked to serve in the protection ser-
vice, which is responsible for guarding not
only the President, the Vice President and
their families, but also presidential can-
didates and former Presidents.
The agents then undergo extensive in-
struction at the Secret Service Training
Campaigning in Miami in 1975, Reagan is confronted by a man with a toy green
Center in Beltsville, Md. They practice
"It's time to consider keeping some distance between crowds and the President."
moving a make-believe "president"
through crowds (composed of other
known assassination attempts since 1963
demonstrated his fondness for pausing
agents) to a waiting car, sometimes un-
-Sirhan Sirhan, Arthur Bremer, Lynette
and responding to shouted cries of "Mr.
der fire, as well as through specially built
("Squeaky") Fromme, Sara Jane Moore
President! Mr. President!" as he moves
auditoriums, hotel foyers and offices. In
and John Hinckley-ever appeared on
about Washington-a practice his agents
a weapons course, computer-controlled
the Secret Service list.
would dearly like to stop. Yet the ease
cutouts of possible assassins and harm-
with which an attack can take place was
less citizens pop up from the ground and
f the Service cannot always recognize
dramatically demonstrated to Reagan be-
twirl past windows on a Hollywood-like
-or stop-a potential assassin, can
fore last week's shooting. As then Can-
back-lot street of mock buildings. The
anything more be done to lessen the dan-
didate Reagan campaigned in Miami in
agents must fire and hit a threatening tar-
gers? Many law enforcement officials rec-
November 1975, a college dropout named
get but refrain from shooting at an un-
ommend that Reagan wear a bulletproof
Michael Lance Carvin, 20, managed to
armed figure-or at the image of a woman
vest when making public appearances.
break through the crowd and point a toy
wheeling a baby carriage, who may quick-
Modern vests, made of fiber glass, are both
gun directly at him.
ly slide in front of an armed figure.
lightweight and flexible.*
When an attack by a deranged lon-
Secret Service preparations for a pres-
Ted Gunderson, former head of the
er occurs, there is not much that even
idential trip are equally thorough: teams
FBI's Los Angeles office, suggests that
the Secret Service can do. Sums up one
of agents. aided by local police, carefully
whenever possible, the President should
senior agent: "We try to get our bodies
travel presidential itineraries in advance,
exit a hotel or auditorium through a base-
between him and the bullets, and then
check the backgrounds of hotel employees
get the hell out of there"-which is just
and others who may meet the President,
*If Reagan had been wearing only a "front-and-
what they did last Monday, efficiently
and make certain that local hospitals have
back" vest last week, his sides would have remained
and even heroically. -By James Kelly.
a supply of blood in the President's type.
exposed and he probably would still have been
wounded. Only the full, wrap-around model would
Reported by Jonathan Beaty and Johanna
There are no set rules for the number of
have protected him.
McGeary/Washington
TIME. APRIL 13. 1981
43
Nation
gan had not bled so heavily, surgery might
Emergency in Room 5A
not have been done immediately. But an
operation would probably have been nec-
essary eventually. Though bullets are fre-
As the world watched, calm doctors performed their ritual
quently left inside the body when they do
not threaten further damage, a bullet in
It is the kind of emer-
cate the bullet; blood samples were an-
the lung can travel to the heart and ob-
gency familiar to trau-
alyzed for gases to help determine how
struct the flow of blood.
ma teams across the
much oxygen was getting into the blood.
Reagan was rolled next door into an
nation, particularly at
To see whether there was bleeding in the
operating suite. Under the watchful eyes
places like New York
abdominal cavity as well, the team per-
of two scrubbed and gowned Secret Ser-
City's Bellevue Hospital Center and Chi-
formed a procedure known as peritoneal
vice agents and the President's personal
cago's Cook County Hospital. The dif-
lavage. Surgeons Benjamin Aaron and Jo-
physician, Dr. Daniel Ruge, doctors be-
ference this time was the victim: not
seph Giordano, who headed up the trau-
gan anesthetizing the President. They in-
some dope dealer or faithless lover, but
ma team, made a small incision just below
serted a tube into his mouth and down
the President of the U.S. But even with
the President's navel, inserted a tube and
his windpipe and put him on a mechan-
the world watching, the medical ritual
infused several liters of fluid, filling the ab-
ical respirator. Then he was gently turned
was the same.
dominal cavity. Then the fluid was with-
onto his right side and placed at a 45°
As soon as Ronald Reagan was car-
drawn and examined for blood. It was
angle. In the operation, called a thora-
ried into Room 5A of George
cotomy, surgeons made a 6-in. in-
Washington University Hospital's
cision extending from just below
emergency unit, a hastily assem-
TREATING
the left nipple, along the ribs to
bled team of more than a dozen
just below the left armpit. Spread-
doctors plus paramedics, nurses
REAGAN'S
ing the ribs and the overlying mus-
and aides swung into action.
cles apart, they first noticed a
Seemingly in disorganized fash-
WOUND
massive blood clot and removed
ion, but actually with speed and
it. Then they checked the heart
precision, they moved toward one
and major blood vessels for dam-
goal: stabilizing the patient as
age but found none. They tried to
quickly as possible. Oxygen was
follow the path of the bullet to lo-
administered to aid the President
cate the slug. This proved diffi-
in breathing, and fluids were giv-
cult so another X ray was taken.
en intravenously to raise his blood
The doctors finally retrieved the
pressure. A reading indicated that
bullet from the lower lobe of the
the systolic pressure (when the
left lung. Said Aaron: "It was flat-
Bullet
heart contracts) had dropped be-
enters
tened almost as thin as a dime,
low 100, alarmingly low. Simul-
chest under
and about the size of a dime too."
taneously, his clothing was cut
left arm, strikes
away; as soon as the jacket and
top of 7th rib
shirt were off, an oozing, slitlike
F
rom their examination, doc-
tors concluded that the bullet
and
is
bullet hole was discovered just un-
deflected into
plowed through the chest wall at
der the left armpit.
lower left lung
an angle, struck the seventh rib
Because Reagan was cough-
and ricocheted down 3 in. into the
ing up bright red blood and com-
lung. Its oblique path kept it a
Incision to remove bullet
plaining of chest pain on his left
good 3 in. away from the heart.
side and difficulty in breathing,
doctors immediately suspected
TIME Diagram Barbara Martin
Reagan was fortunate that his as-
Tubes inserted
to reinflate
sailant used a small-caliber, low-
that his lung had been injured and
Heart
lung and drain fluids
velocity gun. A 45-cal. bullet,
probably collapsed, a common re-
twice as wide and five times as
Tube inserted
sult of gunshot wounds to the
to check for
heavy as a 22, would have torn
chest. Normally, the pressure in
abdominal bleeding
up the President's flank and prob-
the space between the lung and
ably killed him quickly, if not in-
the chest wall is less than atmo-
stantly. But he could have been
spheric pressure, and this keeps the lung
clear, indicating that Reagan had suffered
luckier: if his arm had been hit, the bul-
expanded; when the chest wall is pierced,
no injury to abdominal organs.
let might not have reached his torso; if
air enters and forces the lung to collapse.
But during the 45 minutes of perito-
the bullet had not glanced off the rib, it
To reinflate it, doctors made two small in-
neal lavage, blood continued draining out
might have just passed on through the
cisions, one just below the collarbone and
of the chest tube, an unusual occurrence.
chest wall and out of the body without hit-
the other between the seventh and eighth
In the majority of bullet wounds to the
ting any internal organ.
ribs, and inserted tubes to suction off air
chest, bleeding stops soon after the lung
After the three-hour operation, which
and any blood that might have accumu-
is reinflated. By now Reagan had required
the President "sailed through with vital
lated from damage to the heart, lungs or
a transfusion of five units of blood; that
signs absolutely rock stable," according
major blood vessels in the chest. About
meant he had lost about 2½ quarts of
to O'Leary, Reagan was taken to the hos-
two pints of blood spilled out. Immedi-
blood, almost half the total amount cir-
pital's fourth-floor intensive-care unit,
ately doctors started transfusing blood,
culating in his body. Continued bleeding
where he spent a restless night. So does al-
using o negative, a blood type any per-
can be a sign that a bullet has caused
most everyone in such a unit: the lights
son can accept. (Later they began using
major damage to organs and blood ves-
are kept on; nurses and doctors move
Reagan's own type, o positive.) All this
sels in the chest cavity. To assess the ex-
about constantly, checking vital signs and
was accomplished within five minutes of
tent of the injury and to locate the source
taking blood samples; monitors hooked up
his arrival.
of bleeding, doctors decided to operate.
to patients beep incessantly. Reagan was
That done, the trauma team could
"It was a major bleed," said Hospital
given antibiotics to combat possible in-
proceed more deliberately. X rays of the
Spokesman Dr. Dennis O'Leary. "That
fections and pain medication to ease his
chest and abdomen were taken to try to lo-
was why surgery was required." If Rea-
moderate discomfort, more the result of
44
TIME, APRIL 13, 1981
Nation
the operation than the bullet injury. Dur-
ing the night. doctors removed the wind-
The Presidency/Hugh Sidey
pipe tube that had been left in place after
surgery to facilitate breathing.
The next morning, Reagan was
moved to a quiet, eight-room suite on the
The Doctor and the Ideal Patient
third floor. He had a pulse rate of 70 and
blood pressure of 130/80, numbers that
B
uried beneath our prejudices and the actuarial tables is a fact: Ronald Rea-
would please a healthy man. He was en-
gan, at 70, may have been the healthiest man to assume the presidency
couraged to cough to help get secretions
since Harry Truman.
out of his lungs. Though breathing hurt,
Eisenhower had his ileitis symptoms, and Kennedy went into power with a
he required little pain medication. He
form of Addison's disease. Johnson had suffered his first heart attack, and Nixon
continued to receive oxygen through a
was shadowed by phlebitis. Ford's otherwise robust physique was flawed by old
nose catheter. White House aides visit-
football injuries. Carter came to the White House with his record showing a pe-
ing that morning found Reagan sitting up
riod of depression after a race for Governor of Georgia in 1966.
and brushing his teeth. He spent the day
But Reagan, the old man of the bunch, had somehow stayed together. The
sleeping and reading newspapers; meals
White House physician, Dr. Daniel Ruge, put it this way three days before the
were soup and gelatin. The next day he
shooting: "What can I tell a man who is 70 and in better shape than I am?"
switched to solid foods and walked a few
Ruge is 63 and a farm boy from Nebraska, where they claim that if you make it
steps. Toward the end of the week he was
through your first year you live almost forever.
walking down the hospital corridor, and
Ruge, stately and cautious, had been chatting on a Friday evening in his
doctors were predicting that barring com-
small White House office about how to sustain Reagan's good health-and to pre-
plications he might return to the White
pare for emergencies, the kind that would occur in just 70 hours.
House this week and be able to resume
Ruge had been chosen White House physician because of his association
all physical activities, including riding,
with Loyal Davis, Nancy
within three months. One complication
Reagan's father. A neuro-
surfaced at week's end: Reagan ran a fe-
surgeon, Ruge had met the
ver of 102°. Said Aaron: "It's a little bit of
President in earlier years
a setback."
but had not known him as
a patient. Bit by bit, he was
T
hough Reagan seems to be progress-
accumulating medical data
ing nicely, controversy continues over
and his impressions of Rea-
the seriousness of his condition when he
gan's life-style, these obser-
entered George Washington University
vations perhaps more re-
Hospital. Some witnesses paint a grim pic-
vealing than any statistics.
ture: the President was stumbling, gasp-
Ruge had watched
ing for air, blood stained his teeth and
Reagan around the White
lips, and most serious, his blood pressure
House, seen him at state
was very low, a sign of impending shock.
dinners, traveled with him
Coupled with this was the considerable
aboard Air Force One.
arhount of blood lost in the first few hours.
When Reagan went horse-
Some doctors are convinced that the Pres-
back riding at Quantico,
ident was in "a life-threatening situation."
Va., Ruge, who spent some
Says a Washington, D.C., surgeon, an ex-
Ruge, left, with Hospital Spokesman Dennis O'Leary
of his boyhood on the backs
pert in bullet injuries: "A gunshot wound
of his father's Percherons,
to the chest is always serious, especially
watched with a certain nostalgia from the fences. "The President is a mar-
in a 70-year-old. I am sure that Reagan's
velous physical specimen," he said. "His very demeanor shows that he is healthy."
doctors were a lot more concerned at the
From that conclusion, Ruge's approach to White House health was plotted. He
time than they acknowledged."
would not stalk the President, believing that an overzealous doctor can create a
But O'Leary and others who attend-
dependent patient.
ed Reagan insist that he was never in dan-
Reagan was his own best doctor in many ways, Ruge noted. The President
ger. The President, they point out, was
could pace himself, discipline his appetites, his activity. "He simply knows how
conscious and coherent and was stabilized
to take care of himself," declared Ruge. That is in marked contrast to the ex-
quickly. He was never in shock. Says
cesses of work and indulgence seen in other Presidents, notably L.B.J. Ruge has
O'Leary: "With blood, a little goes a long
studied carefully the White House environment, Reagan's state of mind, any
way. I'm sure he looked bad, but at no
symptoms of stress. What he found was reassuring. He noted that those who trav-
point was he anywhere close to being
eled with the President, whether staff or Secret Service agents, genuinely liked
in extremis."
him. That aura, created in large part by Reagan's humor and courtesy, was a great
As to the blood loss, O'Leary agrees it
health benefit. Ruge was also convinced that Nancy Reagan's dedication to her
was large (almost four quarts) but says the
husband was another element in his excellent state of mind and body.
rate of loss is more important than the vol-
The greatest concern of the President's physician was somehow devising out-
ume. Reagan's blood loss was steady, not
lets from the White House cloister for the President. Reagan is not a golfer, a jog-
gushing, and doctors had no trouble in
ger or a tennis player. He likes to ride, but that is not enough. Reagan's therapy,
compensating with transfusions. The ma-
Ruge noted, came from messing around outdoors. It takes a small-town boy to un-
jority of gunshot victims come into a hos-
derstand that. Woodchopping, planting, pruning, fixing up and just moving
pital much worse off, O'Leary says. In
around, doing something useful, can keep the eyes clear, the heart vibrant, the
fact. he contends that the President would
muscles taut. That poses a challenge in the White House, where all the chores are
probably have been all right even if treat-
done and the President's exertion is walking from meeting to meeting.
ment had been delayed by as much as 20
Dan Ruge has been diverted for the moment. But he will soon be back, gent-
minutes. Fortunately, Ronald Reagan
ly urging the President to keep chopping wood on his California ranch and can-
and the nation did not have to test that
ter off over the Virginia hills whenever he can. Doctor and patient are in-har-
judgment.
-By Anastasia Toufexis.
mony about what keeps a President going.
Reported by Peter Stoler/Washington
TIME. APRIL 13, 1981
47
Nation
and friends at the White House placed a
Caught in the Line of Fire
small stuffed Teddy bear with a Cubs'
baseball cap on his chair.
McCarthy, who had been trained to
Three victims who served the President well
interpose his body between the President
and any gunfire-and who defied all in-
Because all of them
This joie de vivre, friends like to think,
nate human instincts by doing just that
in their chosen fields
was more than a match for the gunman's
-was hit in the right side of his chest.
had proved themselves
bullet.
The bullet passed through the chest mus-
among the best at what
Brady's humor ranges from jolly quips
cles, lung, diaphragm and part of the liver
they do, they had
to droll deadpan. Shortly before the shoot-
before lodging against a rib. An hour-long
earned the right to be with the President
ing, he was the guest at one of Wash-
operation was successful in removing the
as he left the Washington Hilton Hotel
ington's institutionalized breakfasts with
bullet and draining the blood that had col-
last week. James Brady, 40, through an
reporters. Instead of the light banter and
lected in his abdominal cavity.
admixture of diligence, drive and affabil-
gentle questions that tend to open such
Elizabeth McCarthy, his mother, was
ity, had parlayed 19 years of handling
discussions, he was immediately slung a
watching television with her daughter
public relations work-including stints
sharp query on conflicts within the Ad-
shortly after the shooting when a tape of
with the Defense Department, Senator
ministration. After a pause he responded
the tragedy came on. Says Daughter Ka-
William Roth and Candidate John Con-
with perfect poker face: "Where has fore-
ren: "Suddenly, as we watched, we saw
nally-into the plum of his profession,
play gone?" At last month's Gridiron
where he was hit and fell. We both knew
presidential press secretary. Timothy Mc-
Club dinner, an event that features jour-
at once that it was Tim. Mom gasped.
Carthy, 31, the son of a Chicago police-
nalists performing parodies of politicians,
We both cried and hugged each other and
man, joined the Secret Service in 1972 and
a Brady impersonator lampooned the re-
prayed." As McCarthy recovered from
two years ago won assignment to the
port that Nancy Reagan had opposed his
surgery, his superiors praised him for ex-
prestigious presidential protection detail.
appointment because he was not "good-
ecuting his mission perfectly. Said Jerry
Thomas Delahanty, 45, had received
looking" enough to project the Reagan
Parr, head of the presidential protection
more than 30 letters of commendation in
Administration image. Sang he: "She's
detail: "I think what Agent McCarthy did
his 17 years on the Washington, D.C., po-
grown accustomed to my face." Brady
was most heroic." His eldest sister Lau-
lice force. When his canine patrol partner,
laughed as loudly as any of the press and
rie joked that "thousands of relatives"
a German shepherd named Kirk, became
politicians in the audience. With the first
would soon be flying to Washington to
ill last week, Delahanty was a natural
signs that Brady might survive, colleagues
see their "hero."
choice for the Hilton assignment. The
trio's diverse paths led them, for two trag-
P
olice Officer Delahanty's wife also
ic seconds last week, into the line of fire
saw her husband's shooting on televi-
between John Hinckley's revolver and the
sion. "I didn't even know he was with the
man he allegedly intended to assassinate.
President," she said. The bullet struck De-
Brady was by far the most seriously in-
lahanty's left shoulder and lodged in his
jured. A bullet entered his forehead just
neck, damaging no blood vessels but
over his left eye and crossed through to
bruising a nerve. The result of his wound
the right side of his brain. Word quickly
seemed minor: a temporary loss of sensa-
spread that he had died, causing gasps
tion on the inside of his left forearm, ex-
and sobs in the White House West Wing
cessive sweating of the palm and erection
among aides and members of the seasoned
of the hairs on his arm. In fact, doctors
press corps, for whom Brady, through his
saw no reason even to remove the bullet
wit and warmth, t.ad become more of a
Agent McCarthy
Officer Delahanty
from his neck-until it was discovered
joyous friend than a mere professional col-
that Hinckley had used explosive bullets.
league. For five hours, surgeons working
They then decided to carefully remove it
with the aid of a microscope performed a
through an incision in his back. After re-
delicate craniotomy, lifting off the top of
ceiving praise from official visitors, in-
his skull to remove a significant portion
cluding Vice President George Bush and
of his right frontal brain lobe, which,
Mayor Marion Barry, Delahanty was due
among other functions, controls motor ac-
to leave the hospital within days.
tivity on the body's left side. When the op-
For Brady, the prognosis was not as
eration was over, Brady was still alive and
good, though he surprised doctors by his
slowly regaining consciousness. Said his
survival. At week's end, although the
relieved surgeon, Dr. Arthur Kobrine:
danger of infection or swelling still lurked,
"Eight out of ten people die from this kind
he was taken off the critical list. Brain
of injury."
tissue recovers so slowly that it may be
That so many questions from report-
as much as a year before the full extent
ers during the early hours of last week's
of any permanent damage is known. Un-
crisis concerned Brady's health may have
til then, each sign of improvement is
seemed somewhat baffling to those out-
being watched closely and reported hope-
side the press corps. In twelve short weeks
fully. He has been able to move his
on the job, he had succeeded, despite the
right arm and leg on command. There
difficulties inherent in his work, in win-
has even been some movement of his
ning both the respect and the affection of
left side. He has also been able to
the press. Brady, called "the Bear" be-
count to three and toss a gauze ball. Per-
cause, well, he looks a bit like one, has a
haps the most hopeful sign that Jim Brady
broad relish for life beyond politics. That
is not only alive but still Jim Brady
enthusiasm embraces the hapless Chicago
came when he recognized his wife and
Cubs, gourmet cooking and, of course, his
gave her hand a squeeze. Said he, care-
wife Sarah, whom he calls "Raccoon" be-
Presidential Press Secretary James Brady
fully: "Raccoon."
-By Walter Isaacson.
cause, well, he thinks she looks like one.
"Raccoon," he said, squeezing her hand.
Reported by Peter Stoler/Washington
48
TIME, APRIL 13, 1981
Friday, April 10, 1981 Part V
5
More Relaxed Now
The Worst Is Over for the First Lady
WASHINGTON (UPI)-Nancy Reagan is more re-
Mrs. Johnson's letter was the latest in a series of con-
laxed now that she feels that she can devote her atten-
tacts from former First Ladies and other well-wishers
tion to the President's recovery without feeling the
concerned about the affect on Mrs. Reagan of last
pressure of other White House demands, her friends
week's assassination attempt.
said Wednesday.
Much to his delight, she also has been bringing to her
The First Lady canceled two long-standing engage-
husband stacks of get-well cards and drawings scrawl-
ments Tuesday because she was not ready to face sym-
ed by schoolchildren from all over the country.
LOS ANGELES TIMES
pathetic crowds without getting emotional, they said.
At the behest of comedian Bob Hope, she also person-
One of the events was the traditional Senate Wives
ally delivered a photograph of Hope and actress Jill St.
luncheon on Capitol Hill in honor of the First Lady.
John in bunny costumes. The picture was accompanied
by a note from Hope, saying: "Dear Prez-if you need us
4/10/81
The other was a Republican fund-raising dinner at
the Washington Hilton Hotel where her husband was
for the White House lawn at Easter, call Central Cast-
shot in the chest last week.
ing.
There were no indications that Mrs. Reagan's securi-
Peter McCoy, her chief of staff, had said Mrs. Reagan
ty has been increased. "We're just more aware of the
was "down" earlier in the week, apparently because of
agents," said Mrs. Patton.
obligations that loomed before her.
But she is more at ease now that "she has decided to
do what she wants to do," friends said. That is to be with
the President while he is in the hospital.
She has not yet decided whether to clear her calendar
S
of public events next week, said Sheila Patton, her press
secretary.
f
The First Lady has been going to George Washington
University Medical.Center before noon each day. She
always comes bearing gifts. Among them Wednesday
el
was a 10-pound box of chocolates from King Hassan II
A
of Morocco.
Mrs. Reagan arrived in time to have a luncheon snack
a
with her husband-chicken noodle soup, cheese toast,
d
fresh pineapple and decaffeinated coffee.
F
She told reporters Lady Bird Johnson sent her a
"lovely letter" reminiscing about the "hard time" she
ti
had keeping her husband, Lyndon, "down on the ranch"
li;
after his 1966 gall bladder operation.
b
Asked if she had the same problem, Mrs. Reagan said,
"Oh, yes, he'd be out yesterday if he could be."
p
CAROL BERNSON
She also was asked when Reagan will leave the hos-
Nancy Reagan can devote her attention to her
pital and replied, "Soon, I hope. He gets better every
husband's recovery, not White House demands.
day."
U.S.NeWS
& WORLD PROPORT
Taking Up
The Slack
The Chief Executive's departure from
the hospital is only step No. 1. The
administration's "top salesman"
TIMOTHY
has a way to go to regain his energies,
Reagan aides Deaver, Baker and Meese-shown at early breakfast at
and aides must fill the void.
hospital-are carefully rationing matters submitted to the President.
As he recovers slowly from an at-
fend Reagan's economic program.
While the 25th Amendment to the
tacker's bullet, Ronald Reagan is being
Treasury Secretary Donald Regan and
Constitution directs the Vice President
forced to take a temporary back-seat
David Stockman, director of the Office
to take over from the President in the
role at a crucial point in his Presidency.
of Management and Budget-along
event of death or long-term disability,
Doctors ordered Reagan to limit his
with Bush-spoke out when the Presi-
there is no statute explaining how the
workload in mid-April at a time when
dent's proposed budget cuts were at-
nation's business should be handled un-
his budget cuts and tax reductions are
tacked by Democrats.
der the present circumstances. But be-
under fire from Democrats in Con-
Although the President is not ex-
cause Reagan often delegates wide au-
gress, when Western Europe is looking
pected to suffer any permanent injury
thority, his subordinates were uniquely
for U.S. leadership against a muscle-
from the shooting, his recovery fell be-
prepared to fill in for him.
flexing Soviet Union and when Ameri-
hind schedule with the onset of a fever
Reagan's workload is being strictly
can diplomats are fumbling for the key
on April 3, just four days after surgeons
limited by his three top aides, who
to peace in a turbulent Middle East.
removed a .22-caliber bullet from his
meet over breakfast each morning to
No one knew for sure how long the
lung. The fever left him weak and de-
decide what papers they will give to
President would be sidelined by his in-
layed his release from the hospital.
the President. "He is being briefed on
jury. Before his release from George
In addition, doctors pointed out that
national-security matters," said Chief
Washington University Hospital, doc-
the 70-year-old Chief Executive cannot
of Staff Baker. "He is signing legislation
tors warned that it could be four to six
be expected to bounce back as quickly
BILL HOUSE
months before Reagan recovers fully
as a younger man. As the President's
from the wound he received March 30.
physician, Daniel Ruge, explained:
But they expected him to resume most
"Defense mechanisms in older patients
of his duties in a few weeks. In the
are not as good as they are in younger
meantime:
patients."
The ailing President is deciding
Two-hour day. Reagan intends to
only the most pressing matters. Trips,
spend most of his convalescence in the
speeches and nonessential business are
family quarters on the upper two floors
being deferred. "We are delaying any-
of the White House. He is under doc-
thing that can be postponed,' said
tors' orders to work no more than 2
Chief of Staff James A. Baker.
hours a day at first. During that time,
Vice President George Bush is act-
he is expected to meet with his top
ing as a "full substitute for the Presi-
lieutenants, catch up on a huge backlog
dent," as one official put it. He is chair-
of briefing material that piled up while
ing top-level White House meetings,
he was in the hospital and conduct
greeting foreign dignitaries, delivering
some business by telephone. Later, he
some of Reagan's speeches and butter-
will begin making brief visits to the
ing up key members of Congress.
Oval Office.
The so-called triumvirate of Rea-
"He'll get better faster in the White
gan's closest White House advisers—
House," said Deputy Chief of Staff
Presidential Counselor Edwin Meese,
Deaver, adding that in the hospital the
Chief of Staff Baker and Deputy Chief
President slept 18 hours a day and was
of Staff Michael Deaver-are shoulder-
impatient with "people sticking things
ing all the day-to-day demands of run-
down his throat." But Deaver, Rea-
ning the government.
gan's closest aide, does not expect him
Cabinet members also are taking
to spend much time at his California
up some of the slack, particularly when
ranch until he can ride horses and chop
the administration is called upon to de-
wood-perhaps by summer.
22
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 20, 1981
tial decisions," said Baker. "We can't
reclassify those things."
Nor is the President shirking his re-
sponsibility. In the first two weeks after
the shooting, he sent a letter to Soviet
President Leonid Brezhnev, signed a
bill passed by Congress, approved a
dozen nominations, signed a classified
budget request and approved a num-
ber of new initiatives, including regula-
tory relief for the auto industry and
appointment of a new task force on
federalism. Ironically, he also signed a
proclamation declaring the week of
TIMOTHY
April 19 "Victims Rights Week."
Reagan's advisers are making a con-
certed effort to short-circuit the dis-
putes that are bound to arise in a time
of stress. Meese and Baker privately
discussed ways to avoid conflict be-
The Vice President chats with lawmakers in White House meeting. Bush is serving as a
tween them. Well-publicized differ-
Reagan stand-in as much as possible while the President recuperates.
ences between the White House and
Secretary of State Haig also were set
that has to be signed. He is signing
scratched were trips to Springfield, Ill.,
aside, at least temporarily.
nominations that have to be signed.
on April 1 and to Cincinnati on April 8.
Global jitters. White House officials
But that's about it."
Another trip to Tuskegee, Ala., on
were especially grateful that they did
On April 7, for example, aides decid-
April 12 was assigned to the Vice Presi-
not have to deal with a major interna-
ed that the President was too feverish
dent. Later, doctors decided that Rea-
tional crisis in the first days after the
to tackle a complicated one-page "de-
gan would not be able to attend the
shooting. Soviet troop movements
cision memo" on leasing of the outer
wedding of his daughter Maureen in
around Poland caused some jitters,
continental shelf for oil and gas explo-
California on April 24 or meet with
however, prompting Reagan himself to
ration. Likewise, the letters that Secre-
Mexican President José López Portillo
read the text of a speech Brezhnev
tary of State Alexander Haig carried to
in Tijuana on April 27.
made on April 7 to Warsaw Pact leaders.
heads of state in the Middle East in
Reagan's assistants are being scrupu-
Reagan's hospitalization came at a
mid-April were not reviewed by the
lously careful to avoid the impression
crucial time in his drive to persuade
President as they usually would be.
that they are usurping his powers. The
Congress to enact his economic plan.
Reagan's trips and speeches are be-
Vice President emphasized this point
Both House and Senate budget com-
ing canceled gradually, only as aides
by declining to use the Oval Office in
mittees rejected Reagan proposals on
determine how long he will be laid up.
Reagan's absence. "The things that are
April 9. House Democrats meanwhile
Among the first major items to be
presidential decisions remain presiden-
put forth a rival tax plan.
Although OMB Director Stockman
and Treasury Secretary Regan held
Rx for President
ume. He also lost about 10 pounds
news conferences to defend the Rea-
in the hospital, and he must now get
gan plan, they received little attention.
Who's on the Mend
his appetite back. His only medica-
"For the time being," says Deputy
tion will be penicillin tablets for a
Press Secretary Larry Speakes, "we're
In coming weeks, Ronald Reagan
short period to ward off infection.
without our best salesman." According
will receive a rarity in these times:
Keeping an even closer
WIDE WORLD
to Speakes, the President
House calls from a doctor.
watch on Reagan is Dan-
hopes to resume this role
Medical specialists from George
iel Ruge, White House
by making a television
Washington University Hospital will
physician, who will check
speech in late April
keep close tabs on the Chief Execu-
his vital signs twice a day.
Speakes is a temporary
tive as he convalesces in the family
Chest X-rays will be done
stand-in for Press Secre-
quarters of the White House.
every other day. Ruge has
tary James Brady-one of
Reagan will no longer be given
a small examining room
three men wounded with
the physiotherapy for his lungs that
in the White House and
the President. All three
he received in the hospital. But doc-
several more rooms in the
were improving. Brady
tors want him to take walks to help
Old Executive Office
and Patrolman Thomas
rebuild his strength gradually over
Building. He and a half-
Delahanty remained hos-
the next four to six weeks. They will
dozen assistants look after
White House physician,
pitalized, but Secret Ser-
insist, too, that he at first strictly
the health of not only the
Daniel Ruge
vice Agent Timothy Mc-
limit the time he devotes to presi-
First Family but also the
Carthy was released on
dential business, which he will con-
White House staff.
April 8.
duct for now in the family study and
Says Ruge of the First Patient:
As for the President, doctors summa-
the solarium living room.
"He's not going to need much care.
rized his prognosis this way: "It will
One of Reagan's major problems
He's like the rest of us. When we go
take four to six months before he is
is fatigue-a common response for
home, we don't expect to need
chipper."
someone who lost half his blood vol-
much medical care."
By SARA FRITZ
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 20, 1981
23
Sunday, April 5, 1981
THE WASHINGTON POST
By Lou Cannon
It began as an ordinary spring day in
The Day of the Jackal in Washington
the presidential detail. never saw the gun-
Washington Post Staff Writer
man, either The gunman was shielded by
the crowd.
Washington: light showers, the usual lines of
tourists at the White House, a routine speech
Secret Service agents had looked over this
by the president.
back in the White House working on the
knew he was there, On the sidewalk outside
moved [James S.] Brady up because he was
crowd, as they always do. It is not easy to
Then, gunfire. For six hours the nation
president's schedule. But it was a busy day
the lower entrance to the Washington Hilton,
the press secretary. I took three steps, then
spot a concealed gunman in a friendly crowd.
watched and wondered. Would the president
at the office for chief of staff James A. Baker
a Secret Service agent gave the routine radio
the first shot went over my right shoulder. I
Thirty seconds before the president arrived
live? Would he survive and be disabled?
III, and Deaver, his deputy, had volunteered
signal that all was clear.
knew what it was. I ducked down, with the
at the hotel, Parr had received a favorable
Would the nation be plunged into constitu-
to go in his place with President Reagan
It was 2:25 p.m. Deaver will never forget
help of a shove from a Washington police.
situation report.
tional crisis?
when he addressed the Building Trades
what happened next.
man, who also was dropping to the ground. I
"Rawhide follow to Rawhide advance," he
It was 2:24 p.m. Monday, March 31. Mi-
Council.
"The president and I were walking out
smelled the powder. I never saw the gun-
said, using the code word for the president.
chael K. Deaver wasn't supposed to be at the
No one noticed the gunman before the
together," he recalls. "The press started ask
man."
"Situation report?"
Washington Hilton. He was supposed to be
firing began. No one particularly saw him, or
ing their usual questions. I turned and
Secret Service agent Jerry Parr, head of
See REPRISE, A12, Col.
SIA12
Sunday, April 5, 1981
THE WASHINGTON POST
Chronicle of How an Ordinary Spring
Afternoon in Washington
At the Hospital
At the White House
REPRISE, From A1
At the shooting scene, agents had
At the White House they already
to Situation negative," the advance
overwhelmed a young blond man later
knew about the shooting. But they
agent replied.
identified as John Warnock Hinckley
did not know much about what had
of is The quiet ended in the rapid fire of
Jr. They piled him into a police car
happened or that the president had
ms handgun and screams from the
and took him away.
been shot.
"crowd. Within nine seconds six shots
Before the limousine reached the
Baker had been working in his of-
had been fired in rapid succession at
hospital, nurses had cleared space in
the presidential party.
fice through the morning. At 1 p.m.
odt One shot hit Secret Service agent!
the resuscitation bay for the shooting
he went to the White House mess to
victims. A first radio message has told
Timothy J. McCarthy, who thrust!
eat his usual lunch: a tunafish salad
them there has been a shooting and
humself between President Reagan
sandwich and buttermilk. Brady and
that "some men" have been hurt. A
and the gunman, in the stomach.
his deputy, Larry Speakes, were fin-
st One shot hit District police officer
second message informed them that
ishing their lunch as Baker and Tut-
one was the president of the United
Thomas K. Delahanty in the neck.
wiler arrived. They exchanged pleas-
States.
send One shot, although no one knew it
nommediately, bounced off the armored
At 2:35 p.m. the limousine arrived
at George Washington. Reagan was
antries, and Brady said he was going
limousine and hit Reagan in the chest,
feeling pain in his chest and was hav-
to the Hilton for Reagan's speech.
penetrating his left lung. Yet another
ni bit a. window in a building across the
ing difficulty breathing. As he got out
The first word at the White House
od street and fragmented.
of the car, D.C. paramedic Roberto
that something had gone wrong came
Hernandez recognized the limousine.
in a telephone call from David Pros-
20
And one shot, the shot that did the
On inaugural day he had been as-
peri, an assistant press secretary. He
most damage, struck White House
signed to the ambulance that followed
was at the scene where the shots were
press secretary Brady over the left
the new president around Washing-
fired, and he saw Brady go down.
eye, penetrating his brain. Brady fell,
ton.
Prosperi rushed into the hotel and
with blood gushing from his head. An
"I literally froze," Hernandez said
grabbed the first telephone he found.
advance man, Rick Ahearn, put a
afterward. "I didn't believe what I was
It was a charge phone, so he gave the
white handkerchief under Brady's
actually seeing. I noticed he looked
operator the White House press office
head. It quickly turned red with
very pale and he had an apprehensive
number and billed the call to his
blood.
look about him The stare in his
home telephone.
In a matter of seconds Parr had
eyes was like he was in a slight daze."
"Get me Larry. It's an emergency,"
shoved Reagan into the limousine and
Reagan got out of the car. He
he said into the telephone.
walked to the emergency room, his
Speakes was just coming out of a
pulled the door shut. He commanded
face drawn, Parr's arm around him.
meeting with other White House aides
the driver, Drew Unrue, to pull away,
and the presidential limousine sped
Incredibly, no one, had thought to
in the Roosevelt Room on the auto-
order a stretcher to be ready for him.
mobile regulation package that is to
from the scene. A staff control car,
with Deaver inside, followed.
When the president entered the emer-
be announced this week. Betsy
gency room, he fell to one knee.
Strong, a press aide, ran up and told
"You son-of-a-bitch, you broke my
"I can't breathe," he said.
him Prosperi was calling. He picked
rib," Reagan said to Parr inside the
For a moment the workers in the
up the phone of Kathy Ahern,
limousine. He was joking, but he was
resuscitation bay were stunned. "Is
Brady's secretary.
that who I think it is?" a nurse asked.
"The president has been shot at
hurting from the blow.
Later in the week the president
Then they sprang into action. Her-
said. and Brady has been hit," Prosperi
would tell Deaver that be hadn't real-
nandez removed Reagan's shoes, socks
ized he had been hit by a bullet but
and pants while his partner Eric Sim-
"Thanks," Speakes replied, and
that he certainly knew he had been,
mons cut off his shirt.
hung up. From the look on his face
hit.
"All I could think of was Parkland,"
the others in the ròom knew it was a
"It was a blow like I never felt,"
Deaver said, referring to the Dallas
crisis.
Reagan said. "It was like someone
hospital where John F. Kennedy was
"I don't know what it looked like,
hitting me with a hammer as hard as
taken.
but it hit pretty hard," Speakes said.
But Deaver, a short, quiet, patient
Ahern began to weep.
they could."
Parr, not knowing that the presi-
man who knows Reagan better than
White House staff director David
dent had been shot, originally ordered
anyone on the White House staff and
R. Gergen was coming out of the
the limousine to return to the White
was treated like a son by him, was
isame meeting Speakes had attended.
House. But when he saw Reagan
busy with other matters. Cool and
The first instinct of both was to walk
coughing blood, the bright-red oxygen-
collected, Deaver found a telephone
out on the colonade and watch the
ated blood that comes from the lung,
bay outside the emergency ward and
motorcade return, which they ex-
he and the president thought a rib
called the White House. He reached
pected momentarily. Instead, Speakes
had been broken by the protective
Margaret Tutwiler, the secretary to.
telephoned Jack Warner of the Secret
shove. Parr told Unrue to drive to
chief of staff Baker.
Service. Warner knew something had
George Washington University Hospi-
happened, but did not have the de-
Keep this line open, Margaret," he
tails.
tal instead of the White House. He
said. "There's been a shooting, and
radioed the control car and told
Gergen ran down the corridor to
the president's hurt. We don't think
Deaver where he was going.
Baker's office with the news. He burst
be was hit, but he may have broken a
into the office, almost knocking down
rib."
Tutwiler, who had her back against
the door.
Gergen went to find White House
counselor Edwin Meese III, the presi-
dent's top aide, who was with his dep-
uty, Craig Fuller. They already knew.
Baker ran down to the Secret Service
command post in the basement to
find out what had happened. It was
about 2:35 p.m., the time of Reagan's
arrival at the hospital.
At the Hotel
Back at the Hilton, the ambulances
had borne away the wounded men,
leaving behind the remnants of the
shooting: an umbrella, a dropped
briefcase, the bloody sidewalk grate
where Brady fell.
Prosperi, knowing that the presi-
Reagan was hurt. Bush would be back
dential limousine had started out for
by the time they knew, everyone
the White House, mistakenly believed
agreed.
the president had arrived there, and
Meese told Tutwiler to get them a
SO informed the press. One eyewitness,
car. "I'll handle it," Regan said. He
Ramon Flores, attempted to convince
directed an agent to get them a siren-
with a line that may become a classic:
equipped Secret Service car so they
"Honey, I forgot to duck."
skeptical reporters that Reagan had
could speed through traffic to the hos-
been hit. He shrugged his shoulders
At the White House
pital. Speakes and Lyn Nofziger were
with Meese and Baker.
when they did not believe him.
At the White House, events moved
Nofziger is a longtime Reagan aide
At the Hospital
swiftly. Tutwiler had left the first
who proved a composed man in the
White House line open for Deaver,
day's crisis. He offered to help be-
Within minutes at George Washing-
then she rounded up Baker, Meese,
cause "Brady is out of commission,"
ton the resucitation area was crowded
Gergen, Speakes and communications
and everyone was happy to have him.
with members of the trauma team
director Frank Ursomarso, who were
He and Speakes are old adversaries,
and Secret Service agents. As Dr.
in a hall beyond the Oval Office. She
but they buried their differences on
Dennis O'Leary related later, a nurse
told them Deaver was on the tele-
that bloody day.
trying to take Reagan's blood pressure
phone.
Haig, Regan, Gergen and intergov-
could not hear through the stetho-
Baker went into his office and took
ernmental relations aide Rich Wil-
scope because of the din and had to
one phone. Meese picked up the other
liamson went down to the Situation
take it by feeling the pulse in
phone on the same line. Baker was at
Room in the White House basement.
Reagan's arm. It was only about 75 -
his desk. Deaver told them that the
At the hospital Deaver alternated
low enough to signal that the presi-
president had been shot.
his time between Nancy Reagan and
dent was in danger of shock.
"Shit," said Meese.
the telephones. The grim mood was
Quickly, trauma team members in-
"Oh, Jesus," said Baker.
lightened on one occasion when a hos-
serted an intravenous tube and began
Both men moved swiftly to do what
pital clerk with a green form in his
running fluid into the president's
was necessary. They agreed that the
hand ran around trying to get some
veins. They took blood samples to
vice president had to be called, and
information on the patient. "Who is
measure the blood oxygen content and
that the Cabinet should assemble in
he?" the clerk wanted to know.
to match Reagan's blood for a trans-
the White House Situation Room.
"R-e-a-g-a-n," Deaver spelled out.
fusion. Meanwhile, they called for 0-
Secretary of State Alexander M.
"You are kidding," the clerk said.
negative blood, the type that can be
Haig Jr. had called, and Baker called
"I'm not kidding," said Deaver.
given to anyone. Reagan's blood type
him back.
Meanwhile, Dr. Neofytos T. Tsan-
is O-positive.
"It's very important how we handle
garis, the hospital's acting chief of
this world-wide," Haig told Baker,
staff, had been summoned from a
Dr. Joseph M. Giardano, the sur-
who agreed.
meeting by a brief announcement:
geon who heads the trauma team, was
Treasury Secretary Donald T.
"The president of the United States is
among the first to respond to the
Regan was the first Cabinet officer to
in the emergency. room." Tsangaris
page, and he saw Reagan within five
reach Baker's office. Treasury is the
said he quickly realized that three
minutes of his arrival. By then, the
boss of the Secret Service, and Regan
separate operating rooms, one for each
president's blood pressure had risen to
had been told of the incident within
shooting victim, must be readied at
100, but he was coughing up blood,
two minutes of its occurrence. Regan
once with nurses, technicians and
his breathing was fast and labored,
was on a long distance call from Les
equipment.
and the surgeons had discovered the
Angeles when the call came, and he
It was now 3:20 p.m. and Reagan
slit-like wound under his left arm.
hung up and went immediately by car
was being prepared for surgery. He
Giardano said that the likelihood of
across the street to the White House.
had an oxygen mask over his face
a collapsed lung and the danger that,
At the hospital, Deaver put White
when Baker saw him, but winked at
Reagan might be bleeding from his
House physician Daniel Ruge on the
his chief of staff.
heart or a major blood vessel made it
open line, and Baker took notes on
At 3:30 p.m., approximately 45
necessary to insert a chest tube at
what Ruge told him: "He [the presi-
minutes after he was been brought to
once.
dent] has received a chest wound in
the hospital, he was wheeled to the
Outside the resuscitation bay,
the left chest. He is in stable condi-
operating room. His bleeding had
Deaver and aide David Fisher kept
tion. The blood pressure and pulse is
slowed somewhat, and he had received
the telephone lines open to the White
okay. He is alert and fighting. Next
a transfusion of five units of blood.
House. Deaver had Nancy Reagan
stop could be the operating room. You
"Please tell me you're Republicans,"
called immediately. He also asked
ought to get right over here."
he joked to the masked surgical team
Tutwiler to tell his secretary to call.
Haig arrived. Later, at the State
surrounding him.
his wife, Carolyn, and tell her that he
Department, a spokesman announced
After that, according to operating
was unharmed, but Deaver's secretary,
that Baker and Meese had left the
room technician Michael Borowski,
Shirley Moore, had already done SO.
White House by the time Haig got
who helped with instruments during
Meanwhile, Brady and McCarthy
there. was an incorrect announce-
the operation, the president was quiet.
had arrived at the hospital, and Dela-
ment. Regan, Baker and Tutwiler all
"I saw Reagan looking around at ev-
hanty had been taken to Washington
remember that Haig arrived just be-
erybody busy doing their thing
Hospital Center. Brady looked bad
fore Baker and Meese left the office.
he recalled later. "I just kind of took
and his blood pressure was dangerous-
They talked briefly, and Meese and
his hand. He had sort of tears in his
ly high. To the paramedics, McCarthy
Baker agreed that Haig would be the
eyes
He really had this look of
looked best of all.
contact point" at the White House
appreciation on his face. That's what
"Are you still with us?" a fellow
while they were at the hospital. No
really touched me."
agent asked him. "Oh, yes," McCarthy
on said anything about anyone being
The first part of the operation re-
quickly replied.
"in control." But there was a brief
quired a tiny incision below the navel.
At 2:36 p.m. Mrs. Reagan arrived
discussion of the 25th Amendment,
Into the incision Giordano inserted
at the hospital. She wanted to see her
providing for presidential succession,
about a quart of salt solution to deter-
husband immediately, but was told by
because no one knew how badly
mine whether any bullets had pene-
Deaver that she could, not. When she
did get to see him, he greeted. her
At 3:37 p.in. Gergen appeared in
trated the abdominal cavity and
the crowded briefing room.
caused bleeding there. When sucked
"Good afternoon," he said. "This is
out again, the fluid was clear, indicat-
to confirm the statements made at
REPRISE, From A12
ing no abdominal injuries.
George Washington hospital that the
A report was given to Baker and
phone line to Air Force Two, and
president was shot once in the left
Haig was guarded in his communica-
Deaver outside the operating room.
side this afternoon as he left the hotel.
Nancy Reagan was told the good
tion. He also had a very poor connec-
His condition is stable.
tion.
news, and tears came to her eyes.
"A decision is now being made
"I think you should come directly
Borowski said Reagan was then
whether or not to operate to remove
back to Washington," Haig said.
turned on his right side and redraped
the bullet. The White House and the
"There's been an incident." He also
for the more major operation, the to-
vice president are in communication.
racotomy. Assisted by Dr. Kathleen
told Bush that he would be sending
And the vice president is now en
Cheyney, Dr. Benjamin L. Aaron cut
him a message over the coded Telex
route to Washington."
machine that is the only secure chan-
a six-inch incision through the skin
parallel with the ribs, extending hori-
On Air Force Two
nel of communications between Air
Force Two and the ground.
zontally from below the left arm to-
ward the center of the chest. Then he
Going to Washington had not been
Bush hung up and turned to his
George Bush's plan. On a day of rou-
aides. "We are going directly back to
used retractors to spread the ribs
tine politicking, he had slipped into
Washington," he said. "I just spoke to
apart.
his blue, Eisenhower-style official
Haig." It was a quarter of an hour
Aaron said he could feel splintering
of the seventh rib where the bullet
flight jacket, buckled his seatbelt and
later before he learned what had hap-
had nicked it and ricocheted into the
settled back for a moment of relax-
pened.
ation as his plane took off from Fort
"Mr. Vice President, in the incident
chest. Outside the left lung, he found
a large blood clot, and, after he re-
Worth at 2:41 p.m. EST for a short
you will have heard about by now, the
moved it, he could see where the bul-
hop to Austin.
president was struck in the back," the
let had entered the lung. Quickly, he
Behind him was a speech to cattle-
Telex from Haig said. "Medical au-
examined the heart and the major
men and the dedication of the former
thorities are deciding now whether or
vessels nearby. They were untouched.
Hotel Texas as a national monument
not to operate. Recommend you re-
All the bleeding was coming from the
it was the hotel where John F.
'turn to D.C. at earliest possible mo-
Kennedy had spent his last night be-
ment."
smaller vessels within the torn lung.
"We began to feel around for the
fore that fatal trip to Dallas. Ahead,
Quickly, the word was passed
bullet and to our chagrin we could
in Austin, awaited an address to the
through the plane. House Majority
not find that bullet within the lung,"
Texas Legislature and a news confer-
Leader Jim Wright (D-Tex.) walked
he said later. Aaron ordered an X-ray
ence.
into the front cabin, and Bush turned
taken on the operating table. The bul-
Air Force Two was still climbing, a
to him and said, "Why in the world
let was visible, embedded in a portion
couple of minutes later, when Edward
would anybody shoot a man like Ron-
Pollard, head of the vice president's
ald Reagan?"
of the left lung just behind the heart
and "flattened almost as thin as a
Secret Service detail, took an urgent
Air Force Two did not have enough
dime," he said.
message from the Fort Worth office.
fuel on board to make it to Washing-
At last Aaron felt the bullet and
He was told of the assassination at-
ton nonstop, SO the plane landed in
pulled it out. Then he removed some
tempt, and was told that the presi-
Austin as scheduled, but only for refu-
of the dead lung tissue, inserted a
dent had not been hit. And he also
eling. Bush stayed on board, sipping
drain into the bullet's track, and
was informed, incorrectly, that two
on a diet cola and saying very little.
closed the incisions. The president
Secret Service agents were down. Pol-
At the White House
had been in the operating room for
lard immediately relayed this message
3½ hours, and apparently was out of
to Bush.
At the White House, Cabinet mem-
danger. With a breathing tube in his
Bush nodded quietly and began
bers and other high White House offi-
throat, and still on a respirator, the
talking of the possibility of shortening
cials assembled in the Situation
president was taken to the recovery
his Austin stopover. The telephone
Room: Attorney General William
room.
line flashed again. This time it was
French Smith, Defense Secretary
There had been anxious moments
Bush's press secretary, Peter Teeley,
Caspar W. Weinberger, Transporta-
for Nancy Reagan during this opera-
with a message identical to the one
tion Secretary Drew Lewis, National
tion, moments she spent in a small
Pollard had given.
Security Council staff director Richard
private office the hospital made avail-
The vice president's chief legislation
V. Allen, domestic adviser Martin An-
able to her and in the chapel, where
aide, Robert V. Thompson, rushed
derson, CIA Director William J.
she met Sarah Brady, whose husband
back to the VIP section in mid-plane
Casey, counsel Fred Fielding. Hours
had been erroneously declared dead in
and announced to the assembled
later, Commerce Secretary Malcolm
mid-afternoon reports on all three
Bush aides and three Texas congress-
Baldrige would arrive.
television networks.
men that an attempt had been made
There were so many people rushing
For 53 minutes after the shooting
on the president's life.
back and forth that Allen tried to
not much was known at the White
Up front, at 3:04 p.m., Haig tele-
close the door to the Situation Room
House press office. It wasn't until 3:18
phoned Bush. There is no secure tele-
to keep some of the staff members
p.m. that communications director
See REPRISE, A13, Col. 1
out. Allen put a tape recorder on the
Ursomarso stood on veteran press aide
table in the center of the room along
Connie Gerrard's chair in the upper
with another that was already there.
press office to tell a packed crowed of
Some knew they were talking for
reporters that Reagan had been shot.
posterity, but others didn't even no-
Every television set was turned on
tice the recorders. What the men in
as staff and reporters watched replay
the Situation Room wanted to know
after replay: The room was full of
were three things: how badly was the
people who work with Brady every
president hit? Was the shooting a
day, and the replays, particularly
conspiracy or an individual act?
those in slow motion, made all who
Would Brady survive?
were present think that his chances
While first reports from the hospi-
for survival were slight.
tal seemed to be positive, everyone in
Some aides wept for their fallen
the Situation Room was aware that
press secretary. It was pouring rain
the president was 70 years old and
outside now, and correspondents who
faced major surgery. They were trying
usually would have broadcast from
to prepare for every contingency.
the White House lawn stood on chairs
Smith and Fielding briefed the
in the briefing room to get above the
Cabinet members on constitutional
heads of their milling colleagues and
succession and on the 25th Amend-
talked to fill air time.
ment, which spells out the procedures
for the vice president's assuming office
in case of presidential disability. The
review was brief, because the Cabinet
members spent much of the time on
the telephone and, like millions of
other Americans, before the television
set.
television set, which showed Speakes
in the press room fending off ques-
"That's just what I said we weren't
tions. He hadn't been told much, and
doing," Haig said.
some of the questions concerned pos-
"I didn't know you were going up
sible emergency actions the nation
there," Weinberger replied, adding
was taking in the crisis. He was asked
that he didn't think it "was appropri-
the key question of whether the U.S.
ate" for Haig to be going before the
military had been placed on higher
television cameras in the manner he
readiness.
had done. For good measure, he also
"Not that I'm aware of," Speakes
said that Haig had misstated the
replied.
order of presidential succession,
His response drew criticism from
prompting Haig to respond: "You
Of those in the Situation Room,
both Weinberger and Haig, but the
should read the Constitution."
Smith knew Reagan best. He is
secretary of state was especially agi-
Afterward, both Haig and Weinber-
Reagan's long-time attorney, a charter
tated. He said that "the next time
ger would try to minimize the ex-
member of the "kitchen cabinet" and
someone opens their yap" they had
change, which lasted only a few
a close friend. He also has jurisdiction
better make sure that what they are
minutes. Haig responded to criticisms
over the FBI, and was on the tele-
saying is true. Weinberger then left
of his appearance by saying that he
phone immediately, checking on
the room to make a telephone call.
was winded from running up the
Hinckley.
"We've got a problem, and it's
stairs.
The readout from the FBI showed
now," Haig said, turning to Allen. "We
"I may have been quivery, but I've
that the suspect carried psychiatrists'
had better go upstairs and get this
been through 50 times worse than
cards in his pocket, which convinced
straightened out."
that," he said.
them that he probably was acting on
Haig and Allen double-timed up-
his own.
stairs to the press room, which the
At the Hospital
Smith was outwardly calm, but his
secretary of state, who had undergone
thoughts, like Deaver's, went back to
open-heart surgery, later thought
At the hospital, Haig's impromptu
the day John F. Kennedy was shot
might have accounted for his subse-
briefing was one of the bad moments
and the pall it cast over the nation.
quent shaky appearance on television.
for the watching White House aides.
He was relieved to hear that Reagan
He reached the briefing podium at
An even worse one came in the press
was trying out one-liners on the doc-
4:14 p.m.
room when the television networks
tors, knowing, as he would say later,
In a voice cracking with emotion, he
incorrectly announced Brady's death.
"that this was a sign of normalcy."
told the nation and the world: "I just
Some aides were furious. Others wept
Weinberger had been told by his
wanted to touch upon a few matters
silently as they continued to work.
secretary that he was wanted at the
associated with today's tragedy. First,
Baker, however, knew better than
Situation Room. At first, he couldn't
as you know, we are in close touch
the networks. He had just had a re-
find a car, and thought of taking a
with the vice president, who is return-
port that Brady was holding his own,
taxi, but CIA Deputy Director Bobby
ing to Washington
We have in-
and he called the Situation Room and
Inman was visiting him, and he of-
formed our friends abroad of the situ-
told them to disregard the report.
fered to take the defense secretary to
ation, the president's condition, as we
Hospital interns who heard the re-
the White House.
know it [is] stable, now undergoing
ports asked the surgeon operating on
When Weinberger arrived, Haig was
surgery. And there are absolutely no
Brady if he hadn't heard that his pa-
making telephone calls on the only
alert measures at this time that we're
tient was dead.
secure phone in the Situation Room.
contemplating."
At about 4:30 p.m. former president
Weinberger stepped outside to call
Haig was then asked who was mak-
Richard M. Nixon called the hospital,
Gen. David Jones, chairman of the
ing decisions for the government at
asking for Nancy Reagan. She was
Joint Chiefs of Staff. They discussed
the time, and responded, "Constitu-
unable to come to the telephone, but
the combat-readiness of American
tionally, gentlemen, you have the
Baker did.
forces, and Weinberger, after receiving
president, the vice president and the
"Please convey my concern that I
unspecified classified information on a
secretary of state, in that order, and
know is shared by all Americans,"
little white slip of paper, directed
should the president decide he wants
Nixon said.
Jones to order "a little higher state of
to transfer the helm to the vice presi-
At 5:20 p.m. the bullet was re-
readiness," but one that was short of a
dent, he will do so. He has not done
moved from the president and the
full alert.
that. of now, I am in control here,
Other Cabinet members were mak-
in the White House, pending return of
medical reports were positive. Baker
ing similar determinations in their
the vice president and in close touch
called the Situation Room and told
areas of responsibility.
with him. If something came up, I
them they didn't have to worry them-
Regan told Treasury Undersecre-
would check with him, of course."
selves any more with the 25th
tary for Monetary Affairs Beryl
Haig's appearance astounded Baker
Amendment.
Sprinkel to tell the Federal Reserve
and Meese, who were watching at the
Meese called the vice president,
that the dollar should be supported
hospital: And it flabbergasted Haig's
whose plane was still an hour out of
on foreign exchange markets. After-
colleagues in the Situation Room,
Washington.
ward, Regan described his action as "a
none of whom had been consulted
Cradling the phone in his cabin
normal procedure that has been done
before he left on his self-appointed
after he received the news, Bush
before" when some crisis threatens the
mission.
turned to his aides and said, "The
dollar's value.
"What's Al doing up there?" asked
bullet's been removed. The operation
The order meant that the Federal
Lewis.
was a success. The president is fine."
Reserve bought dollars with other cur-
Weinberger, returning from his tele-
It was now agreed at the hospital
rencies, though not in massive
phone call to Jones, looked up and
that the president's top aides should
amounts.
saw Haig on the screen and asked,
split up. And it was also agreed that
The attention of the officials in the
"Why are they running that old tape
any further briefings on the presi-
Situation Room then turned to the
of Al Haig?"
dent's condition should be by the doc-
It's not a tape, he was told. Haig's
tors, even though this meant keeping
up there,
the press waiting for another hour.
"He can't be, he was right here,"
Deaver and Nofziger, whose experi
said Weinberger, still disbelieving. As
ence was an asset in White Hous
he watched, Haig told reporters in the
press relations, remained at the hr
briefing room that no change in mili-
tal, where Nofziger related the fu of
tary alert procedures was contem-
the Reagan jokes in surgery. Aeese
plated.
Weinberger knew that this was un-
true because he had just ordered the
increased state of readiness, but had
done so without telling Haig.
When Haig returned to the briefing
room, Weinberger was waiting. In a
dramatic moment of angry but con-
trolled confrontation, Weinberger de-
manded that Haig explain why he
had said what he had in the briefing
room. The two men kept their voices
down. but their differences were clear
and sharp. Despite Haig's announce-
ment, Weinberger told him, he had
increased the readiness of American
went to the vice president's residence
whether it was appropriate for Bush
"Hi, Nancy," said Mrs. Brady, in a
to brief Bush upon his arrival.
to visit Reagan at the hospital, infor-
manner that was strikingly composed,
Meese met Bush at the residence,
mation about Mrs. Reagan and the
"We are just praying for both of
and together they rode in an armored
family, the cancellation of Bush's
them."
limousine back to the White House.
planned trip to Geneva and an update
Nofziger remained at the hospital to
Meese had sent a helicopter for the
on the next day's schedule, which
brief reporters on Brady. At 9:30 p.m.
vice president to Andrews Air Force
Bush would fulfill.
he gave the first relatively optimistic
Base, and a Bush aide had suggested
At 7:30 p.m., with Brady still
report on Brady's condition.
that the chopper fly directly to the
fighting for his life, Dr. Dennis
White House.
O'Leary, clinical dean of George
At 8:50 p.m. the president, with the
"No, I don't want to do that," Bush
Washington, briefed the press.
anesthesia worn off, scribbled a note
said. "Only the president flies onto the
At 8:45 p.m., Meese, Baker and
to his doctors in the recovery room.
South Lawn."
Weinberger met in Baker's office for a
"All in all, I'd rather be in Philadel-
It was 7 p.m. when Bush arrived in
drink and a discussion of the next
phia," it said, in the words of a fa-
the Situation Room. In rapid-fire
day.
mous movie line by W.C. Fields. -
order Allen ticked off an agenda that
At about this time, Nancy Reagan
Everyone laughed. When the mes-
had been discussed previously: the
left the hospital with their son, Ron,
sage was relayed to the Situation
president's health, an update on the
and his wife, Doria. In a corridor, she
Room, Smith said, "I know he's going
world intelligence situation,. the status
encountered the parents of the
to be all right."
of U.S. military forces, the status of
wounded Secret Service agent, and
At 3 a.m. Tuesday, the tubes in
what the press and public had been
said gratefully that their son had
Reagan's mouth were removed: The
told, the status of information given
saved her husband's life. McCarthy's
president's first words were about his
privately to members of Congress, the
father sobbed. Then, on the ground
assailant.
outlines of the statement which had
floor, she met Brady's mother, Doro-
"Boy, what's his beef? Reagan
been drafted for Bush, the question of
thy.
asked.
Turned Into a Day of the Jackal
for the President and His Country
United 1
President Bush, folder behind him, peers into James S. Brady's hospital room Friday with his press secretary, Peter Teeley, right, and Mrs. Brady, pa
Staff writers Martin Schram, Lee Lescoze, Jim Dickinson,
Susan Okie, Don Oberdorfer, John M. Berry, T.R. Reid and
Thomas O'Tbole contributed to this report.
April 13, 1981 / $1.25
Shella She TE Pa Patton tton ex Press s TN s
Rea
V st
Close Call
The Shooting
And the Surgery
Case History of
A Gunman
Who's in Control
Can the Risk
Be Cut?
Newsweek
The Shooting of
Photos by Ron Edmonds-AP
25
SPECIAL REPORT
the President
Sheldon Fielman (cameraman)-NBC TV News
1,
/
KE
American Nightmare
And yet it goes on, and on, and on
Why?
many more Americans received the news and switched channels
-Robert F. Kennedy on the murder of
to something else, once the initial vertigo wore off and the medical
Martin Luther King, 1968
bulletins turned favorable. "Nobody was shocked," said Frank
Mankiewicz, the old Kennedy hand who now heads National
Suddenly, like a nightmare in instant replay, it was going on
Public Radio. "Suddenly, it goes with the territory. Everybody
again: the faceless, rootless loner with a pistol and a lunatic mission
knows what presidents do: they run for office, they push bills
washed up within shooting distance of the American Presidency
through Congress, they make speeches-and they get shot at."
and the American dream. Yet again, television screens burned
The swift return to what Reagan might call normalcy was
with the sickening imagery ofassassination-Ronald Reagan walk-
due at least as much to his own iron-horse example, shaking
ing and waving through a misty Washington rain, a Saturday-
off his wounds and his post-op pain as if he were 50 instead
night special pop-popping bullets out of a crowd, the bodies of
of 70 and chafing for his return to the White House as early
White House press secretary James Brady and two lawmen blown
as this week. "We could all say, 'Boy, that was a close one',"
hurt and bleeding to the sidewalk, the Secret Service slamming
said Jack Casey, a Detroit political consultant. "The President
a stunned and wounded President into his limousine and racing
signaled to us that life goes on." For a day likely to live as
against death to a hospital. The news this time was good for
long as his Presidency, he was the Duke defending the Alamo,
Reagan and the others, and the omens for their recovery were
Teddy Roosevelt taking a slug in the chest en route to a speech
favorable. The most grievous wound of all was struck to the
and waving away help until he had finished. His approval rating
soul of a nation-the discovery that its public life is not yet
in an ABC News/Washington Post poll bounced 11 points, over-
safe from the fantasies of madmen or the shadow of the gun.
night, to 73 per cent. "General Patton or George Gipp couldn't
T Forgot to Duck': Whatever saving grace could be found
have done it better," a Pittsburgh political scientist said. "He'll
in the carnage on TStreet owed mainly to Reagan himself, grinning
have an image of an almost mythic hero about him now."
like the Sundance Kid into the face of death, and to the ex-
He will need those resources and more in the weeks ahead,
traordinary resilience of the government he had inherited only
running the government from a sickbed through a particu-
70 days before. The President walked into
larly difficult passage. An Administration
George Washington University Hospitalon
accustomed to running on delegated au-
his own with his blood oozing away, an
Once again, a loner with
thority seemed to tick on nicely enough
undetonated explosive bullet in his chest
without him. But the crisis in Poland was
and his fighting spirit very much intact.
a pistol fires on a
heating dangerously near to what Rea-
"I forgot to duck," he kidded going into
two hours of surgery. "All in all, I'd rath-
President-and once
gan's men considered the flash point (page
62), with the President still in the hospi-
er be in Philadelphia," he kidded again
again a nation stands
tal and his Secretary of State, Alexander
coming out. His sang-froid spread to his
Haig, freshly bruised by his rattled be-
colleagues, gathered in the White House
in the shadow of the gun.
havior in the first hours after the shooting.
Situation Room to install Vice President
The Reagan economic package, moreover,
George Bush as acting President had the
was at a delicate moment of gestation. The
need arisen. It did not. Reagan resumed some semblance of com-
Senate voted during the week to cut the budget deeper, by $2.8
mand. within eighteen hours-and the government, in the insistent
billion, than Reagan had asked, and the Urban League's Jordan
word of the White House, "did not skip a beat."
-himself scarred by sniper fire-pronounced it "no time to
Yet the mere fact of the attentat by an overprivileged under-
argue with a President." "Maybe the congressmen will feel sor-
achiever named John W. Hinckley Jr. was evidence enough that
ry for me and pass my tax bill," Reagan told a visitor; still,
the eighteen-year death trip begun with the assassination of John
he was champing to get back to work lest his program falter
F. Kennedy cannot yet be counted over. Hinckley, like most
without him.
of his forebears in the American past, was the agent of no discernible
The Wrong Track: The less tangible danger was that John
cause larger than his own dementia-a Valium-dulled stew of
Hinckley had shot up more than a President and his retinue-
rock songs, Nazi scriptures and an unrequited passion for the
that his .22-caliber Röhm RG-14 had wounded the American
teen-age movie star Jodie Foster. But he is as well the child
spirit as well at a moment when it had seemed so promisingly
of the bloodiest generation in the history of America's public
on the mend. In surveys by Reagan's polltaker Richard Wirthlin,
life and popular culture. JFK fell into the bull's-eye when Hinckley
public support for the view that the nation has somehow "gotten
was 8, Malcolm X when he was 9, King when he was 12, Bobby
off on the wrong track" had dwindled sharply, from 77 per cent
when he was 13, George Wallace when he was 16, Gerald Ford
last June to 47 per cent only a fortnight ago. But the attempt
when he was 20, Vernon Jordan and John Lennon when he was
on Reagan's life brought home how fragile that spirit is and
25. He saved cuttings on some of them, and on their assailants,
how resigned Americans have become to periodic armed assaults
and read them to mean that murdering Reagan would be re-
on it. It has become a given that the open society cannot surely
garded-even honored-as a "historical deed."
identify the dangerous men and women in its midst, or keep
He was wrong, of course; the disturbing lesson of the attempt
them from moving about at will, or even prevent them from
on Reagan was not that Americans condone or encourage public
buying weapons meant only for murder. With Reagan's wounding,
violence but that they have grown numb to it. Hinckley did have
Congress rang with impassioned cries for tightened gun control-
his admirers in isolated pockets-the seventh-graders in Tulsa
and defeated whispers that, however popular, it will not pass.
who cheered this TV shooting as they had J. R.'s on "Dallas"
To do nothing at all is to surrender to the possibility that
a year ago and the occasional callers to radio phone-in shows
the attempt on Reagan was not the last-that the shadow of
asserting that Reagan got what he deserved. What was more
the gun has become a deadly fact of American life. "Does anybody
disquieting was the widespread that's-life acquiescence with which
know what the guy's beef was?" Reagan mused, puzzling with
the rest of the nation over the scrambled shards of John Hinckley's
Instant replay: A pistol spat bullets, a stunned and wounded Presi-
life. The real nightmare for America was that it didn't matter-
dent was slammed into his car-and, beyond a line of fallen
that any crowd anywhere may conceal a tuned-out loser with
bodies, lawmen pinned Hinckley to the wall
a pistol in his pocket and a grievance to avenge in blood.
© Sebastiso Salgado Jr.-Magnum
PETER GOLDMAN
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
29
30
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
Michael Evans-The White House
SPECIAL REPORT
Reagan's Close Call
The cylinder spun, the
counselor Edwin Meese. Richard Allen, the
to the Washington Hilton Hotel for a speech
hammer clicked and the
national-security adviser, went over the
to 3,500 AFL-CIO union delegates. The
little, snub-nosed revolver sprayed its chaos.
morning cables. Then his top Congressional
two politicians, self-made men of Irish roots
Michael Deaver, deputy White House chief
lobbyist, Max Friedersdorf, gave him the
and humor, spent the five-minute drive
of staff, cringed like a man who had just
morning line on Congress. The rest of the
reminiscing about the 1980 New Jersey pri-
felt death whistle past his neck. Press sec-
day looked to contain nothing more ex-
mary, in which Donovan had played a cru-
retary James Brady pitched face down on
citing than a meeting with David Rocke-
cial role for Reagan. Donovan told the
the sidewalk, blood trickling through a
feller of Chase Manhattan Bank and dinner
President an old New Jersey joke about
grating. Policeman Thomas Delahanty
with a few Cabinet officers.
a local pol demoted to superintendent of
spun around and then collapsed, a bullet
Two blocks away, Hinckley got up,
Municipal Weights and Measures. After
in his neck, his hat flying through the air.
dressed and left the hotel. Outside, it was
his first day, reporters asked him, "Sir, how
One slug caught Secret Service agent Timo-
raining. Hinckley went to Kay's Sandwich
many ounces in a pound?" "Hey," he pro-
thy McCarthy in the chest, lifting and drop-
Shoppe down the street from the Old Ex-
tested. "Give a guy a chance to learn his
ping him in a limp bundle on the pavement.
ecutive Office Building, sat on a stool and
duties." The President's limousine parked
Another punched a tiny hole in the left
began to eat his breakfast. Back at room
outside the hotel's VIP entrance and Rea-
side of the President of the United States,
312, the maid came in. She found Hinck-
gan strode in. He worked a reception line,
who was pushed into his car by agent
huddled with Donovan, Deaver and
Jerry Parr and sped away so fast that
Brady in a VIP "holding room." Then
at first even Ronald Reagan didn't know
he walked into the ballroom and gave
he had been shot.
a conventional little speech that ranged
from his budget cuts to the work ethic
The day before the shooting, 25-year-
to violent crime.
old John Warnock Hinckley Jr., a child
Fidgets: Hinckley got ready to make
of the right gone wrong, arrived at the
his move. Sometime after 1:15, when
Greyhound Bus Terminal in Washing-
a room maid knocked and found him
ton-just five long blocks from the
still in his room, he set off for the Wash-
White House. For a few: moments
ington Hilton. When he arrived, he
Hinckley leaned on a pole in the ter-
took up a position in front of the curv-
minal; then he sat down in a blue plastic
ing stone wall that runs from the VIP
chair. At about 12:15 p.m. he got into
entrance. "He was very fidgety, agitat-
line at the terminal's Burger King. "A
ed," recalled Mike Dodson, a Pinkerton
Whopper, cheese, no onions, and an or-
man working in the Agency for Inter-
der of onion rings," he snapped at wait-
national Development across the street
ress Linda Ross, slamming a $5 bill
who noticed Hinckley as he waited for
down on the counter. When the waitress
the President to emerge from the hotel.
asked if the order was to go, he snarled,
Reporters and cameramen, also waiting
"I said it was for here.' He grabbed
for Reagan, took up stations behind a
his change and tray, retreated to a far
red-velvet rope. The Secret Service did
corner and wolfed down the food. At
not screen the press crowd despite the
1 p.m. he made his way to the Park
fact that bystanders had made their way
Central Hotel on Eighteenth Street, two
into it. A police lieutenant reportedly
blocks from the White House and less
John Ficara-NEwswEEK
studied Hinckley for a while-but then
than one block from Secret Service head-
Hinckley under arrest: A 'historical deed' for love
looked away.
quarters. He paid $42 for one night's
The leaky security upset Reagan's
rent on room 312, which had twin beds,
ley's clothes packed neatly in a suitcase,
White House advance men. Rocky Kuonen
ivory wallpaper, a brown carpet and a color
a little travel alarm clock and a TV guide-
pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled
TV. He went out again, then hunkered
little more. Not long afterward, Hinckley
a diagram, reminding himself to sanitize
down for the night-and his grim appoint-
returned. He sat down to compose a love
the press cordon of bystanders before Rea-
ment the next day with Ronald Reagan.
letter to someone he had never met: Jodie
gan's next public stop. The precaution came
While Hinckley cruised the porn district
Foster, an 18-year-old movie starlet who
too late. At 2:25 the President emerged
four blocks from the White House, the
played a teen-age prostitute in the 1976
from the VIP entrance into a misty rain.
President was spending a quiet evening in
film "Taxi Driver" (box, page 35). "There
For convenience, his limousine was not
the family quarters at the White House.
is a definite possibility that I will be killed
parked directly in front of the entrance but
Next morning he got up, showered, put
in my attempt to get Reagan," he wrote.
25 feet away so the motorcade could avoid
on a blue suit and tucked a white hand-
"Jodie, I'm asking you to please look into
the hotel's curving driveway and a circu-
kerchief neatly in his pocket. At 8:45 he
your heart and at least give me the chance
itous exit as it pulled away.
entered the Oval Office for the day's first
with this historical deed to gain your re-
As the Presidential party came out,
briefing with his top aides-White House
spect and love." The signature was equal-
Brady and Deaver swung left, headed for
chief of staff James Baker, deputy chief
ly inflamed: "I love you forever-John
the staff car. Then Reagan stepped forward.
of staff Michael Deaver and White House
Hinckley."
Hoping to get in one quick question, Mi-
The letter was dated 12:45 p.m. At 1:30,
chael Putzel, an AP reporter, shouted, "Mr.
Nancy and a convalescing President: 'Hon-
Secretary of Labor Raymond Donovan ar-
President, Mr. President." The President
ey, I forgot to duck'
rived at the White House to escort Reagan
smiled and raised his left arm in a cheery
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
31
MAIN ENTRANCE
McCarthy
Dela
WASHINGTON
HILTON'HOTEL
The President and
his aides emerge from
hotei and walk toward
waiting cars.
VIP
DOOR
3
Secret Service agent Parr
rushes toward Reagan, pushing
him into the car.
Michael Evans-The White House
Moments before the shooting: The gunman is blocked from view by Officer Delahanty
wave. At that moment, Hinckley whipped
follow-up limousine. "Rawhide" return-
eight or nine people leaping on this one
out his gun, dropped to a crouch, took
ing to "Crown'," he added, signaling that
guy," said Dan Coffey, a mortgage agent.
up a cop's professional, double-hand grip
Reagan was on his way back to the White
"It seemed like forever before they got him
and opened fire. Reagan froze and went
House. "Rawhide not hurt, repeat, not
under control." After several minutes of
pale. "It was like looking at a person who
hurt," Parr said a few seconds later. In
struggling, the officers clapped handcuffs
has seen death reflected in his eyes," said
the President's car, Reagan felt his side
on Hinckley, pulled his coat up over his
Mickey Crowe, 24, a trembling demonstra-
gingerly. He was having trouble breathing.
head as a makeshift straitjacket and hustled
tor who had come to protest Reagan's pro-
"It felt like a hammer hit me," Reagan
him off to metropolitan police headquar-
nuclear-energy stance. "All) can remember
later described the sensation. He began
ters. Three ambulances arrived and hauled
is his expression. It was like a guy saying:
to cough up red blood and agent Parr
away Brady, Delahanty and McCarthy.
'I'm in a moment of helplessness'.'
recognized it as oxygenated blood from
Looking at the bloody bandages left on
Shield: Within two seconds, Hinckley
the lungs. He directed the driver to change
the sidewalk, Garnet Chapin, 32, a Reagan
emptied his gun, firing six shots in all. The
course. Grabbing the car radio, Parr said
advance man during the 1980 campaign
little revolver made a deceptively innocent
"Horsepower.' Parr. Going to George
who was in town to apply for a job at the
popping sound. "Firecrackers," thought
Washington University Hospital. Notify
Interior Department, said with a groan,
Kuonen, who had seen heavier fire in Viet-
hospital Rawhide en route."
"I know it's impossible to completely pro-
nam. At the first pop, Parr, 50, head of
From a window in a building across the
tect
him
I was with him from Philly
the White House Secret Service detail,
street from the Washington Hilton, Wilma
to Flint. Now I'm in Washington and I
reached forward and grabbed the startled
Criviski watched as the President's motor-
see this." Tears welled in his eyes. "Damn,
President. Doubling Reagan over to reduce
cade screeched away, leaving the bodies
damn," he cursed softly.
his target profile, Parr then hunched over
of three men on the ground. Rushing to
'Code Room': Within a few minutes the
him as a human shield and slammed him
a front office, she grabbed a phone, dialed
President's motorcade screamed into the
to the floor of the limousine. Even so, one
911 and cried to the emergency dispatcher:
emergency entrance of George Washington
of Hinckley's shots, caroming off the car's
"We need an ambulance at the Washington
University Hospital, twelve blocks from the
armor, tore a hole in Reagan's suit, pierced
Hilton Hotel; people have been shot in the
Washington Hilton Hotel. As two Secret
his body, traveled several inches down his
street." Brady was face down, bleeding into
Service agents hovered close by, Reagan
side, bounced off a rib, punctured his left
a steel grating and tended to by a Secret
got out, walked about 15 yards to the emer-
lung and came to rest just 3 inches from
Service agent who laid his gun to rest next
gency room, then staggered and was
his heart. He felt nothing at first. "The
to Brady's wounded head. Delahanty, a
grabbed by the agents. "His eyes rolled
car pulled out with the President looking
policeman who normally works a different
upward and his knees started to buckle,"
back," said William Middleton, an archi-
beat but was assigned to Reagan because
said Roberto Hernandez, 26, a paramedic.
tect who was standing nearby. "I think
his guard dog Kirk was sick that day, also
"I thought he was having a heart attack.
it was just the people standing in front of
lay on the ground groaning in agony. Agent
I thought we were losing him." Hernandez
him that saved him."
McCarthy lay silent.
took the President by the feet, and the
As the President's motorcade roared
The smell of burnt powder filled the air.
agents hoisted him gently under the arms
down Connecticut Avenue, the radio
Alfred Antonucci, 68, a burly, 5-foot 2-
and carried him-faint but still conscious-
("Horsepower") in room W-16, the Secret
inch union representative from Cleveland,
to the "code room," a 10-by 20-foot space
Service command post at the White House,
tackled Hinckley. Police, hotel security
where the worst emergency cases are treat-
crackled to life. "Shots fired," reported
guards and Secret Service men brandishing
ed. "Let's get some oxygen on him," yelled
an agent in "Halfback," the President's
their weapons also piled on. "There were
a doctor as the hospital's trauma team
32
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
THE CARNAGE ON T STREET
SPECIAL REPORT
2
Gunman, waiting
with reporters, fires
at the President.
McCarthy
Brady
STAFF CAR
Delahanty
SECRET
SERVICE
Reagan
CAR
Deaver
4
Brady, Delahanty and
McCarthy are hit directly.
Reagan is struck by a bullet
ricocheting off the limousine.
PRESIDENTIAL
LIMOUSINE
lb Ohisson-NEwSWEEK
cal-care tower" of the Washington Hospital
Center.) McCarthy was lying on his side,
swung into action (page 45). Hernandez
clutching his abdomen. "Are you still with
leaned over Reagan and whispered "They'll
us?" asked a colleague. "Oh yeah, I'm still
take care of you, Mr. President."
with you," McCarthy said with a grimace.
Another ambulance wailed up to the
In Chicago, McCarthy's mother and sister
emergency room and Brady was wheeled
flicked on their TV, saw the first tapes of
into the room next to Reagan. A curtain
the shooting, and wept. When Hinckley
was drawn between them. A few seconds
began shooting, McCarthy had stepped into
later a third ambulance pulled up with Mc-
the line of fire, perhaps saving Reagan's
Carthy. (Delahanty was taken to the "criti-
life. "He knew- the job had risks," said his
Six shots: Parr shoves Reagan into limo, McCarthy is hit and Deaver (below) ducks
Dirck Halstead
Photos by Sheldon Fielman (cameraman)-NBC TV News
Dirck Halstead
© Sebastiao Salgado Jr.-Magnum
After the President's escape: Uzi-toting agent guards Hinckley as others attend Brady
Evidence: An agent holds the attacker's gun
father, Norman, a Chicago cop. "He knew
gunned-down; Brady's wound was to the
"He's all right, he's all right," she cried
the dangers."
brain. Suddenly, Deaver gasped. "Oh, gosh,
as she jumped from her car and sprinted
Meanwhile, from the Washington Hilton
here they come," he said, as Brady was
to the emergency room. A Secret Service
lobby, David Prosperi, 27, a White House
wheeled by on a stretcher. "It doesn't look
agent told her otherwise. "He's taken a
press aide left behind by the retreating
good for Jim," Deaver said quietly.
bullet-but he's all right," the agent said.
Presidential motorcade, flashed the word
Baker's immediate problem was to de-
"Honey, I forgot to duck," Reagan told
of the shooting to the White House. Mis-
termine whether Reagan had been inca-
her. She leaned over and kissed him. As
takenly, he told deputy press secretary
pacitated-and whether to transfer Presi-
the President's bed was wheeled into the
Larry Speakes that Reagan had not been
dential power to Vice President George
operating room, the doctors gently
hit. Speakes bolted into the hallway outside
Bush under the terms of the 25th Amend-
stopped the First Lady from entering.
the press office, collared Presidential as-
ment. Baker asked Deaver to put Dr. Daniel
Looking up, Reagan caught a glimpse of
sistant David Gergen and delivered the
Ruge, Reagan's personal physician, on the
Meese, Deaver and Baker. "Who's mind-
news of the shooting. "Oh my God," Ger-
phone. Ruge reported that the President
ing the store?" he said with a wink as
gen thought. "Not again." The two men
had a small bullet puncture in his chest
the orderlies wheeled him into surgery.
raced along the colonnade by the Rose Gar-
and had lost 3 or 4 pints of blood; he called
Looking up at the surgeons, Reagan
den to the South Lawn. Seeing that Rea-
his condition "stable." Just then, one of
quipped, "I hope you're all Republicans."
gan's motorcade had failed to return, they
Baker's other phones rang. Secretary of
"Today, everyone's a Republican," one
ran into Baker's West Wing office. "Do
State Alexander Haig was on the line. Baker
doctor rejoined.
you know what's happened?" Gergen blurt-
told him Reagan had been hit. "You know
Rumors: Reassured by the preliminary
ed out. "Somebody's tried to shoot the
it's important how we handle this as far
guess of the doctors that Reagan's prog-
President-and Brady's been hit."
as the world is concerned," Haig said. "I
nosis was good, Baker, Deaver and Meese
'Oh, Gosh': Baker made a dash for the
quiteagree with you," Baker replied. Before
saw no immediate need to invoke the 25th
Secret Service command post. When Meese
taking any action, however, Baker and
Amendment. But for a time it looked like
was alerted, he "went totally white," said
Meese wanted to go to the hospital. At
no one was minding the store very coher-
an aide. A few minutes later Deaver called
Deaver's suggestion, the two worried aides
ently. Back at the White House, the
from the hospital with a garbled report:
went first to the White House family quar-
stripped-down staff wallowed in rumors.
Brady and a Secret Service agent had been
ters to persuade Nancy Reagan not to go
It took nearly an hour before White House
shot, but the President had only a bruised
to the hospital. "A lot of people had been
communications director Frank Ursomar
rib. Scribbling a "Do not hang up" sign
shot: there was a lot of blood," said an
so announced that Reagan had been shot.
on a sheet of paper, White House aides
aide. "It was his view that it wasn't the
There was weeping when all three networks
attached it to the phone and kept the line
best place for her to be."
broadcast a false report that Brady had
open to the hospital. (It took 40 minutes
They were too late. Returning from a
died. Speakes finally emerged and crushed
to install secure White House communi-
lunch in Georgetown, the First Lady had
the rumor. "There was a lack of precise
cations to the hospital.) Five minutes later
learned of the shooting from her chief of
information to say the least," says Treasury
Deaver was back with a grimmer report:
staff and a Secret Service agent. She im-
Secretary Donald Regan, the first Cabinet
"It looks like the President has been
mediately rushed to the hospital. She did
officer to arrive on scene.
nicked," he said; a D.C. cop had been
not know that her husband had been shot.
The Administration began to pull itself
34
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
SPECIAL REPORT
together. Haig, Defense Secretary Caspar
Weinberger, Attorney General William
French Smith and CIA chief William Casey
all rushed to the White House. The Presi-
dent's men gathered in the basement Sit-
uation Room (code name: Cement Mixer).
Meese and Baker left word before they went
to the hospital that Haig, as the senior Cabi-
net officer, should run the Situation Room,
overseeing such duties as assembling the
entire Cabinet should it be necessary to
invoke the 25th Amendment later. Says
Baker, "We did everything we had to do
to take action if action was required."
Alert: Even so, Haig managed to stum-
ble into one stinging set of nettles. As he
was sitting in the Situation Room, he
glanced up at the television and heard a
reporter ask deputy press secretary
Speakes whether U.S. military forces had
been put on alert. "Not that I'm aware,"
Speakes replied. Haig feared that the
press might misinterpret the vague report.
"Come on, come with me," he told na-
tional-security adviser Allen. Without
telling anyone where he was going, Haig
Dirck Haistead
took Allen in tow, raced up a flight of
An ambulance for Brady: Miraculous progress after the networks pronounced him dead
stairs and stalked into the White House
press room.
berger looked up absently at the television
State in that order, and should the President
For a take-charge leader, Haig made a
set and asked, "What's that old tape of
decide he wants to transfer the helm to
rather clumsy entrance. Unannounced,
Al running for?" He had no idea that Haig
the Vice President, he will do so. I am
sweating heavily from the run upstairs, his
was upstairs on live TV.
in control here in the White House pending
voice quavering, he announced that the ap-
But Haig got his facts wrong-and over-
the return of the Vice President. If some-
propriate Cabinet officials were in the Sit-
stepped his authority. When a reporter
thing came up, I would check with him,
uation Room, that Vice President Bush was
asked who was making the decisions for
of course."
aware of the crisis, that U.S. allies had been
the White House he replied: "Constitution-
In fact, the Speaker of the House and
notified as well and that no military alert
ally, gentlemen, you have the President,
the President Pro Tempore of the Senate
wason. Down in the Situation Room, Wein-
the Vice President and the Secretary of
follow the President and Vice President
Hinckley's Last Love Letter
Dear Jodie:
sation, however full of ridicule it may
There is a definite possibility that I
be. At least you know that I'll always
will be killed in my attempt to get Reagan.
love you.
It is for this very reason that I am writing
Jodie, I would abandon this idea of
you this letter now.
getting Reagan in a second if I could
As you well know by now, I love you
only win your heart and live out the rest
very much. The past seven months I have
of my life with you, whether it be in
left you dozens of poems, letters and mes-
total obscurity or whatever. I will admit
sages in the faint hope you would develop
to you that the reason I'm going ahead
an interest in me.
with this attempt now is because I just
Although we talked on the phone a
cannot wait any longer to impress you.
couple of times, I never had the nerve
I've got to do something now to make
to simply approach you and introduce
you understand in no uncertain terms
myself. Besides my shyness, I honestly
that I am doing all of this for your sake.
did not wish to bother you
I know
By sacrificing my freedom and possibly
the many messages left at your door and
my life I hope to change your mind about
in your mailbox were a nuisance, but I
me. This letter is being written an hour
felt it was the most painless way for me
before I leave for the Hilton Hotel.
to express my love to you.
Jodie, I'm asking you to please look
I feel very good about the fact you
into your heart and at least give me the
at least know my name and how I feel
chance with this historical deed to gain
about you. And by hanging around your
your respect and love.
dormitory I've come to realize that I'm
I love you forever.
Steve Schapiro-Transworld
the topic of more than a little conver-
(signed) John Hinckley
Foster as a prostitute in Taxi Driver'
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
35
SPECIAL REPORT
Larry Downing-Newsweex
James Knowles-Sipa-Black Star
Baker, Meese and Deaver watch Bush on the air: 'The President has emerged with flying colors'
in the legal order of succession. And it
islature. As Bush's plane took off, special
Wright to the forward compartment to talk.
is Weinberger, not-Haig, who is in charge
agent Ed Pollard told a Bush aide, "There
"He conducted himself in an atmosphere
of the emergency military commands in
has been an attempt on the President and
of total calm," Wright said later. He told
the absence of Reagan and Bush. To make
two agents are down." At that moment,
Bush a story about Vice President Harry
matters worse, Weinberger had just called
the plane started to climb, and Bush didn't
Truman on the day that Franklin D. Roo-
Gen. David Jones, chairman of the Joint
get the word until the pilot leveled off. "Two
sevelt died. Truman was with House Speak-
Chiefs of Staff, to order a low-level increase
Secret Service men are down," Bush said.
er Sam Rayburn when he was summoned
in military readiness on the ground that
"Don't you know how awful he [Pollard]
to the White House. "Harry, you must be
no one knew whether the attack on the
must feel?"
President now," Rayburn said. "Sam, I
President had been an isolated incident or
A few minutes later Haig phoned, telling
can't do it," Truman replied. "Mr. Presi-
a conspiracy. When Haig returned and
Bush to return to Washington and that
dent," Rayburn said evenly, "You've got
asked everyone to make sure that their ac-
a coded teletype message was on its way
to do it." The plane landed and taxied into
tions squared with his statement, Wein-
to Bush's plane. The television in the plane
a hangar for security. Before Bush boarded
berger refused to rescind his order, making
was tuned to ABC, and at 3:11 p.m. the
the chopper, a Secret Service agent handed
it clear that he thought Haig was over-
Vice President of the United States, like
him a bullet-resistant raincoat.
stepping his authority. "You better read
millions of other shocked Americans, first
Allies: Landing on the grounds of the
your Constitution," Haig snapped. There
learned that Reagan, too, had been shot.
Naval Observatory, the Vice President's of-
was a sharp exchange-Weinberger's office
At 3:19, the coded message arrived con-
ficial quarters, Bush found Meese waiting
later denied leaked details-and finally the
firming the news.
to escort him to the White House. Bush
flap blew over. A few hours later the readi-
The Vice President's plane (code name:
went directly to the Situation Room. Ev-
ness order was lifted.
Treasureship) landed in Austin at 3:25 to
eryone there stood up as he walked in, and
Reassurance: During that time the
refuel for the flight to Washington. House
he sat down at the head of the conference
White House press corps grumbled angri-
Majority Leader James Wright flew back
table. "All right, bring me up to date,"
ly over the chaos around them. Final-
with the Vice President. Bush invited
he said. "How is the President?" He was
ly, a senior Administration hand took
briefed on Reagan's condition and the
aside a reporter friend and asked wan-
Haig briefing the press: 'Read your Constitution'
messages Haig had sent to U.S. allies.
Courtesy NBC TV News
ly, "What should we be doing that
Weinberger reviewed the military sit-
we aren't doing?" "Continuity of gov-
uation, reporting that there had been
ernment," the reporter snapped. "Get
no unusual military movements war-
someone out here to reassure every-
ranting a U.S. response.
one." That role fell first to Dr. Dennis
The meeting was low key, calm.
S. O'Leary, the articulate and unflap-
Once or twice Bush propped his feet
pable dean of Clinical Affairs and pub-
on the table as he talked. The briefing
lic spokesman for the hospital, who
over, he left to address the networks.
reported that Reagan had "sailed
The President "has emerged from this
through" surgery.
experience with flying colors and with
Bush also emerged as a calming
most optimistic prospects for a com-
force. At the time of the shooting, he
plete recovery," he said. "I can re-
was in Ft. Worth, Texas, where he
insure this nation and the watching
had spoken to a convention of cattle-
world that the American Government
men. He was bound for Austin to ad-
is functioning fully and effectively."
dress a joint session of the state leg-
The Vice President then left to pay
36
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
SPECIAL REPORT
he was dancing with the Joffrey II
Ballet. An Air Force jet brought
a call on Nancy Reagan. She had spent
Maureen, 39, Michael, 35, and Patti,
the hours during Reagan's operation with
28, in from California. Billy Graham
Jim Brady's wife, Sarah, and Timothy
arrived; so did Frank Sinatra, who
McCarthy's wife, Carolyn, in an office on
paid a quiet call on the First Lady
the second floor of George Washington
at the White House to avoid pub-
University Hospital. She also prayed in
licity. Queen Elizabeth and the Pope
the chapel. Four hours after the shoot-
sent comforting words-as did Leo-
ing, Reagan was wheeled into the recov-
nid Brezhnev and Fidel Castro.
ery room, draped in a bright orange blan-
Early the next morning, Reagan
ket. He stayed there until 6:15 the next
redeemed the faith of his men, who
morning.
had decided against invoking the
Progress Notes': Reagan's performance
25th Amendment. Around 6:45 a.m.,
in the recovery room may have been his
Meese, Deaver and Baker found the
finest starring role. He had a tube in his
President propped up in bed, brush-
throat and couldn't talk easily. He called
ing his teeth. "I should have known
for a clipboard, and on a pad of pink paper
I wasn't going to avoid a staff meet-
he began to dash off "progress notes." "I'd
ing," he said, adding to Deaver, the
like to do this scene again-starting at
keeper of his time, "I've really
the hotel," he wrote, convulsing the nurses
screwed up the schedule." When the
and staff. For a time, he fell into a fitful
three counselors assured him soberly
sleep. Waking, he grabbed the pad and
that the business of government was
wrote, "I'm still alive aren't I?" Around
going on as usual, Reagan fixed them
midnight he once again reached for his
with a Western eye and said, "What
writing gear and scribbled, "Winston
makes you think I'd be happy about
Churchill said there is no more exhilarating
that?"
feeling than being shot without result."
Signature: The President still had
At 1:30, in a sardonic reference to his res-
an intravenous needle in his right
pirator, he wrote, "Send me to L.A. where
arm and tubes in his nose; but he
I can see the air I'm breathing." At 2:20,
seemed eager to get back to work.
he passed a note to his round-the-clock
The aides had brought along a bill
nurses that said, "If I knew I had such
restricting Federal price supports for
talent for this, I'd have tried it sooner."
dairy products. It represented Rea-
At 3 a.m., the doctors took the tube
gan's first real legislative victory.
AP
out of the President's throat, and he could
When they asked gingerly if he want-
Dr. O'Leary: Reassuring an anxious nation
finally talk.
ed to sign it, he said, "Would I ever."
"How long will it take to heal?" he asked
Using his breakfast tray for a table, he
dition. As gently as he could, Ruge finally
one of the nurses.
scrawled a wobbly signature and sent the
filled him in. "Oh, damn. Oh, damn," Rea-
"Ten days to two weeks," she replied.
bill on its way. Later that morning, when
gan blurted, his eyes filling with tears. "Did
"I always heal fast," he said.
Maureen dropped by, Reagan promised
it go into the brain?" Told that the bullet
"Keep up the good work," she told him.
her that he would fly to California in three
had indeed pierced Brady's brain, Reagan
"You mean this may happen several
weeks for her wedding, then visit President
said, "Oh, dear, what's the prognosis?" The
more times?" he asked in mock dismay.
José López Portillo of Mexico. Maybe, said
doctor told him that Brady might be par-
Then the President turned serious. "I
the doctor, adding that the President
tially paralyzed. "We've got to pray," Rea-
heard three or four rounds," he said. "Did
wouldn't be anywhere near a horse for
gan said. When told about McCarthy and
anybody else get hit?" There was an awk-
two months. Vetoing the sawbones, Reagan
Delahanty, he said quietly, "That means
ward silence. David Fischer, the President's
grinned at his daughter and held up a finger
four bullets hit. Good Lord."
personal aide, had instructed them not to
for one month.
Telegrams: As Reagan settled down to
let on about the seriousness of Brady's
The good vibrations were broken shortly
his convalescence, the First Lady bravely
wound or the suffering of McCarthy and
after noon when Dr. Ruge came in to the
kept up her outward composure, but she
Delahanty, explaining that Reagan had
President's comfortable, $234-a-day room.
was suffering deeply. While she had worried
very intense feelings about the people
The First Lady and aides had refused to
constantly about Reagan's safety when he
around him and would be deeply upset-
give Reagan a newspaper because they
was governor of California, she had hoped
and perhaps set back in his recovery-
didn't want him to read about Brady's con-
that his massive electoral popularity last
by the bad news. Through the
November would somehow
night the doctors respected the
McCarthy, Delahanty: A bullet called the Devastator
help protect him. For the first
advice-and evaded the Presi-
AP
UPI photos
three days she slept little. Be-
dent's questions.
tween catnaps she would wake,
Through the day of the shoot-
write in her diary and nibble
ing and all through the night,
fruit; but she lost several
the President's family and
pounds. She brought her hus-
friends murmured prayers and
band a picture of them kissing
rallied round him. "I was al-
at the Inauguration so he
most sure that something like
wouldn't "forget what I looked
this would happen; it's about
like." During the day she set
time the courts decide the fun
up shop in a room next to the
is over," said the President's
President's. She was surround-
brother, Neil Reagan, 72. The
ed by boxes containing thou-
President's son Ron, 22, flew
sands of telegrams. She com-
in from Lincoln, Neb., where
forted other friends who
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
37
SPECIAL REPORT
for Haig to carry to Israel, Egypt, Jordan
the penalty for attempted murder is life
and Saudi Arabia. Weinberger briefed Rea-
imprisonment. Hinckley was also charged
phoned, and winnowed through get-well
gan on his trip this week to a NATO meet-
for shooting agent McCarthy, another Fed-
gifts for items to cheer the President. Per-
ing in Europe on nuclear policy. It was
eral crime, and he could still be indicted
haps the most successful was a giant horse
business-almost-as-usual-under very try-
for assaulting Brady and Delahanty.
head made of chrysanthemums-with a
ing circumstances (page 39).
Around 10:30 on the day of the shoot-
mane of jelly beans.
The suffering of Brady, Delahanty and
ing, the Feds brought Hinckley to a Fed-
Reagan improved steadily: progressing
McCarthy cast a pall over what might have
eral court for a bail hearing. Security was
from Jell-O to chicken soup, carrot sticks
been a happy ending to the crisis. But the
tight. Court stenographers, lawyers, em-
and homemade coconut ice cream, his fa-
others also began to improve. By the end
ployees and even the cleaning women all
vorite. But even as the atmosphere started
of the week, when a doctor asked Brady
had to pass through a metal detector. FBI
to brighten, the FBI placed an urgent call
what he did for a living, he said, "I answer
director William Webster sat in the court-
to the doctors treating Delahanty. The FBI
questions." And when the doctor asked for
room ("It was on my watch," he said).
lab had determined that Hinckley had been
whom, the fallen press secretary replied
Federal magistrate Arthur L. Burnett ex-
firing particularly vicious exploding bullets
quickly, "For anyone who asks them." In-
plained Hinckley's rights to him and asked
called Devastators that fragmented on im-
formed of the progress of the others, Reagan
if he understood the charges against him.
pact. FBI technicians warned that the slug
said, "Oh that's great news, just great news,
"Yes, sir," Hinckley said softly, showing
lodged in Delahanty's neck near his spinal
especially about Jim," then broke up callers
no emotion. Did he have a job? "No, sir."
cord might still contain a live charge and
by quipping, "We'll have to get four bed-
Any dependents? "No, sir." Could he pay
explode. Delahanty's physicians had in-
pans and have a reunion." Later he was
$1,000 as a down payment or retainer to
tended to leave it in place, avoiding an op-
visited by McCarthy. "When your children
a lawyer? "No, sir. So the judge appoint-
eration that might injure his spinal nerves
come, tell them that their father put himself
ed two court lawyers to represent him.
and paralyze him. They explained the new
between me and that guy," Reagan told
Rocky's Pawn Shop: Ruff argued that
danger to Delahanty and he agreed to an
the wounded agent. "I'm proud that there
Hinckley was a drifter who should be held
operation. A volunteer team of neurosur-
are guys around here to take those kinds
without bail. "This is not a man with a
geons, avoiding the hot cauterizing instru-
of jobs."
clean record," he said. The previous Oc-
ments normally used-for fear of setting
While the victims were mending, the FBI
tober, Ruff said, Hinckley had been arrested
off the Devastator-succeeded in extract-
was attending to Hinckley. The day of the
at the airport in Nashville, Tenn., for pack-
ing the slug, and the crisis passed.
shooting, a ten-car police motorcade hus-
ing two 22-caliber handguns and a .38 re-
Letters: As the days wore on, the Presi-
tled him from D.C. police headquarters
volver. Jimmy Carter was in town that day
dent made a remarkably swift recovery,
to the FBI's Washington field office on
at Opryland, but no one had drawn any
set back only by a temporary fever. The
the Anacostia River called Buzzards Point.
connections; he was fined $50 and his guns
First Lady brought him his slippers and
While the G-men interrogated him, lawyers
were confiscated. Just four days later in
robe and he did some walking: 50 yards
at the office of Charles F. C. Ruff, U.S.
Dallas he had bought two more 22-caliber
or so at first. The last hospital tubes were
attorney for the District of Columbia, began
Saturday-night specials at Rocky's Pawn
removed, and the White House allowed
to draw up the charges against him. The
Shop on East Elm Street-not far from
a first, postoperative photograph. After his
goal of the prosecutors was to present
where John F. Kennedy was shot. Later
first full eight hours of sleep, Reagan got
evidence showing that Hinckley had at-
in Denver, Hinckley had purchased a new
back to matters of state. He received a Na-
tempted to kill Reagan, not just wound
.38. Not long afterward he had set off on
tional Security Council briefing. Haig gave
him. The distinction was important. The
a three-day cross-country bus trip that had
him a preflight rundown on his trip to the
maximum penalty for simply assaulting the
brought him to Washington-and his dead-
Middle East, and Reagan dictated letters
President is $10,000 and ten years in jail;
ly appointment with the President.
The outline of Hinckley's odyssey was
Tears and anger: The President's brother, Neil, daughter Maureen
enough for the judge. He agreed to hold
AP
UPI
him temporarily without bail (to do so
permanently might have violated the sus-
pect's constitutional rights). Hinckley
was led away and taken to the brig at
the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico,
Va., where he was clapped into a 6- by
10-foot cell under round-the-clock guard.
Later, his father hired the respected Wash-
ington law firm of Williams & Connolly
to represent him.
The immediate question was whether
Hinckley was mentally competent to stand
trial. A psychiatrist from Washington's
Department of Human Resources exam-
ined him and tentatively found him fit to
stand trial. A magistrate ordered a more
thorough examination. Then Hinckley,
wearing a bulletproof vest, was flown by
helicopter to the Federal Correctional In-
stitution near Durham, N.C., where he
was put in isolation for his own protection
while he undergoes psychiatric evaluation.
It was likely to be a long time before he
stands trial. But Hinckley, the glum wan-
derer who had never amounted to much,
had already found his niche.
TOM MATHEWS and the Washington bureau
38
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
SPECIAL REPORT
Karl Schumacher-The White House
Bush runs a Cabinet meeting from the Vice President's chair: A carefully concerted campaign to demonstrate 'business as usual'
Who's Minding the Store
Amid the gaiety of his
visit a day from Meese, Baker and Deaver
price supports. He also approved a number
70th birthday party at
(usually together) last week and got a writ-
of Presidential appointments during the
the White House in Feb-
ten briefing every morning as well from
week and an Executive order slashing duty-
ruary, Ronald Reagan suddenly leaned over
national-security adviser Richard V. Allen.
free imports. "Anything of consequence is
to Barbara Bush to ask "a very personal
He also received a series of "summary de-
going to him," says a senior staffer.
question" about the Vice President. "Is
cision memos"-short reports on policy
Milkshake Crisis: Bush picked up the
George happy with his job?" Reagan asked.
meetings he was not able to attend-and
President's public duties tactfully and
"I just want to be sure he's doing enough.
a daily log of Congressional activities. At
smoothly, combining much of Reagan's
If the awful-awful should happen, George
daily schedule with his own and canceling
should know everything." Reagan's con-
all out-of-town trips (although he did plan
cern seemed particularly prophetic last
Bush pinch-hits for
to fill in for the President at Tuskegee
week as George Bush moved confidently
Institute in Alabama this week). Bush re-
to assume many of the wounded President's
the President, but
ceived a daily national-security briefing at
official obligations-presiding over Cabinet
Reagan's three top
the White House from the NSC's Allen,
meetings, promoting the Reagan budget,
presided over several Cabinet meetings
posing with foreign dignitaries. But in a
aides remain firmly
and did not hesitate to order additional
concerted campaign of gestures and inter-
staff work. He met with Congressional
views, Bush and White House aides insisted
in control of things.
leaders and made a personal trip to Capitol
that Reagan himself remains in control and
Hill to talk up the Reagan budget (page
that throughout the Administration it is
72)-a subject he pressed as well with 40
very much "business as usual."
the George Washington University Hos-
visiting labor leaders. Bush also met with
Although controversy still swirled
pital, Reagan's suite became the heart of
Polish Deputy Prime Minister Mieczyslaw
around Secretary of State Alexander Haig
a ten-room White House annex. Special
Jagielski and announced the Administra-
(page 40), the Administration was running
communications gear was installed, and
tion's decision to provide new aid to crisis-
fairly smoothly, largely because of Reagan's
Reagan's longtime personal secretary, He-
torn Poland (page 62). His new schedule
longstanding style of leadership-more 9-
lene von Damm, set up a desk for the du-
caused only one minor problem-a diges-
to-5 board chairman than chief operating
ration of his stay. Less than fourteen hours
tive crise after Bush bolted down some
officer. Daily business is directed by Rea-
after his surgery, Reagan signed in wobbly
pepperoni pizza and a milkshake for din-
gan's three top aides-White House coun-
script a bill to block an increase in dairy-
ner late one night. "I didn't sleep too well,"
selor Edwin Meese III, chief of staff James
he laughed the next day.
A. Baker III and deputy chief of staff Mi-
Convalescent bill-signing: No auto-pen
Bush is careful to clear things with Meese
chael K. Deaver. "All the critical aspects
and Baker. "I want to do what I can and
of government remain the same," says one
I want to do it through you," the Vice
senior staffer. Says another: "If we have
President told Reagan's senior aides on the
to have a decision, that's when we go over
morning after the shooting, and he main-
[to see Reagan]. But a President is not called
tained his deferential posture throughout
on to make a decision every day."
the week. "On anything major," reports
Reagan is kept informed on the most
one Reagan man, "the Vice President al-
serious matters. He received at least one
ways says, 'We'd better discuss that with
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
39
SPECIAL REPORT
"auto-pen" that automatically signs routine
larly because of the trouble with Haig.
letters, notes and photographs in Reagan's
White House sources insist there has been
the President." Bush tried to avoid any
hand. The White House also delayed the
no friction among the Big Three-Meese,
inadvertent self-aggrandizement; he ran
scheduled announcement by Reagan of a
Baker and Deaver. "If any one of them
Cabinet meetings from the Vice President's
regulatory relief package for the nation's
has a strong view on anything, the other
seat, conducted business in the Vice Presi-
ailing auto industry-and of a "briefing
two go along," said one insider. "Their de-
dent's offices and even posed with Poland's
mission" to Tokyo, headed by U.S. Trade
sire to cooperate is so extreme that the
Jagielski so as to avoid having the White
Representative William E. Brock, aimed at
only question they ever ask is, 'What's best
House loom up symbolically behind him.
cutting Japanese auto imports.
for the President?" During his convales-
For all the deft coping, Reagan's con-
Friction? At the weekend there was a
cence, more than ever, Ronald Reagan
dition did cause some delays in the affairs
report of "discord" between the two top
must rely on that kind of dedication to
of state. A number of military appointments
White House staffers. At first they
keep his Administration running smoothly.
were postponed, as were several previously
laughed-"You'll be surprised to learn we
scheduled briefing sessions for Reagan. The
have friction," Baker told Meese-but they
DAVID M. ALPERN with THOMAS M. DeFRANK,
ELEANOR CLIFT and JAMES DOYLE
President's men even suspended use of the
were also disturbed by the report, particu-
in Washington
'I Am In Control Here'
phones were," says a source who was present. "He was the
only guy who knew how to talk to the Vice President's plane."
Another top aide speculated that Haig had rushed on camera
With the President undergoing surgery and the Vice Presi-
before pausing to collect himself. "The unsteadiness of his
dent rushing back from Texas, Ronald Reagan's Cabinet as-
television performance didn't match the steadiness of his per-
sembled in the situation room of the White House. Suddenly,
formance downstairs," he insisted. One reason for Haig's I'm-
Alexander Haig bolted from the room. "What's he doing?"
in-charge bluster, according to partisans, was to send a pointed
asked startled aides. "Where's he going?" A few minutes later
message to the Soviet Union, which was massing troops on
Haig was on nationwide television, his voice quavering, his
the Polish border. "He wanted it known our guard was still
face ashen. "I am in control here
he proclaimed. But
up," says a sympathetic official.
he clearly wasn't-and once again he had plunged himself
Credibility: Still, the we-love-Al chorus seemed rather
into conflict with his own Administration colleagues. This
strained. Some officials conceded that the campaign was not
time Haig's embarrassing performance threatened to undercut
so much an endorsement of Haig's behavior as an gent attempt
his authority abroad as he embarked on his first foreign mission
to boost his credibility. "It was important to send a message
to the Middle East. The gaffe also raised a new round of
to the Hill," says a White House topsider. "There's been a
doubts about Haig's coolness under fire and heightened spec-
certain amount of chatter up there. This man has been gouged
ulation that he could not long survive as Secretary of State.
in public." As Haig departed for the Middle East, the White
Even Haig's friends were taken aback by the televised dis-
House felt it necessary to take the extraordinary step of publicly
comfiture of the four-star general who had steered Richard
endorsing its chief architect of foreign policy. "The Secretary
Nixon through his last crisis. "I've never seen him like that
of State leaves today in the full colors as Secretary of State,"
before," said a State Department colleague who has known
emphasized a spokesman-"and with the full confidence of
Haig for years. "He was crack-
the President."
ing emotionally." In Congressional
'Everything's fine, Chief-in fact, we've just been
But this may not be enough to
cloakrooms even his Republican al-
doing some papering in the Cabinet Room'
assuage the doubts of Haig's foreign
lies complained about Haig's four-
© 1981 Herblock in The Washington Post
hosts. An official of the United
minute torrent of what one called
Arab Emirates told the Associated
"dingbat" misstatements on the
Press that Haig "should not expect
Presidential succession and the
much from us until we are sure the
state of military readiness. "I can
Washington leadership is no longer
understand his perception of the
disunited." In Washington, Haig's
need to reassure," said Democratic
future in the Reagan Administra-
Sen. Joseph Biden, a persistent Haig
tion seems uncertain. "I just hope
critic. "But the Secretary's action
he now understands how we work,"
had an entirely opposite effect."
sighs one senior official. "It's a gen-
'Contact Point: As the devas-
tlemanly give-and-take, not con-
tating reviews poured in, the Ad-
frontational." State Department of-
ministration moved to limit the
ficials worry that, if the pragmatic
damage to its senior Cabinet offi-
Haig steps down, American foreign
cer. Reports of White House dis-
PROBLEM
policy will be dominated by White
may over Haig's performance were
House political coordinator Lyn
"honest-to-God baloney," chief of
Nofziger, Sen. Jesse Helms and oth-
staff James Baker told NEWSWEEK
er theologians of the right. Even
flatly. Other White House aides
Haig's close aides rate his chances
who earlier had sniped at Haig went
for keeping his job at less than even.
out of their way to praise him as
Haig's first venture abroad had thus
an effective "contact point" during
become a mission not only to shore
the first hour of the crisis. As a
up America's standing in the Mid-
Nixon White House veteran, Haig
dle East, but also to salvage his own
was the Cabinet officer most famil-
eroding position at home.
iar with situation-room procedures.
STEVEN STRASSER with ELEANOR
"He was the only guy who knew
CLIFT, THOMAS M. DeFRANK,
HOWARD FINEMAN and JOHN
what to do, who knew where the
WALCOTT in Washington
40
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
In a picture taken by an unidentified photographer, Hinckley poses outside the White House sometime last year
Profile of a Gunman
In a life empty of
He remained a nonentity even in crime;
my son." His attitude was said to be one
achievement, John War-
when he was picked up at the Nashville
of "tremendous anxiety about the problem
nock Hinckley Jr. finally
airport trying to board a plane while car-
his son was having." The family retained
succeeded at something last week. He made
rying three guns, the offense was considered
Edward Bennett Williams's law firm to rep-
an impression on Jodie Foster that will last
too trivial for him to be fingerprinted.
resent Hinckley after his arrest-but it was
a lifetime. Apparently alone, he conceived
Hinckley is largely self-made as a failure.
four days before they visited him in his
and carried out his grotesque declaration
He is the third and youngest child of a
cell in the Federal Correctional Institution
of love, a "historical deed" intended to
wealthy Denver oilman active in religious
in Butner, N.C.
bridge the gap between his lonely world
groups and respected in business. Hinck-
Fatal Attraction: Somewhere in his wan-
of bus stations and seedy motels and her
ley's sister, Diane, 28, was an unusually
derings Hinckley apparently crossed the in-
bustling life full of promise; a horrible act
popular and attractive girl who married
visible line into the same world inhabited
distantly rooted in an idea of chivalry, like
a Dallas insurance executive; his brother,
by Mark David Chapman, the loner who
a scrawled obscenity that started out as
came out of the night to kill John Lennon:
a love poem. It was the act of a loser—
a seductive world in which the lyrics of rock
a 25-year-old drifter who thought that
A surly drifter with
songs take on a personal meaning, and the
shooting the President would make an im-
faces in the movies seem to wink at you
pressive introduction to the teen-age actress
a gift for failure,
with a shared secret. From under a broad-
he had never met.
Hinckley is driven
brimmed hat, her blond hair falling in curls
He led a life of almost willful failure
to her shoulders, Jodie Foster pouted fetch-
and obscurity. Although at least average
as a student, he spent seven years off and
to violence by
ingly at Hinckley and won his heart. The
tough-but-vulnerable, wise-but-innocent
on at Texas Tech University and fell one
a bizarre obsession.
12-year-old prostitute she portrayed in the
semester short of earning a degree. He
1976 film "Taxi Driver" had a fatal attrac-
joined the National Socialist Party of Amer-
tion for the lonely young man dreaming
ica, and struck these jackbooted admirers
Scott, 30, is established in his father's busi-
his life away over cheeseburgers and dough-
of Hitler as dangerously unstable and po-
ness. Living in their shadow may have been
nuts in the low-rent district of Lubbock,
tentially violent. Applying for work at a
part of John Hinckley's problem; a business
Texas-for whom real-life girlfriends were
Colorado newspaper, he invented a job his-
acquaintance of his father recalled that he
just one of the many kinds of friends he
tory for himself-as a bartender. He left
never spoke of his troubled younger son.
never made. Presumably, it did not escape
behind few vivid impressions, and almost
"I never knew he had another son," said
his notice-and it certainly did not go un-
no favorable ones; some of the few words
the colleague, Robert Kadane. "I thought
noticed by the FBI last week-that the lead-
spoken in his behalf last week came from
he had only one boy." Yet just two weeks
ing character of "Taxi Driver," played by
a maid at the rundown Denver-area motel
before the assassination attempt, Hinckley
Robert DeNiro, plots the assassination of
where he lived for two weeks shortly before
Sr. met with officers of one of his favorite
a United States senator, and eventually be-
the assassination attempt. "He kept the
charities-World Vision International, a
comes famous when he kills the young girl's
room real neat," she recalled. "I never saw
Christian evangelical and humanitarian re-
pimp. And, NEWSWEEK has learned, the
a liquor bottle or a beer can or any roaches."
lief agency-and asked them to "pray for
government has evidence indicating firmly
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
41
the nerve to simply approach you
and introduce myself." But Foster
insists that she has "never met,
spoken to, or in any way asso-
ciated with" Hinckley.
Propriety: He apparently re-
turned to New Haven at least once,
in early March, when three notes
were apparently slipped under her
door. Among them was a com-
mercial greeting card, in the con-
temporary-humorous vein, which
began "I'm a person of few
words," and then repeated "I love
you" dozens of times. It wassigned
"John." Foster turned these over
to her dean, and they are now in
the possession of the FBI. But
Hinckley never overstepped the
boundaries of propriety; his im-
passioned final testament to his ab-
surd love was as polite as it was
crazy. "Besides my shyness," he
wrote, "I honestly did not wish
Wally McNamee-NEwswEEk
to bother you with my constant
Hustling Hinckley to a chopper bound for Quantico: Cues from 'Mein Kampf and 'Taxi Driver'
presence"-so he would kill the
President as a less intrusive way
that Hinckley owned a copy of the book
Haven last fall only a few weeks after she
to get her attention, "respect and love."
on which the movie was based.
did-and, ominously, just after he pur-
It's possible that he was not always so
Hinckley may have been touched by Iris,
chased two .22 handguns at a Texas pawn-
considerate of her. FBI agents have re-
the young hooker, but unfortunately he fell
shop. Having come 2,000 miles from Lub-
opened their investigation of a stenciled
in love with Foster, the real person. His
bock, he spent much of his time a few blocks
letter they received last fall warning that
problem may have worsened after Foster,
from her room, bragging at the Sheraton
an attempt would be made to kidnap Foster,
with considerable fanfare, enrolled as a
Park Plaza Hotel that he was Foster's boy-
for what were said to be romantic reasons
freshman at Yale last year. Hinckley had
friend. Unkempt in his ratty Army jacket,
rather than ransom. It was mailed from
apparently spent some months in Holly-
he didn't look the part to bartender Mike
Denver, where Hinckley was living at the
wood back in 1976, but if he attempted
Targove, and the newspaper and magazine
time. The whole experience has been a use-
to contact Foster then, there are no records
pictures of Foster he pulled from his wallet
ful-if alarming-lesson for the young ac-
of it. Any letters from him were buried
weren't very convincing either. "The guy
tress in "the power of films to direct people's
among the thousands she receives each
was ticking," Targove recalls.
lives." But a frightened and bewildered Fos-
month, most thrown away unread. But sud-
How much closer he may have come
ter wants only to return to the unglamorous
denly her address was no longer in care
to her is not known. In a letter recov-
life of a freshman. "It's not myself that's
of an agent or a studio, but a room in Welch
ered by the FBI from Hinckley's room in
involved," she insists plaintively. "I'm not
Hall at Yale, more or less open to anyone
Washington, addressed to Foster but never
involved in any of this."
who can pass as a college student. Driven
mailed, he wrote, "Although we talked on
If there is a lesson in Hinckley's troubled
by his obsession, Hinckley arrived in New
the phone a couple of times, I never had
life, it is an exceedingly elusive one. His
Hinckley's father appears at the door of his elegant multilevel home in Evergreen, Colo.: 'Pray for my son'
Brian Payne-Black Star
Susan D. Biddle-Sipa-Black Star
42
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
SPECIAL REPORT
Hinckley's slide into darkness seemed
who make their college careers last most
to pick up speed once he entered Texas
of their 20s, taking and dropping courses,
downfall cannot be blamed on the wrong
Tech University in Lubbock, in the fall
reluctant to venture into the world-al-
sorts of friends; he had none. Nor on a
of 1973. "He wanted to go to Yale," says
though what could have kept the friendless
broken home; his parents' marriage was
Becky Nugent, spokeswoman for the High-
Hinckley in Lubbock is a mystery. During
stable. As his father's oil- and gas-drilling
land Park schools. "But he apparently
one of the interruptions in his education,
business prospered, he moved the family
didn't have the grades to get in. So he had
he lived for a while in Hollywood, and
from Oklahoma to the attractive Dallas
to go to Texas Tech instead." Academi-
sought work in a camera store, although
enclave of University Park, and then to
cally, Texas Tech's reputation is modest,
he knew nothing of photography. In Lub-
the even more fashionable Highland Park,
but its 23,000 students take pride in their
bock, he is remembered as a glum, seedy
to a house with a pool and a curved drive
parties. Hinckley was above average as a
figure in beltless blue jeans and a T shirt.
on a street that may well be the second
student, but his drinking and hell-raising
"He was in a continual trudge," recalls
most prestigious address for hundreds of
were not up to Texas Tech standards. He
one campus merchant. He survived on
miles around. The 1980 report of the Van-
sat out the beer-keg parties, and those who
doughnuts and fast-food hamburgers,
derbilt Energy Corp.-named in honor of
knew or suspected that he was the son of
which he ate in his room, sometimes neg-
Hinckley's older brother's alma mater,
Vanderbilt University-was for
two lines: a substantial increase in net profit
to $805,000, and the advice of Hinckley's
father in his letter to shareholders: "Com-
mit to the Lord whatever you do, and your
plans will succeed" (Proverbs 16:3).
Conformity: In comfortable Highland
Park, where the Hinckleys lived from 1966
until 1974, young John thrived at first. He
was tall for his age, a good athlete and
possessed of what classmate David Wild-
man called "good, natural looks-a big
smile, a big set of teeth, blond hair, blue
PARM
eyes." He was popular enough to be elected
STATES
Steve Clevenger-Sipa-Black Star
UPI
president of his homeroom class in seventh
Slide into darkness:
and eighth grades. Those are ages, of course,
Hinckley in 1965 as a
where conformity is valued, and he was
prh DALLAS
fifth-grade football play-
well-endowed with that trait. Another for-
er, in 1969, in 1973 and
mer classmate recalls him fondly as "a pret-
driver's license photo last
ty mellow guy, bland even."
January. Below, boyhood
Those were qualities that should have
home in Highland Park.
stood him in good stead in Highland Park
Norman Rogers
High School, a bastion of oil-money privi-
lege where the students are as uniform in
their blond good looks as the blades of
Astroturf in the school's football field. But
he lacked the edge to compete in what is
also one of the best public high schools
in the nation; increasingly, he seemed to
fade into the background. Academically,
about in the middle. Athletically, nothing
much. Socially, a nonentity. "It's tough
not being wonderful in Highland Park,"
says former schoolmate Paul Gleiser. "He
was a non-guy in high school." Most of
his former classmates had to dig out their
yearbooks last week to try and place Hinck-
ley, and even with his bland, smiling picture
at hand they could recall little about him.
AP
"He was just average," shrugs Kim Farrell.
"An average sophomore, an average junior,
a wealthy Dallas family fretted that he was
lecting to throw out the wrappers. A su-
an average senior. Average, average."
letting down his class. "You would have
perintendent who saw one of Hinckley's
Probably to Hinckley's detriment, he was
thought he'd be in a fraternity," said
apartments remembers it as filled with emp-
also the brother of a very much above-
Charles Shanklin, manager of a campus
ty McDonald's sacks and not much else:
average Highland Park student: his sister,
haberdashery. "He had money, plenty of
"It didn't look like anybody lived there."
Diane, three years older, an A student,
money. You'd've thought maybe he'd be
It was in this period that Hinckley had
homecoming queen nominee, a leader in
an ATO (Alpha Tau Omega)."
his brief and bizarre flirtation with the Na-
the mixed choir and as vivacious and out-
Hinckley enrolled first in the College of
tional Socialist Party of America. FBI
going as her brother was reclusive. Even
Business Administration, then transferred
agents have their doubts, but two high Nazi
after she graduated, Hinckley was still
to a liberal-arts program in 1975. He took
officials confirm that Hinckley joined the
thought of as "Diane's brother." That, of
a wide variety of courses, finally settling
party in March 1978 when it was promi-
course, will no longer be true; as one sym-
on English as a major by 1978. But by
nently in the news for plans to march
pathetic family friend observed last week,
then his attendance had grown more and
through the largely Jewish community of
"For the rest of Diane's life, she'll be known
more sporadic. He was turning into one
Skokie, Ill. Hinckley's major contribution
as John Hinckley's sister."
of those familiar, pathetic campus figures
to American Nazism was made from a flat-
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
43
SPECIAL REPORT
board a flight to New York carrying three
stitutional Government, a self-proclaimed
handguns-two .22s and a .38. For the first
refuge for malcontents. "I'd like to say we
bed truck in St. Louis that same month,
time, Hinckley came to the attention of
attract normal people," says the group's
hurling racial invectives alongside Frank
the law, but just barely-he paid a $50
president, Henry Berriner, "but if we were
Collin, then the party leader. But it had
cash bond that same afternoon, forfeited
normal, we'd be the majority." And on
a profound effect on him, according to the
his guns and was on his way.
Jan. 21, he bought another gun, a .38.
current party chief, Michael Allen. "Before
Four days later he was in Dallas, visiting
A few Evergreen neighbors remember
the [St. Louis] rally, he seemed like a pretty
a seedy downtown stretch of East Elm
seeing Hinckley with girls, usually high-
normal person," Allen says. "Outside of
Street, where Rocky Goldstein sells weap-
school students. But mostly they remember
being a Nazi, he was a pretty ordinary fel-
ons beneath a sign that advises "Guns don't
him alone, wrapped in an oversize shabby
low. But after the rally he was like a dif-
cause crime any more than flies cause gar-
coat and watching the placid life of down-
ferent person. He was very agitated. He
bage." He replenished his arsenal with two
town Evergreen through sleepy, half-closed
said we needed something more dramatic
inexpensive blue-steel 22-caliber Röhm re-
eyes. In March he made another pilgrimage
[than rallies]. I took that to mean things
volvers with checkered stocks, assembled
to New Haven, and when he returned to
like shooting people."
in Miami of West German parts. It was
Colorado he put up at the Golden Hours
Letters: Hinckley confided some of
one of these guns that was recovered outside
Motel, a run-down, $10.60-a-night hide-
these same ideas in about a dozen letters
the Washington Hilton last week.
away on the highway west of Denver. He
to Harold Covington, who was then a Nazi
Hinckley spent little time in Lubbock
traded a guitar and a portable typewriter
leader in North Carolina. Covington says
last fall, although he was there long enough
for $50 at G.I. Joe's Pawnshop, where the
that Hinckley was unhappy in Lub-
clerk, Brett Morris, remembers him
bock, and that he talked about moving
looking "like any bum off the street,"
to North Carolina. The Nazi leader
but also "weird" and "scary." A local
is quick to note that "all of our dis-
policeman had the same reaction when
cussion [about violence] was conduct-
he spotted Hinckley standing in the
ed on a purely theoretical plane. He
motel parking lot and staring at the
didn't say let's go kill the President
officer's patrol car; he questioned
or anybody else." Nevertheless,
Hinckley but found no reason to hold
Hinckley's attitude alarmed some of
him. What he remembered later were
his Nazi superiors, and in November
Hinckley's rose-tinted sunglasses-pe-
1979, when Hinckley's membership
culiar equipment after dark-and his
was due to be renewed, the party ap-
eyes. "I never contacted a person so
parently dropped him.
nervous who didn't have something
For an advocate of violence, Hinck-
dirty on him," says the cop, Chris Wor-
ley seems never to have gotten into
sham. "He stands out as the most nerv-
a fist fight, or even raised his voice;
ous person I've ever contacted."
as a would-be rabble-rouser he kept
Boyish: In those last few weeks be-
his opinions pretty much to himself.
fore Hinckley left for Washington with
In a summer-session course in modern
his guns, he finally made a friend in
German history, he surprised his pro-
Ginger Aucourt, the motel maid. Al-
fessor, Otto Nelson, by choosing to
most the only subject they had in com-
report on Hitler's long and turgid
mon was the weather, but Aucourt and
"Mein Kampf." But his three-page re-
her teen-age daughter, Stacey, found
port was sober and factual, and earned
his reticence endearing; he had, Gin-
an A-minus; Hinckley gave no hint
ger says, "a pleasant boyish face." Her
that he ever considered putting Hitler's
opinion was unshakem even when
ideas into practice. If Hinckley was
Hinckley drove off on the morning of
disappointed at leaving the Nazis, he
March 23, leaving a $64 bill unpaid.
also kept it to himself. But it was about
As investigators have retraced his jour-
that time that he began buying guns.
AP
ney, he headed in his white Plymouth
Up to this point, Hinckley seemed
Arsenal: Nashville cop with Hinckley's guns
Volare to his parents' house, and then
to strike most people as odd but not
to the airport, where he flew to Los
unhinged. But now things began to slip,
to have a political discussion with his apart-
Angeles by way of Salt Lake City. Then
faster. In February 1980, he sought help
ment-house handyman; he reportedly ex-
he doubled back east by bus, changing in
from a Lubbock physician, Dr. Baruch D.
pressed the opinion that all political leaders
Cleveland and Pittsburgh on the long ride
Rosen, for what may have been emotional
"should be done away with." He seems
to Washington.
problems. The doctor refused to say why
to have returned to his parents, who by
He had given a pleasant little wave to
Hinckley had sought him out. "Let's just
this time were living in Evergreen, Colo.,
Aucourt on his way out of the parking
say he had a problem," Rosen said. "I'm
a wealthy suburb southwest of Denver. It
lot, and-uncharacteristically-he struck
sure it will come out at the trial." Rosen
was from here that FBI agents acting on
up an acquaintanceship with a fellow pas-
treated him with the anti-depressant Sur-
a search warrant last week recovered three
senger on the three-day bus ride. The man
montil and with 20 milligrams daily of Va-
gun boxes, and Hinckley's diary, which
who resisted friendships so Long was at last
lium, a moderate dosage. Hinckley regis-
contained everyday details of his mundane
allowing himself the luxury of human con-
tered for a summer course at Texas Tech
life-and a sheaf of news clippings on ear-
tact. His plans were still locked away in
("Anarchism, Fascism, Communism and
lier assassinations. Hinckley's father re-
his heart, but perhaps he allowed just a
Socialism"), but never showed up at class.
portedly told investigators he cut off his
glimmer of his happiness to show through.
By late September, he was on his way to
son's funds; he may have been receiving
He was on his way at last; in just a few
New Haven, Conn., to launch his fantasy
help from other family members. Hinckley
days, Jodie Foster would belong to him.
courtship of Jodie Foster. He apparently
applied for a job at Denver's two news-
JERRY ADLER with STRYKER McGUIRE and BETH
stayed in New Haven only briefly; he turned
papers, giving references for jobs he had
NISSEN in Dallas, RONALD HENKOFF and TONY
up next in the Nashville, Tenn., airport,
never held. He dabbled in the right-wing
FULLER in Lubbock, JANET HUCK and RON
LaBRECQUE in Denver, ELAINE SHANNON in
on the afternoon of Oct. 9, attempting to
politics of the National Association of Con-
Washington and RICHARD MANNING in Chicago
44
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
What the Doctors Did
"I can't breathe,"
than a dozen units of blood and prepared
anesthetic thiopental sodium and then
whispered Ronald Rea-
for transfusion. Although Reagan is type
passed a tube down his throat so that a
gan. He was sweating
O-positive, at first they used O-negative,
respirator could aid his breathing. Then
and gray-faced, sagging toward the floor
which can be given to anyone regardless
they put him to sleep with nitrous oxide
as he walked into the emergency room and
of his blood type, and later used O-positive
administered through a mask. "We will fol-
was lifted onto a wheeled table. Quick hands
to replace the 2½ quarts lost from the time
low routine trauma protocol," Giordano
began stripping off his clothes. "We don't
of injury. In many such gunshot wounds,
announced to his colleagues.
think he's hit," said a Secret Service man.
the lung reinflates and the bleeding stops
The first order of business was peritoneal
"We think he broke a rib when we pushed
when the chest tube is inserted, and the
lavage, a procedure to double-check for in-
him against the car." But a doctor had
bullet can be left where it is without any
juries in the abdominal cavity. Giordano
already spotted the bullet hole in the Presi-
risk. But Reagan continued to bleed.
made a small incision under the navel and
dent's suit jacket-and the medical team
"What are we doing, Joe?" asked Dr.
pumped a clear liquid into the abdomen.
at George Washington University Hospital
Sol Edelstein, chief of the emergency room.
The liquid that drained back out seemed
that was to save the lives of the President
"Are we headed to ICU or are we headed
free of blood, showing that no organs had
and his press secretary was already well
to OR?" Edelstein wanted to know whether
been damaged. But to make sure, the fluid
into its practiced routine.
intensive care would be enough, or if an
was sent to the lab for analysis. After 45
The President was exhibiting early symp-
minutes Giordano turned his patient over
toms of shock. Though alert, Reagan was
to the thoracic surgeons, Aaron and Dr.
gasping for air and sweating, and his blood
How the surgeons
Katherine Chaney.
pressure had dropped. Paged on the hos-
Incision: The President was turned on
pital's speakers, Dr. Joseph M. Giordano,
treated Reagan's
his right side with his arms taped in front
head of the trauma team, hurried to the
of him. The team removed the chest tube
emergency room, where Reagan's blood
wounded chest
to get more room and then made a 6-inch
pressure quickly recovered after he lay
down. The doctor gave the President a local
and James Brady's
incision, from under the left nipple to
the left side. The President's ribs were
anesthetic and then inserted a tube into
injured brain.
spread apart by a metal retractor and, wear-
the lung cavity just beneath the bullet hole
ing a lamp on his forehead, Aaron peered
under his left arm. Other physicians and
into the chest. He first removed a large
technicians drew blood samples, hooked
operation was urgent. Surgeon Benjamin
clot of blood and then began searching for
up an oxygen mask and intravenous tubes
Aaron, 47, decided to operate. As the team
the bullet. The surgeon determined that
to monitor blood gases and administer
prepared for the 200-foot journey to the
neither the heart nor the aorta, the body's
blood, and inserted a catheter to measure
"heart room," fully equipped for major
main artery, had sustained any injury. But
urine flow. On a chest X-ray, the bullet
chest and heart surgery, Edelstein cau-
failing to find the bullet, he ordered another
showed up as a white spot in the lower
tioned the technicians: "We are going slow,
X-ray-a side view of the chest. After half
lobe of the left lung. It had torn a 3-inch
slow, slow." The President was propped
an hour Aaron found the "Devastator" ex-
furrow through the lung, deflating it as
at a 30-degree angle on the wheeled cart,
plosive slug, removed it with a probe and
it went. But the physicians couldn't be sure
or gurney, awake and talking to his wife
handed it to a Secret Service agent, who
whether they had spotted the entire bullet
and aides as he passed; his vital signs were
carried it away in a metal cup. It had failed
or whether fragments had broken off and
still "rock stable," a doctor said later, and
to explode on impact, but was flattened
struck organs in the abdominal cavity. Fur-
there was no need to risk anyone stumbling
to the size and shape of a dime, suggesting
ther X-rays of the abdomen reassured them.
over one of the tubes threaded into him.
that it had ricocheted off the Presidential
Meanwhile, the President continued to
In the operating room, the team gave
limousine before striking Reagan.
bleed steadily through the tube in his chest.
the President an intravenous dose of the
Aaron then sutured the tear in the lung,
Quickly, the trauma team set up more
Christoph Blumrich-NEWSWEEK
removed the retractor and closed the
REAGAN'S CHEST WOUND
Aaron: Searching for the bullet
Giordano: Routine trauma protocol
Photos by Leif Skoogfors-Woodfin Camp & Assoc.
Bullet
enters
here.
Bullet lodges
in lung.
Bullet ricochets
off seventh rib.
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
45
SPECIAL REPORT
brain tissue, along with the bullet and bone
the center at the base of the brain that
fragments.
controls respiration and consciousness and
chest incision. During the operation, Rea-
Kobrine made a "bicoronal" incision
Brady had gotten prompt treatment.
gan was given another quart of blood. "Skin
across the top of Brady's head from ear
The day after surgery, Brady showed
to skin," the surgery had taken two hours.
to ear. Next, he drilled a number of holes
hopeful signs. He was conscious, his pupils
But before Reagan was taken to the re-
in the skull and removed a "large window"
responded to light and he was able to move
covery room, the team spent another hour
of bone. Then he took out bone splinters
the right side of his body in response to
scrubbing off the orange povidone-iodine
and bullet fragments from the left frontal
commands from doctors. Later, he could
disinfectant that covered the chest area,
lobe, where he found the damage "not too
even toss a cotton ball to his wife, Sarah,
dressing the wounds and waiting for the
extensive." On the right side of Brady's
with his right hand. And when a doctor
anesthesia to wear off.
brain, Kobrine suctioned out a large blood
held up three fingers, Brady said, "Three."
The President's first hours in the recov-
clot. He found "brisk bleeding" from the
Following surgery, Brady was put on anti-
ery room were uncomfortable. "He felt like
anterior and middle cerebral arteries, which
biotics to prevent infection, and given ster-
he couldn't breathe," said one physician.
had been severed. When the bleeding was
oids and a drug called mannitol to reduce
Analysis of his blood showed that he wasn't
brought under control, Brady's blood pres-
the swelling of the brain.
assimilating quite enough oxygen at first,
sure dropped to a normal range. Finally,
'Fine': Kobrine reported that he was mak-
and he continued on the respirator for eight
Kobrine removed the damaged tissue, frag-
ing an "extraordinary recovery." By the
and a half hours. At the time, he was un-
ments and the main bullet fragment. The
weekend, he was off the critical list, and
aware that press secretary James Brady was
surgeon estimated that Brady lost 20 per
out of intensive care. The press secretary
lying in critical condition just the oth-
was speaking short sentences. He told
er side of a cloth screen.
the surgeon, "I'm feeling fine," and
Brady was by far the most seriously
BRADY'S HEAD INJURY
when a telephone started to ring he
injured in the assassination attempt.
said, "Somebody answer the phone."
He had arrived at the hospital in a
Speech, under-
Brady was able to move his right arm
fire-department ambulance three
Breathing
standing, infor-
and leg normally, but showed little
minutes after Reagan and was
mation processing
movement on the left. Though it is
wheeled to the same trauma room.
Largest
too early to speculate, Kobrine pre-
"I saw the bullet wound in his fore-
portion
dicted that left motor function will
head. It was over the left eye," said
of bullet
improve significantly if there are no
lodges
Bullet and
paramedic Roberto Hernandez. "He
here.
bone
further complications. Moreover,
was moving his arms and legs, but
fragments
since the "dominant" left side of the
to no purpose. He was sort of like
retrieved.
brain was harmed only slightly, the
squirming." In the emergency room,
surgeon said there was a good chance
Brady was met by a neurosurgical
Nerves of
that Brady has suffered little or no
resident and an anesthesiologist. His
vision
intellectual impairment. However,
blood pressure was a very high 240
and smell
he suspects that "spatial orienta-
over 160. He was moving his right
tion," governed by the right side of
limbs restlessly and he seemed to be
Personality,
the brain, may have been affected,
Sensation
mumbling. He was given an anes-
judgment,
left side
and since the olfactory tracts in the
mood
thetic and a tube was placed in his
of body
right hemisphere were destroyed, the
windpipe to assist breathing.
Bullet
gourmet Brady has probably lost his
Fragments: The bullet entered
Motion, left
enters
sense of taste and smell.
Brady's head over the left eye and
side of body
Areas of potential
and
President Reagan, however, was
passed through a small portion of
brain damage
breaks
making a speedy recovery last week.
the left frontal lobe of the brain with-
up.
He was receiving cough therapy to
out causing much damage. But it did
Christoph Blumrich-NEwsweek
prevent fluid from accumulat-
break up somewhere inside the skull;
Drawing shows bullet's path through
ing in his lungs and occasional
the fragments passed mostly through
the brain
administrations of oxygen
the right frontal lobe, causing severe
through a plastic tube under
bleeding and tissue damage. The largest
cent of the tissue in the right
his nose. He was also eating
piece of the bullet came to rest in the parietal
hemisphere. Kobrine replaced
heartily and walking in his hos-
lobe at the rear of the brain behind the
the flap of skull and inserted
pital corridor. The only cause
right ear, with smaller fragments around
temporary drains between the
for concern came late in the
it. At first, the outlook was bleak. A cross-
bone and skin.
week when Reagan's tempera-
sectional X-ray taken in the emergency
In two crucial respects,
to 102. However, after
room looked, in the words of one physician,
Brady can be considered
some fluctuations it dropped
like a "disaster."
lucky. He had been hit by a
to normal. There was a brief
Brady was immediately taken to the op-
small-caliber bullet of low ve-
scare that toxic amounts of
erating room, where his head was shaved
locity, minimizing the damage
lead azide-the explosive used
in preparation for surgery that was to last
usually caused by the shock
AP
in the bullet-might have
more than six hours. Neurosurgeon Dr.
waves and the sheer mass of
Kobrine: Optimistic
leached into the President's
Arthur Kobrine tried to be optimistic.
a larger slug. And nearly all
body, but this was discounted
When he heard that the media had reported
the left side of the brain had apparently
by experts. Throughout the President's or-
that the press secretary was already dead,
been spared. In most people, the left side
deal, doctors were impressed by his good
Kobrine replied, "Somebody ought to tell
is the brain's information-processing center
condition and youthful physiology. "It's
me and the patient." An ophthalmologist
and controls the faculties of speech, writing
a good lesson," said the hospital's spokes-
was called in to deal with swelling and
and comprehension. The motor areas of
man, Dr. Dennis O'Leary, "that age itself
a clot in the left eye, and he made several
the left side also control movement on the
is not an ultimate measure of an individual's
incisions to drain blood and relieve pres-
right side of the body. Fortunately, the
stamina, health and capability."
sure. Then Kobrine moved in to explore
shock of the bullet and the swelling from
MATT CLARK with MARY HAGER and
the injury and remove all of the damaged
the injury had not affected the brain stem,
DAVID C. MARTIN in Washington and bureau reports
46
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
SPECIAL REPORT
Larry Downing-NEWSWEEK
Roger Sandler-Black Star
With Reagan on Inauguration Day, at home with the range: 'Sheer talent' took the Bear to the top of the heap
Jim Brady Is Alive
graduated from the University of Illinois
in 1962 and gravitated quickly toward poli-
tics. He first went to Washington as an
He is known as "the
told reporters. A week later he got the job.
aide to the late Sen. Everett M. Dirksen
Bear," the front man, the
Brady's first task was to bring a measure
of Illinois and later served in the Ford
plump and affable occu-
of order to the White House press corps.
Administration, first as an aide to Budg-
pant of the post he once
He succeeded, up to a point. Despite some
et director James T. Lynn, then to Secre-
described, only partly tongue in cheek, as
grumbling, reporters at Reagan's first press
tary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. In 1979
"the second most challenging job in the
conference generally honored Brady's plea
he joined John B. Connally's Presidential
free world." As Ronald Reagan's spokes-
that they remain seated and seek Presi-
campaign (Connally called him "Friar
man-in-chief, White House press secretary
dential recognition by politely raising their
Tuck") until Connally's flameout in the
James S. Brady, 40, is a much-liked figure
hands. Other reforms, like a dress code
South Carolina primary.
in official Washington: a witty companion
for network cameramen and the selection
Hot Cuisine: Brady lives in the Virginia
for the relentless Washington press, a
of Presidential questioners by lottery, fared
suburbs with his 2-year-old son James Scott
storyteller and a gourmet cook who has
less well. Veteran reporters complained at
Brady Jr. and his second wife, Sarah-
charmed his frequent dinner guests. He is
first that Brady lacked the access to Rea-
whom he calls "Raccoon," an affectionate
not, however, a Reagan intimate and it was
gan SO necessary for detailed briefings, later
counterpart for his nickname "Bear." (He
thus somewhat ironic that he was the aide
that he was frequently hard for reporters
also has another child by a former marriage,
closest to the President when the shots were
to reach. The joke was that Reagan had
Melissa, 18, now a college student in Colo-
fired last week, even taking a bullet in the
access to Brady, instead of the other way
rado.) Among his friends, Brady has a for-
brain that might otherwise have struck the
around. "I'm getting blistered for not re-
midable reputation for both haute cuisine
President. He was erroneously reported
turning phone calls," Brady grinned. "This
and culinary witticisms. He is the creator
dead by all three networks, but his spirited
access is killing me."
of "Captain Bear's Nightie Night," a quick-
fight for life against almost hopeless odds
Dash: His humor helped Brady smooth
acting concoction of tea, sugar and Jack
has stirred his family, his friends-and the
some of the new Administration's bumpier
Daniels, and his recipe for an explosive
nation.
moments. Two weeks ago, during the flap
variant of chili-"Bear's Goat Gap Texas
Brady was almost passed over for the
over a White House plan for "crisis man-
Chili"-has won first place three years run-
job he desperately wanted. During his stint
agement," he had just sat down at a press
ning in a Washington-area chili cookoff.
as campaign press secretary, he sometimes
breakfast when he caught a tough question
The bullet that slammed into his skull
stung with his irreverent wit. A few days
about Alexander M. Haig Jr. "Whatever
abruptly changed all that, perhaps perma-
after Reagan's gaffe that trees cause more
happened to foreplay?" he cracked. At a
nently, for Brady and his family. His daugh-
pollution than cars, Brady raced down the
lunch with NEWSWEEK reporters, he con-
ter, Melissa, rushing to catch a plane to
aisle of the campaign jet shouting "Killer
vulsed the table with a description of work-
Washington, was devastated to hear an an-
trees! Killer trees!" and pointed to a forest
aholic budget director David Stockman:
nouncer on her car radio report that her
fire on the ground.
"He sleeps in the closet hanging upside
father was dead. "She's a very well-com-
'Blistered': After Reagan's victory, most
down with his wings folded over his eyes."
posed girl, but this thing really tore her
of the President-elect's high command
In Reagan's pinstriped White House, Brady
apart," said a relative. "I don't know if
wanted to recruit a well-known journalist
provided a dash of spontaneity-showing
she'll ever get over this." The agonizing
for the press secretaryship and Nancy Rea-
up for the President's lunch with baseball
question for his family and his friends, for
gan reportedly claimed she wanted a
Hall of Famers wearing his beloved Chi-
all his remarkable comeback so far, was
"young and handsome" face in the job.
cago Cubs cap.
whether Brady would either.
As usual, Brady replied with a quip. "I
His easy wit masks a solid record in the
come before you today not as just another
fine art of political image-polishing. Brady
TOM MORGANTHAU with ELEANOR CLIFT and
THOMAS M. DeFRANK in Washington
pretty face, but out of sheer talent," he
was born and grew up in Centralia, Ill.,
and bureau reports
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
49
© Sebastiao Salgado Jr.-Magnum
Secret Service agents subdue Hinckley (against wall) while others aid wounded: 'You cannot avoid mortal risk to a President'
Can the Risk Be Cut?
As a Secret Service
a renewed call for gun control (page 57)
chiefly because they were the only Federal
agent you are constantly
and pleas from Federal investigative agen-
personnel trained to do such a job. Soon
on the alert for the in-
cies for a loosening of restrictions on do-
after the assassination of William McKin-
dividual who somehow does not fit. You scan
mestic surveillance. Some reforms, includ-
ley in 1901, presidents were assigned pro-
the crowd, the rooftops, the doorways, the
ing tougher security requirements for the
tection on a permanent basis, and ever
windows, ready to take whatever action may
press, are almost certain to emerge from
since, the duties of the Secret Service have
be necessary
You look into thousands
the inquiries. But the fundamental reality
been expanding. Today 1,550 agents in 100
of faces and you try to determine in each
has not changed since the time of Abraham
offices across the nation are responsible
if he or she may be the one who came to
Lincoln: short of sealing off a President
for protecting the First Family, the Vice
do more than look.
in hermetic isolation-a measure no leader
President, his wife and children under 16,
-Rufus W. Youngblood, "20 Years in
major Presidential and Vice Presidential
the Secret Service"
candidates and, sometimes, visiting heads
Short of keeping the
of state. In addition, they still carry on
John W. Hinckley Jr. went to the Wash-
their original war on counterfeiting. Their
ington Hilton last week to do more than
President from the
record is better than it may seem: though
look-and Ronald Reagan's bodyguards
failed to stop him. Once again, an assault
public, no security
John Kennedy was killed while under Se-
cret Service protection, dozens of assaults
on an American President has raised ques-
tions about how well the Chief Executive
force can guarantee
have been foiled without ever coming to
public attention.
is protected and what more should be done
absolute safety.
Blintzes: Protecting the President is no
to keep him safe. Why, for instance, did
easy task. To do it, agents rely on a wide
security agents permit the crowd of news-
range of sophisticated equipment-from
men and onlookers to get so close to the
steeped in American press-the-flesh politics
the computer that stores 27,000 names of
President-and why was his shield of
would accept-the most efficient security
potentially dangerous persons to the bat-
bodyguards so thin on the critical flank?
system in the world can never provide fail-
teries of electronic devices that monitor ev-
Should the Secret Service have been on
safe protection. "The political mission is
ery corner of the White House and grounds.
the alert for Hinckley, who was arrested
almost in direct conflict with the protective
A touch of a knee-high panic button under
in Nashville last year for carrying guns
mission," says Youngblood, chief of the
the President's Oval Office desk summons
during a visit by Jimmy Carter? Why
White House Secret Service detail under
a flying wedge of agents in seconds-a pro-
didn't its agents insist that Reagan wear
Lyndon Johnson. "You cannot avoid mor-
tective measure accidentally proven effec-
a bullet-proof vest or other state-of-the-
tal risk to a President. Impossible."
tive by several embarrassed newcomers to
art protective clothing?
The primary responsibility for that mis-
office. Meanwhile, agents test the White
In a feverish search for answers, three
sion impossible rests with the Secret Serv-
House air for bacteria and noxious gases
Congressional committees are examining
ice, an arm of the Treasury Department
and mingle with the crowds that tour the
the circumstances of the shooting and the
established in 1865 to combat counterfeit-
building each day, occasionally packing off
Secret Service itself has launched an in-
ing. In the late nineteenth century, Secret
oddballs to nearby St. Elizabeths Hospital
ternal review of its policies and procedures.
Service agents provided Presidential pro-
for observation. They also inspect all pack-
Already last week's events have sparked
tection on an irregular, informal basis,
ages that arrive at the White House—even
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
51
SPECIAL REPORT
chat with well-wishers. Candidate Jimmy
press area" outside the Hilton, where agents
Carter wanted to do without protection.
and White House press aides could bar
Reagan's jellybeans. Gifts of food sent to
What finally persuaded him to accept a
those without credentials from the area
the First Family are regularly thrown away
Secret Service guard was a piece of down-
closest to Reagan's exit route. Security ex-
to guard against poisoning; once, an
home advice from confidant Charles Kirbo.
perts predict that from now on, secure press
enraged President Lyndon B. Johnson
"Guvnah," drawled Kirbo, "if you don't
areas will become far more common at
tongue-lashed agents for overzealousness
take it, it means you ain't worth shootin'."
Presidential visiting sites and that Reagan
when they pitched out a package of cheese
The biggest problem Ronald Reagan has
will be ushered through hotel basements
blintzes prepared for the boss by Defense
posed for the Secret Service is his habit
and other less public entrance and exit
Secretary Robert S. McNamara's wife.
of pausing to chat aimlessly with the press.
routes more frequently than in the past.
Outside the White House, the agents who
His bodyguards urge him to "wave and
Bulletproofing: It is also possible that
guard the President constantly look for any
move, Mr. President." Last week he heeded
Reagan's guards will ask him to make more
sign of trouble-erratic movements in the
that admonition-and was shot anyway.
use of bulletproof garments. According to
crowd, a man wearing a raincoat on a warm,
Did security fail? Veteran agents concede
Secret Service director H. Stuart Knight,
dry day, familiar faces that show
the President "will wear protec-
up regularly when the President
tive attire anytime we ask him to,"
goes public. Before a President vis-
but agents did not feel that last
its a site, agents inspect manholes
week's excursion demanded it.
for bombs and vantage points for
One retired agent warns that per-
snipers, and they closely coordi-
suading a President to take such
nate security for the Presidential
protective action is not always
route with local police. And just
easy. "To tell a President he can't
in case all the preventive medi-
do something because he might
cine doesn't work, they are well
get hurt assaults his ego," he says.
armed. Agents carry .357 mag-
"He has to feel like a man, not
num snub-nosed revolvers in hid-
a puppet, and you've got to figure
den holsters, and some also car-
out a way he can save face."
ry Israeli-made Uzi submachine
The Secret Service envelope
guns and tear-gas grenades. "All
around the President may also get
the hardware is for use in beat-
new attention. Tapes of last week's
ing back a genuine group terrorist
assault show that Reagan was not
attack," says one former agent.
AP
entirely surrounded by agents
"Otherwise, you're supposed to
when he left the hotel: his press-
grab the assailant, not shoot him."
ward side was almost fully ex-
Under ordinary circumstances,
posed. Many agents say they are
admits one high-ranking agent,
under heavy pressure from the
"we're mainly reactive-we have
President's political advisers to
to give away the first shot."
stay out of the line of cameras
No Crouch: Perhaps most im-
to avoid the impression that the
portant, they provide the human
Chief Executive moves about in
shield that envelops the President
an armed camp. Bruce Whelihan,
whenever he is on the move. Early
principal press advance man for
in his Administration, Reagan
Richard Nixon for six years, re-
told an anecdote that vividly-
ports that his staff struggled con-
and prophetically-described the
stantly to give cameras clear shots
agents' role. He had watched Se-
of the President against friendly
cret Service agents target-shoot-
crowds. "I'd sometimes go in with
ing during the 1976 campaign and
a hook and yank out agents who
was surprised to see them firing
were too close," he recalls. "The
from a standing position instead
President needs to see and be seen,
of the crouch he had been coached
hear and be heard," says Sen. Ed-
to assume for the movies.
ward Kennedy. "The President
"Doesn't that make you too big
Elizabeth Sunflower-Contact
cannot live in isolation."
a target?" Reagan asked. "That's
Agents shield Kennedy limousine (1963), envelop Ford after
Hearings in the House and Sen-
just the point," an agent respond-
1975 attack: 'To protect your body with ours'
ate last week concentrated on why
ed. "The reason we shoot standing
Hinckley's name never showed up
up is to better protect your body with ours.
that Presidential trips within the capital
in the Secret Service's computerized list
That's our prime function, sir."
are taken somewhat for granted by security
of potential threats to the President despite
Every President has crotchets and con-
forces; Presidents have traveled to and from
his arrest for trying to carry guns onto
ceits that make the job of agents even more
the Hilton Hotel hundreds of times, and
an airplane in Nashville. The answer was
difficult. During the Eisenhower Admin-
agents know the surrounding area well.
simple: the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
istration, for instance, Secret Service in-
Some criticize the discipline of some Dis-
which had been informed about the inci-
genuity was taxed to provide adequate se-
trict of Columbia police during last week's
dent, had not perceived him as a potential
curity on golf courses, where Ike's route
incident. "They simply weren't on their
assassin and had not bothered to forward
could not be varied to fool an assailant
toes," says one experienced advance man.
the information. Even if the FBI had acted,
and where open fairways ringed by forests
"They were looking everywhere except at
it is unlikely that Hinckley's name would
could conceal a sniper. Lyndon Johnson
the press and public on that strip of sidewalk
have been included among the 400 people
had a habit of making last-minute changes
they were assigned to." Perhaps because
categorized as "serious threats," whose
in his schedule that sent agents scrambling
similar procedures had worked in the past,
movements are closely monitored by local
to provide protection. Gerald Ford loved
the Secret Service and White House press
and Federal agencies. Others, largely writ-
to wade into crowds to shake hands and
office did not bother to establish a "secure
ers of hate mail and other malcontents,
52
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
SPECIAL REPORT
per cent less information from FBI agents
to work. "The first couple of times he goes
simply because "they don't have the in-
out he's not only got to show he's healthy,
are checked only if the President is
formation they used to have for us."
he's got to show he's not afraid," worries
traveling.
Still, it's doubtful that Congress could
one. "That means he's probably going to
Nevertheless, Secret Service director
ever order a truly effective surveillance sys-
take some risks." His human shields will
Knight thinks intelligence could be im-
tem without compromising the nation's
be scanning the crowds with renewed in-
proved if Congress would loosen some of
cherished civil liberties. And in any event,
tensity, concentrating on finding someone
the restrictions on domestic surveillance
presidents are sure to insist on going out
who's come to do more than look-and
to permit Federal agents to keep tabs on
among the people despite the risks. In fact,
hoping to stop him before he acts.
people they suspect of being potential men-
agents familiar with past attacks on Ameri-
aces. In recent years, Knight told a Senate
can leaders are already fretting about what
MERRILL SHEILS with RICH THOMAS,
THOMAS M. DeFRANK and JOHN J. LINDSAY
hearing, the service has been getting 40
will happen when Ronald Reagan gets back
in Washington and bureau reports
Guns Out of Control
the nation. "They can crank out more letters than you can
imagine," marvels House Democrat Thomas Downey of New
York. Even though the NRA maintains a $4 million war chest
The Midwestern congressman had just completed a speech
for national lobbying efforts, its power really sprouts at the
favoring stronger gun-control legislation-and almost imme-
grass roots. "The NRA has developed supporters in each com-
diately, the computers at the National Rifle Association in
munity, those who can effectively lobby not only Federal of-
Washington began to hum. In moments, the machines produced
ficials but local and state officials as well," says Sen. Christopher
the required information: names, addresses and phone numbers
J. Dodd of Connecticut.
of key contributors to the congressman's last campaign who
The NRA has also received indirect recruiting help from
also happened to be ardent hunters and NRA members. Eight-
governments. It didn't hurt membership drives, for instance,
een hours later, the congressman got the first of what would
that a 1903 Federal law established a surplus-military-rifle-
be two dozen phone calls. "I was at the athletic club and
sales program, with participants limited to NRA members.
people kept asking me what you're doing," said a campaign
A court ruled the law unconstitutional in 1979, but the NRA
financier. "They say you want to take our guns away."
still finds plenty of support at the state level. Some states
Such a scenario-a composite based on factual experiences-
require hunters to take safety courses before they can receive
illustrates the power of a special-interest group that friends
a hunting license-and more often than not, the courses are
and foes alike consider the most effective lobby in Washington.
run by the state chapter of the NRA.
Almost singlehandedly, the NRA has stymied all attempts
Victims: The anti-NRA lobby has relied mainly on emotion
to strengthen the Gun Control Act of 1968, hastily passed
to sell its gun-control arguments. "I'm not ashamed of ad-
after the murders of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert F.
mitting that what brought me to this issue was the death
Kennedy. Now, after the shooting of Ronald Reagan by a
of my son," says Pete Shields, chairman of Handgun Control
gunman using a Saturday-night special, a new flurry of gun-
Inc. (Shields's son was a victim of San Francisco's "Zebra"
control activity has begun on the state and national levels.
killer in 1974.) Realizing the effectiveness of the NRA's efforts,
In Illinois last week a state Senate committee sent a bill to
many gun-control groups are starting to emulate its tactics.
the legislature that would provide a maximum prison sentence
Handgun Control, for example, has mounted a 2 million-
of three years for the sale or possession of a handgun. And
letter direct-mail campaign to boost membership from 120,000
in Washington, as many as 40 new bills may be introduced
to 1 million, and it plans to increase its budget from $1
that would impose new restrictions on the sale of handguns.
million to $3 million.
Ducks at dawn have a better chance: despite opinion polls
Both sides have their sights on Congress as it begins to
showing that nearly two-thirds of the public now favor gun
consider several firearms bills-including one allowing felons
control, the NRA still has the money, organization and clout
who have not been convicted of violent crimes to buy handguns.
to shoot down national firearms bills.
Sen. Edward Kennedy will reintroduce a measure this week
Outlaws: The NRA's own position begins with the con-
that closes at least one loophole in the 1968 law by ban-
stitutional assurance that "the right of the people to keep
ning imports of parts used to assemble cheap handguns such
and bear arms shall not be infringed"-words inscribed across
as the .22-caliber Röhm RG-14 pistol-made in Miami from
the black marble façade of
West German parts-that was
its Washington headquarters.
Handgun foes: An old battle begins anew
used to shoot Reagan. But the
What they seek, NRA officials
UPI
conservative 97th Congress is
say, is "legislation against
more likely to promote man-
crime rather than firearms."
Stopy
ADA
datory jail sentences-ranging
According to the NRA, gun
from two to five years-for
registration or strict licensing
anyone convicted of using a
requirements would eventual-
ly mean confiscating the arms
HANDGUN
gun in a crime. That happens
to be an NRA position-and
of the law-abiding citizen
a favorite of Reagan himself.
without hampering the crim-
Might the President now back
inal. As one NRA bumper-
strong handgun legislation?
sticker says, "If guns are
The answer came quickly from
outlawed, only outlaws will
STOP
Administration officials last
have guns."
HANDGUNS
week: even as a victim, Ronald
The NRA's slogans may be
Reagan is still a foe of gun
a trifle simple-minded, but its
CRIME
control.
LOWER
lobbying tactics are not. Its
computers can pinpoint 1.8
MICHAEL REESE with DIANE
CAMPER and GLORIA BORGER
million members throughout
in Washington and bureau reports
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
57
The Assassin Syndrome
As children, they are
rowly missed Franklin Roosevelt in 1933,
before their act. Lawrence, for example,
lonely, friendless in-
all lost their mothers as young children.
quit his job as house painter, then became
troverts, often living in
The father of John Shrank, who wounded
violent and abusive. Booth lost his voice
broken homes. They grow up full of self-
Teddy Roosevelt in 1921, died soon after
and turned angry and irrational. The year
loathing and have troubled relationships
his son's birth; Lee Harvey Oswald's father
before he shot John Kennedy, Oswald lost
with the opposite sex. Drifting from job
died before he was born. Later assailants
several jobs and separated from his wife.
to job, they become chronic losers with
also fit the pattern. James Earl Ray's father
Similarly, Bremer was demoted from his
grandiose fantasies and goals. At some
deserted the family; so did Sirhan Sirhan's.
busboy job for erratic behavior, and police
point, something goes haywire. They grow
Both of Gerald Ford's assailants, Lynette
found him sitting in a car, with bullets and
increasingly violent and irascible. They
(Squeaky) Fromme and Sara Jane Moore,
a pistol, one year before he shot Wallace.
may fixate on a single object of adoration
quarreled bitterly with their parents.
Spy: Many of the would-be assassins
or hatred until, through some scrambled
Like John Hinckley, many would-be at-
searched for causes to believe in and joined
logic of their own, they confront a public
tackers grew up in the frustrating shadow
extremist groups only to find they didn't
figure with a gun.
of more successful older siblings. John
belong. Booth claimed to have killed Lin-
That rough psychological profile loosely
Wilkes Booth's brothers, for example, were
coin to avenge the Southern defeat, but
fits each of the more than one dozen people
prominent actors. "This one-down family
he never fought for the Confederacy. Os-
who have tried-often successfully-to kill
position predisposes the boy to develop a
wald's bid for Russian citizenship was re-
a U.S. President or other prominent nation-
rebellious attitude toward authority and
jected, and he was the sole member of his
al public figure. Unlike European countries,
tradition," says psychiatrist Irving Harris,
"Fair Play for Cuba Committee." Moore,
WTOP-TV
AP photos
Lee
Harvey
Oswald:
Shot
Sirhan
Sirhan:
Eligible
Arthur
Bremer:
Eligible
'Squeaky' Fromme: Eligi-
Sara Jane Moore: Eligible
two days after arrest
for parole in 1984
for parole in May 1982
ble for parole in 1985
for parole in 1986
where assassinations tend to be political
who has studied Presidential assassins. "He
a jangled matron, joined several radical
acts by terrorist groups or military juntas,
can do it in a roguish way, like Billy Carter,
groups, but informed on them to the FBI.
assassinations in the United States have al-
or he can resort to assassination to ma-
Czolgosz tried to join an anarchist group
most always been the work of loners, ful-
nipulate the limelight."
and was branded a police spy-much as
filling some twisted private desire.* Experts
As children, the assailants-to-be have
Hinckley was expelled from the National
blame the phenomenon on everything from
trouble making friends. Arthur Bremer,
Socialist Party of America when its leaders
lax gun control and the "American dream,"
who shot George Wallace in 1972, was a
suspected he was an undercover agent.
with its unrealistic promise, to violence in
wary loner who muttered under his breath.
Like Hinckley's dreams of Jodie Foster,
the movies and even rock music. Whatever
Most of them shared a physical resem-
many assailants developed bizarre fanta-
the causes, each new assassination or at-
blance: as a rule, the men were short and
sies. Lawrence claimed he was King Rich-
tempt raises the same questions: how can
slight or chubby, the women dumpy and
ard III and believed that the United States
the human time bombs be spotted and what,
plain. Frequently, they had stormy rela-
was keeping him from his wealth. Guiteau
if anything, can be done to defuse them.
tionships-if any-with the opposite sex.
imagined he had earned an ambassadorial
Death: The most comprehensive profile
Richard Lawrence, who tried to kill An-
post. Such delusions are often ways to "take
of Presidential assailants was compiled as
drew Jackson in 1835, never married, nor
revenge for an extreme sense of helpless-
part of a 1969 study ordered by Lyndon
did Shrank, Zangara or Ray. Bremer doted
ness," says Abrahamsen-a means of com-
Johnson after Robert Kennedy's assassina-
on a 15-year-old girl who spurned him,
pensating for feeling "that they are
tion. Although there are exceptions to the
then lamented his virginity in diaries found
nobodies."
pattern, the similarities are remarkable.
after his arrest. "The people who become
Ultimately, it is to become "somebody"
The study found that almost all had trou-
assassins have poorly developed libidos and
that assassin-types turn to violence, psy-
bled childhoods, and many lost one parent
trouble establishing sexual identities," says
chiatrists believe. The assassin sees killing
through death or divorce. Charles J. Gui-
psychiatrist David Abrahamsen, who sug-
a public figure as a prominent achieve-
teau, who shot James Garfield in 1881, Le-
gests that attacking a President may be
ment-even though it may be a displaced
on Czolgosz, who killed William McKinley
the ultimate way to prove manhood.
death wish. Such people "politicize their
in 1901 and Giuseppe Zangara, who nar-
Rootless and aimless as young adults,
inner turmoil," often blaming society for
*Two exceptions were Oscar Collazo and Griselio Tor-
they usually floundered. The 1969 study
their failures, says psychiatrist Lawrence
resola, Puerto Rican nationalists who stormed Blair House
found that almost all had undergone a dra-
in 1950, intending to kill Harry Truman to dramatize
Freedman, who helped compile the 1969
their fight for Puerto Rican independence.
matic personality change one to three years
study. Robbed of a parent figure in child-
58
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
hood, they may also be striking at the ul-
timate father figure. In attacking a Presi-
dent, experts say, the assassin is attacking
the office, not the man. Indeed, several as-
sailants have switched targets. Oswald orig-
inally gunned for Gen. Edwin A. Walker;
PEOPLE
DON'T
KILL
PEOPLE_
...GUNS
DO.
Bremer stalked Nixon for weeks.
Given their tangled motives and oddly
isolated lives, assassin types seem unlikely
hired guns for shadowy conspiracies (box).
Yet conspiracy buffs have seen dark plots
in every assassination and attempt. Gui-
teau's sister maintained that a second gun-
man, hiding in a doorway, actually killed
Garfield. Because Zangara's bullet killed
Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, some con-
JFK
KING
spiracists think the assault actually was
RFK
a plot by mobsters to kill Cermak, not
Roosevelt. Lawrence's attack on Andrew
Jackson was thought to be a Whig Party
BUCE
plot. Conspiracy theories are still emerging
about John F. Kennedy's assassination-
alleging everything from a second gunman
to a coffin switch. None of the alleged
Ohman © 1981 Chicago Tribune
plots has ever been proven, and some psy-
Searching for causes: Which comes first, the gun or the gunman?
chiatrists say that the theories suggest a
national need to see something sinister be-
Daniel Freedman of the University of Chi-
psychosis can be incarcerated temporarily.
hind each assassination-rather than the
cago. "Among the mentally ill, few are vio-
Still, the U.S. Constitution guards against
possibly more alarming truth about de-
lent." Although Hinckley had seen a thera-
most "preventive detention" psychi-
mented individuals with guns.
pist, would-be assassins rarely come into
atrists and legal experts alike warn that
Perhaps most disturbing of all is the fact
contact with psychiatrists before their
people cannot be institutionalized for hav-
that though they can sketch the profile of
acts-and those who threaten violence are
ing potentially criminal backgrounds. The
the typical assassin, experts don't know
seldom believed, mainly because the vast
answer-if there is one-would seem to
what to do with the information. Hundreds
majority never carry out their threats.
be greater private supervision of possibly
of thousands of citizens fit the basic mold—
Detention: Law-enforcement officials
dangerous people by their friends, doctors
but no one can predict when or if they
and Secret Service agents don't know what
and families so that they are not, as Hinck-
might become violent. Experts can accu-
to do about assassin types either. It is a
ley's parents reportedly described their son,
rately predict violent behavior in only about
Federal crime to threaten the President of
"wandering aimless and irresponsible."
one of three cases. "Among violent people,
the United States, and in some states a
MELINDA BECK with DONNA FOOTE in Chicago,
some are mentally ill," says psychiatrist
person who does so and exhibits signs of
EMILY NEWHALL in New York and bureau reports
on the tape, a suspended moment in which members of Reagan's
For Conspiracy Buffs Only
security force look the wrong way for the source of the shots
and the scrambled first reports from an embarrassed Secret
In all the recent history of assassinations and assassination
Service misstating the make and caliber of the pistol involved—
attempts in America, none seemed more clearly the work of
a perfect invitation to a two-gun scenario.
one man with one gun and no rational motive than last week's
The Maybe-Hinckley-Did-It-but-the-Government-Helped
audio- and video-taped attack on Ronald Reagan. But this
Theory. The first question a conspiratorialist might ask is
shooting, like the others before it, churned up the usual wake
how an ex-Nazi once arrested on a gun charge in Nashville,
of anomalies, discrepancies and coincidences that attend chaotic
Tenn., on a day when Jimmy Carter was in town could escape
events in the real world-and so provided the usual grist for
being punch-carded into the Secret Service's computerized
yet another generation of conspiracy theorists to chew over
list of potential assassins. There were real security lapses at
for years to come. The black comic and conspiratorialist Dick
the scene as well-the ease with which Hinckley slipped into
Gregory scooped the pack this time, assuring a Los Angeles
the press pack, for example, and the clay-pigeon distance
talk-show host that the CIA and the FBI did it-and ex-
Reagan had to walk to his car when it could have been
perienced students of the literature of assassinations could al-
parked closer to the hotel exit. The evidence in each instance
most see a hundred similar theories blooming out of what
points to carelessness, but there are no mistakes in conspiracy
seemed so fallow a patch of ground.
theories-only calculated acts.
Among the possibilities:
The Cherchez-Le-Veep Theory With Mystery Woman and
The Hinckley-Didn't-Do-It-or-at-Least-Not-Alone Theory.
Trilateral Corollary. For the farthest-out plot-spinners, it will
The very videotapes that make such a seemingly open-and-
not pass notice that (1) George Bush addressed the Trilateral
shut case against John W. Hinckley Jr. never actually show
Commission the Sunday night before the shooting, that (2)
his face until after his capture. As it happened, he was standing
Hinckley's brother, Scott, had a dinner date with Bush's son
back in a cluster of newsmen, behind the cameras, until he
Neil that Monday and that (3) there were several phone calls
started shooting. But a dedicated conspiracy buff might argue
from an unidentified woman to Hinckley's hotel room that
that he was (1) an innocent fall guy or (2) only one gun among
day (the FBI said she was trying to call someone else). Any
two or more. Argument (2) offers the more tempting fodder
significance in these occurrences can be left to the imagination,
for the conspiratorialist: one or two anomalous flashes of light
and probably will be.
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981
59
What Is Left to Say?
"Let us not be so weak-kneed that we
shrink behind a plea of mental incapacity
and reject capital punishment. Society de-
First there was the stunned silence of a nation all too familiar with
mands expiation of its collective suffering,
violence against its presidents. Then America-and the world-began
and it cannot rid itself of the horror of
to react. A sampling of voices:
assassination without at least contemplat-
ing the ultimate punishment."
"Whether it's John Lennon or the Presi-
"The United States was born out of the
-San Francisco Examiner editor Reg
dent, if you've got your name up on a mar-
violence of conquest, rebellion and civil
Murphy
quee, someone tries to shoot out the lights."
war. Its myths are those of the frontier
-Montana Gov. Ted Schwinden
where the fastest gun was king and every
"We're keeping the government out of
man had his fate in his own hands. The
our lives on [gun control], and the result
"A President who can say, 'I'd rather
U.S. has risen to become a major industrial
is murderous anarchy. There are limits to
be in Philadelphia' after he's been shot tells
and military power claiming universality
the limits-to-government argument, and
you more than a 10,000-word medical bul-
for its values while seeming unable to shake
they are reached and passed when society
letin ever could."
off the darker elements in its tradition."
is made more vulnerable to the depreda-
-Stanford University Law School lecturer
-The Times of London
tions of its dangerously deranged."
and psychiatrist Donald Lunde
-Hodding Carter III, former State Depart-
"We do not know whether the attack
ment spokesman
"Too bad he (the would-be assassin)
has been successful or not, but it makes
missed. That's the result of sending an ama-
no difference to us."
"Thank God that the man accused in
teur to do a professional job
I hope
-Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini
the assassination attempt wasn't black."
Reagan dies."
-Columnist William Raspberry
-Dominic Manno, a student columnist,
"Someone shot J. R. and they cheered.
writing in the daily newspaper of the
Someone shot Reagan and they cheered.
"I'm trembling for my fellow man."
University of Pennsylvania
That's scary."
-Dr. Ralph D. Abernathy
-John Zannini, a seventh-grade teacher
"We don't have terrorists in the United
in Tulsa, Okla.
"I was utterly depressed. I felt a deep
States. We just have a lot of screwballs.
lonely feeling in my stomach, like it was
They are mentally unsound. They are off
"Boy, if our foresight was as good as
a personal attack. I was in a bad mood
their rockers."
our
hindsight
He looked like a decent
all day. I couldn't work. I didn't eat dinner.
-Former President Gerald R. Ford
young man
I'm satisfied some plausible
My children asked me why did it happen.
explanation was given for those weapons."
They expressed amazement and wonder,
"No, it is not mere chance that America
-Judge William E. Higgins of Nashville,
and I couldn't explain to them why."
shoots its presidents. It is not mere chance
Tenn., who released Hinckley last fall after
-Dallas ice-cream maker Daniel Brackeen
that it shoots singers, that it shoots priests,
he'd tried to board a plane while armed.
children and candidates for the Presidency
"He's one of the youngest presidents
Can one consider a society normal if
"If you had told me in 1963 that in the
we've had based on what he's gone
it is penetrated fully with the idea of vio-
next twenty years I would see one President
through."
lence, a society where terror is a phenom-
shot to death, one wounded and one twice
-Former President Richard M. Nixon
enon of daily life?"
threatened by gun-wielding assailants, one
-Komsomolskaya Pravda, a Soviet youth
senator killed and one wounded and one
"I would have taken that bullet."
newspaper
governor wounded, I would have said,
-Actor Jimmy Stewart, in a telegram to
'You've got to be kidding! That's not the
Reagan
"If the leader of another country is shot,
United States, it's a shooting gallery'."
we can expect tanks to be drawn up in
-Eric Steel of Oakland, Calif., in a letter
"I found out it hurts to get shot."
front of the Presidential palace. We can
to the editor
-President Reagan
expect troops to imprison the political op-
position. We can expect the new leaders
Hail to the Chief: A king-size get-well message near Reagan's hospital room
to tear up the country's constitution. But
last week America's rules prevailed
Even as we are shocked at the attack on
the President, we must realize that the same
freedom that sends him into crowds at such
great risk provides the laws and orderly
stability that permits our government to
function when the worst happens."
Dear.Mr.President,
-Civil-rights leader Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
THERE AINT NO REPUBLICANS OR
"The Hinckleys are good people, but I
wonder if this will affect our land values."
DEMOCRATS NOW... WE ARE ALL FAMILY
-A woman in Evergreen, Colo., whose
house is up for sale
GET WELL QUICK RON..
"What the hell is this-a banana
republic?"
WE NEED YOU!
-Anonymous
America
"I'm not surprised and that's what is
P.S. WE CANT AFFORD TO LOSE A CUSTOMER
sad about it."
-Chicago student Dave Henson
60
NEWSWEEK/APRIL 13, 1981