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Presidential Shooting 03/30/1981 (1)
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Presidential Shooting 03/30/1981 (1)
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Records of the Office of the First Lady (Reagan Administration)
Sheila Tate's Office Files
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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 [2 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
O'Toole & Strauss
triumph in Masada
APRIL 13, 1981=95c
The zany new guru
of diet. & fitness
Polanski's Tess,
weekly
Nastassia Kinski
THE SHOTS
THAT
STUNNED
THE
WORLD
The
courageous
President
The families'
anguish
The unlikely
suspect
15
10227 0
24414
The President's wave changed to a grimace
as the bullet struck (above). Moments later Tim
So many of life's horrors come sud-
in his left side might have been caused
McCarthy (right, foreground), Officer Thomas De-
lahanty and James Brady lay wounded.
denly on dull, dark days. For Ronald
by the Secret Service tackle. The
Reagan, Monday lunch was just anoth-
news came especially cruelly to the
er stop on the rubber chicken circuit,
First Lady. At the White House, Nancy
followed by the chance to pitch his eco-
Reagan had just returned from a lun-
couldn't talk," recalls her assistant
nomic program to labor leaders-and
cheon when her Secret Service
press secretary, Barbara Cook.
the predictable lukewarm reception. In
aide told her that Presidential Press
During the next two hours surgeons
the drizzle outside the Washington
Secretary James Brady had been shot.
removed a .22-caliber bullet that was
Hilton, the President waved and
She rushed to George Washington Uni-
lodged in the President's left lung
grinned and moved toward his limou-
versity Hospital, where an old friend,
and became the shot heard round the
sine. Then the all too familiar sound
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Mi-
world. With Soviet troops poised on the
-"like flashcubes going off," accord-
chael Deaver, tried to reassure her that
Polish border, the prospect of the West
ing to an eyewitness-and the terrible
the President was all right-but inad-
deprived of its leader loomed cata-
frenzy erupted. Agents slammed the
vertently raised her fears. "If he is
strophically. "I am in control here in the
President into his car and sped him
okay, why can't I see him?" she asked.
White House, pending return of the
away before he could see the devas-
When Deaver investigated he learned
Vice-President," Secretary of State
tation. The bodies of three men lay
a truth he wanted not to hear: The
Haig announced as George Bush
splayed across the sidewalk, and a
doctors, upon removing Reagan's
rushed back to Washington from Tex-
swarm of lawmen had pinioned John
clothes, had discovered a bullet wound
as. Whether Haig's move was presump-
W. Hinckley Jr.-yet another pudgy,
below the left armpit. Nancy rushed in
tion or a necessary attempt at stability
shadowy figure who was entering the
to see her husband. "Honey, I forgot to
will be debated for weeks. Meanwhile
American limelight with a pistol in
duck," he quipped, commandeering
the most awesome symbol of presiden-
his hand.
Jack Dempsey's excuse after Gene
tial power-the black briefcase with
Not even Reagan himself realized at
Tunney's knockout punch. Despite his
the codes to be used to order a nu-
first that he had become the fifth Amer-
brave assurances, Nancy was visibly
clear strike-remained at the hospital
ican President struck by gunfire-he
shaken. "She didn't break down, but
with Reagan throughout his ordeal. The
arrived at the hospital thinking the pain
there were tears in her eyes and she just
possibility of an international crisis
30
"I think Nancy will hold up very well,"
predicted a longtime friend, actor
Charlton Heston. "She's a gallant lady."
Emerging from a buried life into a nightmare, Hinckley
may have been driven by a murderous movie fantasy
When a reporter phoned JoAnn Hinck-
In and out of Tech for the next seven
ley to tell her that her son had been ar-
years, he switched from the school of
rested for shooting the President of
business to the college of arts and sci-
the United States, she reacted with
ences before dropping out for good last
stunned disbelief. "This is some kind
July. The impression he left was hardly
of joke, isn't it?" she asked. Inevitably,
indelible, but Otto Nelson, an associate
her shock was shared by nearly every-
professor of history, remembers that
one who had known John Warnock
Hinckley wrote two well-thought-out
Hinckley Jr. as he passed through a
papers on Nazism-a review of
nondescript boyhood. To them,
Adolf Hitler's Mein Kampf and a report
this blond, blue-eyed son of a wealthy
on a book on the death camp at Ausch-
oil executive was quiet, polite and de-
witz. At about the same time Hinckley
scribable in all the standard clichés: He
took a one-bedroom apartment off-
was "a nice guy" and "a normal kid"
campus and lived there alone, seldom
from an "all-American family." But
speaking to neighbors. Mark Swoffard,
those who knew him recently remem-
the building's superintendent,
bered another Hinckley-a gun-
remembers being called in once to
ROBIN
collecting recluse living in a filthy
clean out a drain. "It just blew me
apartment, flirting with fascism and
away," he says. "There was garbage
The FBI believes Hinckley became ob-
fantasizing about a teenage actress he
piled up all over the cabinets and even
sessed with Jodie Foster, for whom
would never have the courage to speak
in the bookshelves. Other than that, it
Robert De Niro turned killer in Taxi Driver.
to. At yet another level was a hidden
looked like no one lived there. A
anger, revealed only to those he be-
guitar and a television set were the only
lieved shared his fanaticism. Recalls
things that he had."
president-elect Michael Allen, who ex-
No doubt sensing in himself the root-
pelled him from the National Socialist
lessness that Swoffard briefly ob-
Party: "He wanted to shoot people and
served, Hinckley drifted from Lubbock
blow things up."
last summer. He tended bar for a while
As is so often the case, there were no
in Denver, near his parents' new home
landmarks in Hinckley's background to
in Evergreen, Colo., then unsuccessful-
suggest the tortured course he would
ly sought a job selling photography in
follow. Now 25 years old, he grew up in
Hollywood. Last October 9 he was ar-
Dallas' affluent Highland Park area.
rested at an airport in Nashville and
His father-an engineer, president of
charged with the possession of three
an oil exploration firm and an active
concealed handguns. Though Presi-
member of the local Episcopal church
dent Carter was also in Nashville at the
-set high standards for his three
time, speaking at the Grand Ole Opry,
children, and Hinckley's brother and
no connection was ever suspected.
sister seemed to live up to them. His
Four days later Hinckley turned up in
sister, Mrs. Diane Sims, was a high
Dallas, where he bought the pistol al-
school cheerleader and homecoming
legedly used to shoot Carter's
queen. Scott Hinckley entered the fam-
successor.
ily business and became a vice-
Finally, of course, no one could have
president; ironically, he was scheduled
predicted what Hinckley was planning
to be a dinner guest the night after the
-no one but Hinckley himself. And
shooting at the home of Vice-President
that, in a chillingly prophetic note to ac-
George Bush's son Neil. But in John Jr.
tress Jodie Foster, is precisely what he
the flame seemed to be lacking. He
did. Apparently possessed by some
They have a quiet
dabbled in school activities-the Span-
deeply felt secret vision of the actress,
home life and stay
ish club, the rodeo club and Students in
he carried her picture in his wallet,
to themselves,"
said a neighbor of
Government-but made little impres-
wrote letters to her and somehow de-
Hinckley's parents,
sion on teachers or classmates. "He
veloped the idea that President
who live in this
was quiet and low-key," says class-
Reagan had treated her shabbily.
$180,000 home in
mate Beverly McBeath. "Something
Searching Hinckley's Washington hotel
Evergreen, Colo. A
self-made million-
must have happened to him after high
room after his arrest, federal agents
aire with a record of
school."
came upon a message allegedly in-
involvement in is-
Perhaps something did, but if there
tended for Foster. "I will prove my love
sues like hunger
was a turning point it passed unper-
for you through an historic act," it read.
and the environ-
ceived. After graduating from high
"I will probably die for what I am about
ment, John Hinck-
ley Sr. supported
school in 1973, Hinckley enrolled
to do. It is now 12:30, an hour before I
Ronald Reagan for
at Texas Tech University in Lubbock.
go to the Hilton Hotel."
President.
CARL
CONTINUED
34
"We had to look him up in our annuals,"
No more memorable at Texas Tech (in
Hinckley's descent into his personal
says a high school classmate of Hinckley.
1974, above), "He was an anonymous face
depths seemed reflected on his recent
"Nobody remembers him real well."
in the crowd," says a history teacher.
Colorado driver's license.
An eerie foreshadowing of
last week's assault
underscores the
President's vulnerability
The tableau is hellishly familiar to
America. As a public figure works his
way through a crowd, a revolver sud-
denly appears from a sea of
outstretched arms. Sometimes the re-
sult is tragedy, sometimes just a nerve-
shattering scare. As this dramatic
1975 photograph illustrates, Ronald
Reagan knows the scene all too well.
In Miami in November, just a few hours
after Reagan launched his unsuccess-
ful '76 presidential campaign, a 20-
year-old college dropout named Mi-
chael Lance Carvin pulled a gun from
a paper bag and took aim at the can-
didate. For just a split second, before he
was wrestled to the ground, Carvin had
a clear shot at Reagan. Although Se-
cret Service agents later discovered
that the "gun" was only a toy, Carvin
was convicted of intimidating Reagan
and interfering with federal officers; he
is now in prison in North Carolina. This
was the second attack on Reagan-the
first came when two men attempted to
firebomb the California governor's
home in 1968-and he reacted with
smiling and predictable nonchalance.
"I'm fine," he told supporters 30 min-
utes after the incident. "It doesn't
DENNIS BRACK/BLACK STAR
change my view about campaigning."
But every public figure in America
must live with the possibility of irratio-
on Gerald Ford's life-observed of
whenever you go into a public place."
nal violence, or even death, not least
their constant anticipation of disaster
Last week's tragedy transformed
the First Family. "I think you always
that "in some ways, it's more difficult
that permanent anxiety into an acute
have it in the back of your mind," Nancy
for the relatives of potential assassina-
agony for the President's family. Rea-
Reagan said that day in 1975. "I hope it
tion targets." Adds former Reagan
gan's younger daughter, Patti Davis,
doesn't happen again." In her memoirs,
aide Nancy Reynolds, a close friend
was particularly "devastated" by the
Sheila Rabb Weidenfeld-the press
of the current First Lady: "The
news, according to family friend
aide to Betty Ford during both attempts
concern and tension are always there
Mary Jane Wick, who reports: "The fear
36
It was only a toy pistol, but Michael Carvin got
10 years after pulling it on Reagan during a 1975
of assassination was one of the rea-
asked about the threats on our lives,"
Miami rally. Secret Service men suspected
sons Patti didn't want her father to run
that Carvin had earlier telephoned their Denver
she wrote in her autobiography, Nan-
office threatening to harm Reagan or then-
in the first place." The normally unflap-
cy. "I don't know how many there have
President Ford.
pable Nancy Reagan was also deeply
been and I don't want to know." Last
shaken. For years she had been able
week, an assailant's bullet had finally
to put the possibility of violence out
converted all those threats from an ab-
of her mind with a finely developed
straction to a terrifying and constant
strategy of avoidance. "I've never
reality.
CONTINUED
37
A stricken President
showed the pluck and grit
his friends knew he had
Political critics of the President have
suggested that much of his seeming
accomplishment is mostly acting. Last
week no one said that about his
courage. Like the cowboy hero he once
portrayed, Ronald Reagan strode into
DARLENE
the hospital emergency room under his
"There's no depression within him," Jim-
own power, joking off the bullet that
my Stewart says of his pal. "He has always
had jeopardized his life. Throughout his
stayed on top of everything."
ordeal, he varied rakishness with
sangfroid: He told nurses who flocked
to his side, "If I'd gotten this kind of
portant part of his physical health."
attention in Hollywood, I would have
That stoic side, so rarely displayed in
stayed"-and quoted Churchill's
public, is a legend among his friends.
dictum that life's greatest exhilaration
"The President has always been a per-
is to be shot at without result. "I know
son of great strength and tremendous
my father," Michael Reagan said with
spirit," says his producer friend A.C.
forced confidence while the surgery
Lyles. "Both Nancy and Ron are. I know
was in progress. "He'll be running this
their faith and strength will carry them
country again tomorrow." Incredibly,
through." Old pal Bob Hope remem-
he was: The next morning the President
bers with a shudder the day last
signed the dairy price support bill from
November when Reagan pointed out
his bed in intensive care.
the bulletproof flak jacket beneath his
Reagan's stamina surprised even
raincoat. "He just said the Secret Ser-
doctors at George Washington
vice asked him to wear it,". Hope
University Hospital. "He's an amazing
recalls. The President may also have a
physical specimen," said clinical
streak of fatalism in him, suggests his
affairs dean Dennis O'Leary, who
longtime barber, Harry Drucker. "He
called Reagan "physiologically very
once said, 'If they're gonna get me,
youthful." A private man with no taste
they're gonna get me,' Drucker re-
for showy exercises like jogging or
calls. "He doesn't entertain any fears."
pumping iron, Reagan has for years
To some extent, Reagan's grace un-
quietly kept fit and trim. He takes pride
der pressure may even have its roots
in the fact that he has kept around 180
in Hollywood. Edward Langley, a writer
pounds-his college football weight
who worked with Reagan at General
-by eating and drinking abstemiously
Electric, reports that the President was
and by doing 10 minutes of sit-ups.
a great admirer of Errol Flynn's pa-
He also uses an exercise wheel daily.
nache. "He called himself the B-
Until the election he and Nancy reg-
movies' Errol Flynn," Langley says. "He
ularly went to a Los Angeles exercise
even walks like Flynn. He's a swash-
studio run by Mike Abrums, who was
buckler, and walking into that hospital
scheduled to install gym equipment in
is just like him." But whatever the oth-
the White House just this week. Lee
er roots of his resiliency, Ronald
Clearwater, 60-Reagan's ranch fore-
Reagan clearly has an incurable case
man, fellow woodcutter and best crony
of optimism. "Ronald Reagan has no
-says the doctors should not have
down days," marveled James Stewart
been shocked. "I could have told them
the morning after the shooting. "He al-
he was just a kid compared to me," he
ways keeps going in the face of stress,
says. Adds former aide Gordon
hitting at those things he believes in.
Luce: "He leads a very disciplined life
He proved that throughout his cam-
and just takes good care of him-
paign. And he did it again yesterday.
self-and his state of mind is an im-
He is an extraordinary man."
38
Reagan keeps In shape by working out and
working outside. One July weekend away
from the stump, he pruned trees at home.
ANO1
The A.C. Lyleses, members of the Reagan
inner circle, never worried. "He's in such
marvelous health," said Lyles.
ANO1
Foster
Brooks
"He's been my friend for 40 years," Bob
Hope says of Reagan. "The whole coun-
try is with him."
39
N169
RW
REAGAN-CHRONDLOGY
WASHINGTON (AP) -- HERE IS A CHRONOLOGY OF THE ASSASSINATION
ATTEMPT ON PRESIDENT REAGAN ON MONDAY. THE TIMES ARE EST AND
APPROXIMATIONS ONLY:
2 P.M. -- PRESIDENT REAGAN BEGINS ADDRESS TO THE BUILDING AND
CONSTRUCTION TRADES DEPARTMENT OF THE AFL-CIO AT THE WASHINGTON
HILTON HOTEL.
2:25 P.M. -- REAGAN CONCLUDES SPEECH AND LEAVES HOTEL THROUGH A
VIP ENTRANCE.
2:26 P.M. -- REAGAN, PRESS SECRETARY JAMES BRADY, A SECRET SERVICE
AGENT AND A WASHINGTON POLICEMAN ARE SHOT OUTSIDE THE HOTEL IN A
BARRAGE OF GUNFIRE FROM R .22-CALIBER PISTOL. A MAN IS WRESTLED TO
THE GROUND AND TAKEN INTO CUSTODY ON CHARGES OF ATTEMPTED
ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT.
2:35 P.M. -- REAGAN ARRIVES AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
HOSPITAL.
3:15 P.M. -- REAGAN IS PREPARED FOR SURGERY.
4 P.M. -- REAGAN UNDERGOES SURGERY FOR REMOVAL OF A .22-CALIBER
BULLET FROM HIS LEFT LUNG.
6:30 P.M. -- REAGAN IS REMOVED FROM SURGERY AND PLACED IN
POST-OPERATIVE CARE.
7:30 R.M. -- DR. DENNIS D. D'LEARY, DEAN OF CLINICAL AFFAIRS FOR
THE HOSPITAL, TELLS REPORTERS THAT THE PRESIDENT IS IN ''STABLE AND
GOOD CONDITION. "
AP-WX-03-30-81 2018EST
UP066
R V
(REAGAN SHOTS) WASHINGTON (UPI) -- SHOTS WERE FIRED AT
PRESIDENT REAGAN TODAY AS HE LEFT A WASHINGTON HOTEL. THE PRESIDENT
DID NOT APPEAR TO BE HURT. .....
UPI 03-30-81 02:33 PES
UP068
R V
1ST ADD REAGAN-SHOTS, WASHINGTON (UP-066) THE PRESIDENT WAS
LEAVING THE WASHINGTON HILTON HOTEL AFTER A SPEECH TO THE NATIONAL
CONFERENCE OF THE BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES DEPARTMENT,
RFL-CIO. ....
THE PRESIDENT TURNED AND LOOKED IN THE AREA OF WHERE THE SHOTS
WERE FIRED AS SECRET SERVEICEEMEN SHOUTED FOR HIM TO GET INTO THE
LIMOUSINE. THE ASSAILANT WAS TACKLED BY AGENTS AND POLICE OFFICERS
AND PUSHED TO THE GROUND AS THE MOTORCADE DROVE AWAY.
IT WAS UNCLEAR WHETHER THE PRESIDENT HAD BEEN HIT BY ANY OFF THE
SHOTS, BUT HE DID NOT APPEAR TO REACT IN ANY WAY THAT WOULD INDICATE
HE WAS IN SOME KIND OF PAIN.
THE INCIDENT TOOK PLACE APPROXIMATELY 2:30 P.M. EDT. THERE WERE
APPROXIMATELY 4 SHOTS.
UPI 03-30-81 02:39 PES
ururu
8 W
2ND ADD REAGAN-SHOTS''''
REAGAN HAD JUST WALKED OUT OF THE BUILDING, ON THE FLORIDA AVENUE
SIDE OF THE HOTEL. THE ASSAILANT WAS WAITING TO REAGAN'S LEFT AND
REAR AND REAGAN TURNED WHEN THE SHOTS WERE FIRED, PLACING THE
ASSAILANT TO THE RIGHT REAR.
SEVERAL POLICE OFFICERS PINNED THE ASSAILANT TO THE GROUND, WHILE
THE SECRET SERVICE AGENTS PUSHED REAGAN INTO THE LIMOUSINE.
UPI 03-30-81 02:42 PES
UPI 03-30-81 02:42 PES
UP073
B W
ADD REAGAN-SHOTS"'"
THE FIRST LADY WAS NOT WITH THE PRESIDENT. HE WAS ACCOMPANNIED BY
PRESS SECRETARY JIM BRADY, DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF MICHAEL DERVER AND
OTHER ASSISTANTS.
WHEN THE SHOTS WERE FIRED PEOPLE BEGAN TO PANIC, DUCKING,
SOMETIMES FALLING TO GRUND OTHERS IN CROUCH.
IT WAS RAINING AT THE TIME WITH SEVERAL HUNDRED PEOPLE STANDING
ALONG THE SIDEWALK AT THE TIME. THEY WERE CHEERING AND WAVING WHEN
THE PRESIDENT CAME OUT. HE TURNED TO WAVE AND THE SHOTS WERE FIRED.
BRADY, A SECRET SERVICE AGENT AND A POLICEMEN HAVE BEEN REPORTED
HIT.
UPI 03-30-81 02:48 PES
UP074
R V
ADD REAGAN-SHOTS***
DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY LARRY SPEAKES, EXPLAINING THE
INITIAL CONFUSION ABOUT REAGAN'S CONDITION, SAID, "THERE WAS SOME
PUSHING AND SHOVING WHEN THEY WENT INTO THE CAR."
THE PRESIDENT WENT TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE BRADY WAS TAKEN, SPERKES
SAID. HE SAID DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF MICHALE DERVER
ACCOMPANIED REAGAN TO THE HOSPITAL.
UPI 03-30-81 02:49 PES
UP076
U W
ADD REAGAN-SHOTS THE WHITE HOUSE SAID REAGAN WAS NOT HIT,
BUT WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JAMES BRADY WAS SHOT AND WOUNDED. .....
SECRET SERVICE MEN SHOVED THE PRESIDENT INSIDE HIS WAITING
LIMOUSINE AS SOON AS THE SHOTS WERE FIRED -- REPORTEDLY FOUR SHOTS,
JUST TO HIS RIGHT -- BY AN UNKNOWN MALE.
RBC REPORTED THAT IN ADDITION TO BRADY, A SECRET SERVICE AGENT WAS
WOUNDED IN THE SHOOTING ABOUT 2:30 P.M. OUTSIDE THE WASHINGTON HILTON
HOTEL.
THE GUNMAN WAS TACKLED BY SECRET SERVICE AGENTS AND POLICE AND
PINNED TO THE GROUND AS THE MOTORCADE SPED AWAY TO SAFETY.
UPI 03-30-81 02:53 PES
UP078
U W
ADD REAGAN-SHOTS'''
THE ASSAILANT WAS A YOUNG WHITE, BLOND MALE, AND HE WAS SHOVED INTO
A DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SQUAD CAR SHORTLY AFTER THE INCIDENT.
AMBULANCES SPED TO THE SCENE TO TAKE BRADY TO THE HOSPITAL.
BRADY WAS APPARENTLY STRUCK IN THE HEAD, BLOOD POURING PROFUSELY
FROM THE WOUND. THE SEVERITY OF HIS WOUNDS WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY KNOWN.
WHEN THE SHOTS RANG OUT, REAGAN WAS LEAVING THE HOTEL, LAUGHING
AND WAVING TO A CROWD OUTSIDE THE HOTEL WHERE HE HAD BEEN ADDRESSING
AN AFL-CIO MEETING.
UPI'S DEAN REYNOLDS SAID THE GUNMAN WAS ABOUT 10 FEET FROM REAGAN
WHEN THE SHOTS RANG OUT.
BRADY WAS JUST A STEP OR TWO BEHIND REAGAN AS THE PRESIDENTIAL
PARTY WAS LEAVING THE HOTEL.
DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY LARRY SPERKES, EXPLAINING
INITIAL CONFUSION ABOUT WHETHER REAGAN WAS HIT, SAID, "THERE WAS SOME
PUSHING AND SHOVING WHEN THEY WENT INTO THE CAR."
REAGAN WENT TO THE HOSPITAL WHERE BRADY WAS TAKEN, SPEAKES SAID.
HE SAID DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF MICHAEL DEAVER ACCOMPANIED
REAGAN TO THE HOSPITAL.
FORMER PRESIDENT GERALD FORD WAS THE SUBJECT OF TWO INCIDENTS
IVOLVING SUSPECTED ATTEMPTS ON HIS LIFE.
ON SEPT. 5, 1975, A WOMAN LATTER IDENTIFIED AS LYNETTE "SQUERKY"
FROMME, A MEMBER OF THE CHARLES MANSON CULT, WAS ARRESTED AS SHE
POINTED A PISTOL AT FORD. SHE WAS QUICKLY SUBDUED AND CONVICTED IN
THE INCIDENT.
JUST 27 DAYS LATER, FORD ESCAPED UNHARMED RS A SHOT WAS FIRED AT
HIM WHILE HE WAS LEAVING A SAN FRANCISCO HOTEL. THE SUSPECTED
ASSAILANT, SARA JANE MOORE, WAS SEIZED IMMEDIATELY. MRS. MOORE IS
SERVING A PRISON SENTENCE IN THE INCIDENT.
UPI 03-30-81 03:01 PES
UP084
U W
ADD REAGAN-SHOTS
PRESIDENT REAGAN WAS SHOT IN THE CHEST AND WOUNDED BY A GUNMAN
OUTSIDE H WASHINGTON HOTEL MONDAY. HE WAS REPORTED IN STABLE
CONDITION AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL.
UPI 03-30-81 03:16 PES
UP086
U W
ADD REAGAN-SHOT!!!!!
PRESIDENT REAGAN WAS REPORTED CONSCIOUS AND IN STABLE CONDITION AT
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL.
THE GUNMAN, FIRING AT CLOSE RANGE, ALSO WOUNDED WHITE HOUSE PRESS
SECRETARY JAMES BRADY IN THE HEAD BEFORE BEING WRESTLED TO THE GROUND
BY POLICE. A SECRET SERVICE MAN AND A DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA POLICE
OFFICER ALSO WERE REPORTEDLY WOUNDED.
PRESIDENT ADVISER LYN NOFZIGER SAID REAGAN WAS WOUNDED IN THE LEFT
CHEST, AND ADDED HE WAS CONSCIOUS AND IN STABLE CONDITION.
UPI 03-30-81 03:21 PES
UPI 03-30-81 03:22 PES
UP089
R H
ADD REAGAN-SHOT''
NOFZIGER SAID: "I CAN CONFIRM THAT CHEST. THE BULLET ENTERED FROM
HIS LEFT SIDE. HE IS IN STABLE CONDITION. HE IS CONSCIOUS AND MRS.
REAGAN IS WITH HIM."
UPI 03-30-81 03:24 PES
MORE MORE
UPI 03-30-81 03:26 PES
UP091
U.M
ADD REAGAN-SHOT!!!!!
REAGAN WALKED INTO THE HOSPITAL, OFFICIALS SAID. NOFZIGER SAID THE
PRESIDENT APPARENTLY DID NOT IMMEDIATELY REALIZE HE HAD BEEN WOUNDED
AND THE BULLET WAS STILL LODGED IN HIS CHEST.
NOFZIGER REPORTEDLY SAID REAGAN "IS NOT AT THIS TIME IN SURGERY,
OR HERDED FOR SURGERY.'
FOUR OR FIVE SHOTS WERE FIRED AT CLOSE RANGE BY GUNMAN, AND THE
SECRET SERVICE IMMEDIATELY SHOVED REAGAN INTO THE WAITING LIMOUSINE.
BRADY'S CONDITION WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY KNOWN, BUT HE WAS TAKEN TO
GEORGE WASHINGTON BLEEDING PROFUSEDLY FROM A HEAD WOUND.
THE UNIDENTIFIED WHITE, BLOND MALE, REPORTEDLY IN HIS LATE 30S OR
EAROY 40S, WAS IMMEDIATELY THROWN TO THE GROUND AND PINNED BY SECRET
SERVICE MEN AND POLICE OFFERS. HE WAS QUICKLY WHISKED AWAY IN A SQUAD
CAR.
NANCY REAGAN, WHO WAS NOT WITH THE PRESIDENT AT THE HOTEL, RUSHED
TO THE HOSPITAL TO BE WITH HER HUSBAND.
UPI 03-30-81 03:28 PES
UP092
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH, EN ROUTE FROM FORT WORTH, TEXAS, TO
MAKE A SPEECH IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, HEADED TO WASHINGTON IMMEDIATELY UPON
NEWS OF THE SHOOTING. HIS PLANE CHANGED COURSE AND HEADED FOR THE
CAPITAL.
UPI 03-30-81 03:29 PES
UP094
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT''
JIM BRADY WAS WHEELED AT 3:05 P.M. INTO A CRT-SCANNING ROOM ON THE
FIRST FLOOR OF GEORGE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL. BRADY WAS BANDAGED AND
APPEARED TO HAVE HEAD WOUNDS. HE WASN'T STIRRING.
UPI 03-30-81 03:31 PES
UP096
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ASDD REAGAN-SHOTS'''
OFFICIALS SAID SHOTS STRUCK THE BULLETPROOF LIMOUSINE, LODGING IN
THE SIDE AND STRIKING THE WINDSHIELD, LEAVING A POCKMARK BUT NOT
PENETRATING THE GLASS.
THE BULLET ENTERED REAGAN'S BODY UNDER THE LEFT ARM, AND MISSED
THE PRESIDENT'S HEART.
HANK BROWN, AN ABC CAMERMAN, SAID THE GUNMAN "JUST OPENED UP AND
KEPT SQUEEZING THE TRIGGER."
NOFZIGER, ASKED IF REAGAN'S WOUND IS SERIOUS, REPLIED, "OBVIOUSLY
A WOUND IN THE CHEST IS A SERIOUS WOUND."
BUT HE SAID REAGAN HAD NOT LOST CONSCIOUSNESS AND HAD WALKED INTO
THE HOSPITAL TALKING TO HIS COMPANIONS.
ASKED WHY DEPUTY WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY KARNA SMALL
ORIGINALLY SAID THE PRESIDENT HAD NOT BEEN SHOT, NOFZIGER SAID REAGAN
"APPARENTLY DID NOT KNOW HE HAD BEEN SHOT AT THE TIME."
UPI 03-30-81 03:36 PES
UP098
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT''''
CBS IDENTIFIES REAGAN'S ASSAILANT AS JOHN W HIPPLEY OF EVERGREEN,
COLO., AND SAYS THE SECRET SERVICE AGENT INJURED IS TIMOTHY J
MCCARTHY. A .38 CALIBRE PISTON WAS USED, THEY SAY.
UPI 03-30-81 03:38 PES
UP100
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT!!!!
THE SECRET SERVICE IDENTIFIED THE SUSPECTED GUNMAN AS JOHN WARNOCK
HINKLEY JR., 33, OF EVERGREEN, COLO.
UPI 03-30-81 03:41 PES
UP101
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RDD REAGAN-SHOT
CBS IS REPORTING THAT THE SECRET SERVICE AGENT IS KEN MC CARTHY,
31, FROM CHICAGO, AND THAT HE WAS SHOT IN THE CHEST AND IS BEING
OPERATING ON NOW AT GW HOSPITAL.
UPI 03-30-81 03:42 PES
UP102
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT!!!!!
"IT DOESN'T LOOK GOOD," A WHITE HOUSE AIDE SAID WHEN ASKED BRADY'S
CONDITION.
REAGAN RECEIVED AN EARLIER SCARE DURING HIS 1976 CAMPAIGN FOR THE
REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION.
IMMEDIATELY AFTER ANNOUNCING HIS CANDIDACY IN WASHINGTON, REAGAN
FLEW TO FLORIDA. OUTSIDE A HOLLYWOOD HOTEL, A MAN PULLED A TOY GUN.
REAGAN WAS QUICKLY HUSTLED INTO THE HOTEL, AND THE MAN WAS
ARRESTED.
UPI 03-30-81 03:44 PES
UP103
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MARKETS AT A GLANCE
BY UNITED PRESS INTERNATIONAL
STOCKS -- MIXED IN MODERATE TRADING.
BONDS -- MOSTLY LOWER.
AMERICAN STOCKS -- MIXED IN MODERATE TRADING.
LONDON STOCKS -- CLOSED LOWER IN MODERATE TRADING.
COTTON FUTURES -- LOWER.
GOLD FUTURES -- LOWER.
CHICAGO GRAIN FUTURES -- WHEAT CLOSED UP 1/4 TO OFF 2 CENTS; CORN
UP 1 TO 4; OATS UP 2 TO 1 1/21 AND SOYBEANS UP 3 1/2 TO 6 CENTS.
CATTLE TRADE -- 50 CENTS TO $1.00 HIGHER; TOP $61.00.
UPI 03-30-81 03:46 PES
UP104
UN
ADD REAGAN-SHOTS****
OFFICIALS AT THE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER SAID THE WOUNDED
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA OFFICER, WHOSE NAME WAS NOT IMMEDIATELY
RELEASED, WAS IN CRITICAL CONDITION.
A WITNESS SAID THE ASSAILANT WAS WEARING A RAINCOAT, A BLUE SHIRT
AND DARK TROUSERS.
UPI 03-30-81 03:47 PES
UP105
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(SHOTS-ALERT)
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- THE ALERT STATUS OF U.S. ARMED FORCES
WORLDWIDE REMAINED AT NORMAL PEACETIME READINESS THIS REERNOON
DESPITE THE WOUNDING OF PRESIDENT REAGAN, THE PENTAGON SAID.
ONLY THE STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND AND U.S. FORCES IN SOUTH KOREA WERE
AT THEIR ROUTINE HEIGHTENED STATE OF ALERT, WHICH IS INCREASED
SAID. INTELLIGENCE WATCH AND STRENGTHENED SECURITY MERSURES, THE PENTAGON
ALL OTHER FORCES, INCLUDING THOSE IN THE UNITED STATES, WERE ON
DEFENSE CONDITION 5 -- THE LOWEST LEVEL OF ALERT DURING PEACETIME, A
PENTAGON SPOKESMAN SAID.
UPI 03-30-81 03:49 PES
UP107
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT!!!
AT SHORTLY AFTER 3:30 P.M., ASST. PRESS SECRETARY LARRY SPEAKS
EMERGED FROM THE EMERGENCY ROOM ENTRANCE TO THE HOSPITAL IN A STEADY
DOWNPOUR TO TELL REPORTERS THE PRESIDENT'S CONDITION STILL WAS
STABLE, THAT HE WAS CONCIUOS AND SPEAKING.
PRESSED ABOUT WHEHTER REAGAN WOULD UNDERGO SURGERY AND ABOUT THE
EXTENT OF HISD INJURIES, SPEAKES REPLIED, "ALL I CAN SAY IS STABLE.
I JUST CAN'T GO ANY FURTHER THAN THAT."
SPEAKS SAID AS FAR AS HE KNEW, THE BULLET REMAINED LODGED IN
REAGAN'S LEFT SIDE.
UPI 03-30-81 03:53 PES
UP110
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PETE TEELEY, BUSH'S PRESS SECRETARY, SAID BUSH WILL ARRIVE AT
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE "BEFORE 7:00" EST. "I ASSUME HE WILL GO
DIRECTLY TO SEE THE PRESIDENT,' HE SAID.
BUSH'S ARRIVAL AT THE AIR FORCE BASE NEAR WASHINGTON WILL BE
CLOSED TO THE PRESS, SAID TEELEY.
HE SAID BUSH'S PLANE DID LAND IN AUSTIN, TEXAS, WHRE TE VICE
PRESIDENT HAD BEEN SCHEDULED TO MAKE A SPE
CH, BUT BUSH DID NOT MAKE
#88803286CH AND HEADAD IMMEDIATELY FOR WENDUCWTON UPON NEWS OF THE
ASKED IF BUSH WOULD BE STANDING BY IF REAGAN IS OPERATED ON,
TEELEY SAID THAT IS "HYOTHETICAL" AND DECLINED COMMENT.
UPI 03-30-81 04:02 PES
UP113
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT GEORGE BUSH'S OFFICE NOW SAYS HE IS
ARRIVING AT ANDREWS AFB BETWEEN 6 AND 6:30 P.M. THE ARRIVAL IS CLOSED
TO THE PRESS.
UPI 03-30-81 04:17 PES
UP114
RM
(EYEWITNESS)
(BY DEAN REYNOLDS)
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- PRESIDENT REAGAN HAD JUST COMPLETED HIS
SPEECH, ONE OF HIS MANY DEFENSES OF HIS ECONOMIC PROGRAM, WHEN HE
HERDED AS ALWAYS TO HIS WAITING MOTORCADE.
OUTSIDE THE WASHINGTON HILTON HOTEL ON FLORIDA AVENUE, THE
PRESIDENT WAS GREETED BY THE CHEERS OF SEVERAL HUNDREDS BYSTANDERS.
REAGAN WAVED AND SMILED TO THE CROWD AS HE WALKED FROM A SERVICE
ENTRANCE THE 25 STEPS TO HIS PRESIDENTIAL LIMOUSINE. AS THE PRESIDENT
STEPPED OFF THE CURB ONTO THE DRIVEWAY WHERE HIS LIMOUSINE WAS
PARKED, SOMETHING ATTACKED HIS ATTENTION AND HE TURNED, FACING THE
CURB AND THE HOTEL WALL WHERE HIS ASSAILANT WAS STANDING SOMEWHERE
AMONG THE BYSTANDERS.
MORE MORE
UPI 03-30-81 04:20 PES
UP115
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT!!!!!
PRESIDENT REAGAN HAS UNDERGONE EMERGENCY SURGERY AT GEORGE
WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL AND IS REPORTED IN GOOD CONDITION.
UPI 03-30-81 04:20 PES
UP116
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(EYEWITNESS)
1ST ADD UP114
SUDDENLY FOUR OR FIVE LOUD BURSTS ERUPTED, SOUNDING LIKE
FIRECRACKERS, AND THE SMELL OF GUN SMOKE HUNG IN THE AIR. THE CROWD
RECOILED IN HORROR. THERE WERE SCREAMS. HANDGUNS AND AUTOMATIC
WERPONS WERE SUDDENLY VISIBLE IN THE HANDS OF POLICE AND SECRET
SERVICE AGENTS.
I DROPPED INTO A CROUCH BUT KEPT MY EYES ON THE PRESIDENT. HE
APPEARED TO HAVE A FRIGHTENED ALMOST BEWILDERED LOOK, JUST AFTER THE
SHOTS RANG OUT.
SECRET SECRET AGENTS SPUN HIM AROUND AND SHOVED HIM HEAD FIRST
INTO THE LIMOUSINE, ALL THE WHILE THE AGENTS KEPT SHOUTING "GET BACK!
GET BACK!" TO THE CROWD.
THE SHOTS COULD NOT HAVE BEEN FIRED FROM MORE THAN 10 OR 15 FEET
FROM THE PRESIDENT. THEY WERE FIRED IN RAPID SUCCESSION.
THE LIMOUSINE PULLED AWAY SECONDS AFTER THE PRESIDENT WAS PUSHED
INSIDE.
A SCUFFLE TO THE RIGHT OF THE LIMOUSINE THEN CAUGHT MY ATTENTION.
R YOUNG BLOND MAN WAS BEING SUBDUED ON HIS BACK BY SEVERAL AGENTS AND
POLICEMEN. ABOUT ALL I COULD SEE WAS A MOB OF LAWMEN ON THE GROUND
AND THE TOPS OF TWO LEGS, CLAD IN DARK TROUSERS, STICKING OUT FROM
THE PILE.
I SAW NO ONE HIT AND LEARNED ONLY LATER THE PRESIDENT HAD BEEN
WOUNDED ALONG WITH WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JIM BRADY, A POLICEMEN
AND A SECRET SERVICE AGENT.
THE GUNMAN HAD BEEN ON THE SIDEWALK, STANDING CLOSE TO THE HOTEL
WALL. REPORTERS WERE ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LIMOUSINE.
IT WAS LIKE BEING IN A VACUUM, WITH EVERYTHING IN SLOW MOTION. IT
TOOK A SECOND OR TWO BEFORE ANYTHING REGISTERED BUT WHEN I SAW THE
LOOKS OF ENORMOUS STRESS AND THE BARED TEETH OF THE SECRET SERVICE
AGENTS, I KNEW IT WAS MORE THAN FIRE CRACKERS.
I TOOK OFF INTO THE HOTEL TO FIND A TELEPHONE, KNOCKING DOWN MAYBE
EIGHT PERSONS WHO HAD JUST HEARD THE PRESIDENT SPEAK. THERE DIDN'T
SEEM TO BE A PAY PHONE IN THE PLACE, AND I FINALLY FOUND AN OPEN
TELEPHONE IN AN OFFICE.
WHEN 1 GOT OUTSIDE AGAIN, BLOOD WAS MINGLING WITH THE RAIN ON THE
SIDEWALK.
POLICE ROPED OFF THE AREA TO HOLD BACK HUNDREDS OF CURIOUS
PEDESTRIANS.
ACROSS THE STREET, I COULD SEE OFFICE WORKERS WATCHING ON
TELEVISION THE SCENE THAT HAD OCCURRED JUST OUTSIDE THEIR WINDOWS.
UPI 03-30-81 04:27 PES
UP118
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT
POLICE IDENTIFIED THE D.C. POLICE OFFICER WHO WAS HOUNDED AS
THOMAS DELAHANTY, IN CRITICAL CONDITION.
UPI 03-30-81 04:29 PES
UP119
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RDD REAGAN-SHOT
SHORTLY AFTER 4 P.M., THE WHITE HOUSE ESTABLISHED A PRESS CENTER
IN AN AUDITORIUM AT THE NEARBY GEO. WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL
CENTER, AFTER A GROWING CROWD OF SEVERAL HUNDRED REPORTERS,
SPECTATORS AND STUDENTS HAD BEEN STANDING IN A STEADY RAIN OUTSIDE
THE HOSPITAL ENTRANCE.
ONE ERRANT STUDENT WALKED INTO THE MOB SCENE AT THE AUDITORIUM AND
ASKED, "WHAT CLASS IS THIS?"
AS SECURITY GUARDS BEGAN EJECTING PEOPLE FROM THE JAMMED
AUDITORIUM, SHOUTING MATCHES AND AT LEAST ONE SHOVING MATCH ERUPTED
BETWEEN REPORTERS AND TECHNICIANS AND SECURITY PERSONNEL.
UPI 03-30-81 04:31 PES
UP120
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HAIG SAID ONE ROUND WAS SHOT INTO THE LEFT SIDE AND WHEN HE WENT
INTO SURGERY REAGAN WAS CONSCIOUS.
"AS OF NOW, I AM IN CONTROL AT THE WHITE HOUSE," HAIG SAID. DEPUTY
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY LARRY SPEAKES SAID BUSH WAS DUE IN AT
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE AT 8 P.M. TONIGHT. HAIG SAID HE THOUGHT THE
TIME WAS "EARLY EVENING."
HAIG SAID THE ADMINISTRATION HAD INFORMED ITS "FRIENDS" ABROAD OF
REAGAN'S CONDITION. "THERE ARE NO ALERT MEASURES THAT ARE NECESSARY
OR CONTEMPLATED."
"SHOULD THE PRESIDENT DECIDE HE WANTS TO TRANSFER THE HELM TO THE
VICE PRESIDENT, HE WILL DO SO."
HAIG'S VOICE WAS SHAKY THROUGHOUT. HE WAS OBVIOUSLY EMOTIONALLY
UPSET.
UPI 03-30-81 04:33 PES
UP122
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1111
NEW YORK (UPI) -- THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE AND AMERICAN STOCK
EXCHANGE STOPPED TRADING THIS AFTERNOON FOLLOWING REPORTS THAT
PRESIDENT REAGAN HAD BEEN SHOT IN THE CHEST. PRICES WERE IN A
TAILSPIN AT THE TIME.
TRADING DIMINISHED RAPIDLY FOLLOWING THE SHOOTING INCIDENT IN
WHICH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SECRETARY JAMES BRADY AND TWO OTHER MEN ALSO
WERE WOUNDED.
THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE, WHICH HAD RISEN MORE THAN 6
POINTS OVER THE 1,000 LEVEL IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON, WAS OFF 2.88
POINTS TO 991.89 WHEN TRADING WAS HALTED AT 3:22 P.M. EST.
UPI 03-30-81 04:40 PES
UP123
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(STOCKS) ....
NEW YORK (UPI) -- THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE AND AMERICAN STOCK
EXCHANGE STOPPED TRADING THIS AFTERNOON FOLLOWING REPORTS THAT
PRESIDENT REAGAN HAD BEEN SHOT IN THE CHEST. PRICES HERE IN A
TRILSPIN AT THE TIME.
TRADING DIMINISHED RAPIDLY FOLLOWING THE SHOOTING INCIDENT IN
WHICH PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SECRETARY JAMES BRADY AND TWO OTHER MEN ALSO
WERE WOUNDED.
THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE, WHICH HAD RISEN MORE THAN 6
POINTS OVER THE 1,000 LEVEL IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON, WAS OFF 2.88
POINTS TO 991.89 WHEN TRADING WAS HALTED AT 3:22 P.M. EST.
UPI 03-30-81 04:42 PES
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(HINKLEY-DALLAS
DALLAS (UPI) -- THE MAN IN CUSTODY FOR FIRING SHOTS AT PRESIDENT
REAGAN ATTENDED ELEMENTARY AND HIGH SCHOOLS IN AFFLUENT HIGHLAND PARK
BEFORE HIS FAMILY MOVED TO EVERGREEN, COLO.
JOHN WARNOCK HINKLEY JR. ATTENDED JOHN S. ARMSTRONG ELEMENTARY
SCHOOL AND WAS A 1973 GRADUATE OF HIGHLAND PARK HIGH SCHOOL.
HINKLEY LIVED WITH HIS FAMILY ON BEVERLY STREET IN HIGHLAND PARK,
A STREET OF LARGE, FINE HOMES. AT LEAST ONE WOMAN WHO KNEW THE
FAMILY, HOWEVER, SAID THE HINKLEYS WERE NOT WEALTHY.
THE WOMAN, WHO ASKED NOT TO BE IDENTIFIED, SAID HINKLEY'S FATHER
WAS "IN THE OIL BUSINESS" BUT WAS NOT RICH.
HIGHLAND PARK POLICE SAID HINKLEY WAS NOT A KNOWN CHARACTER TO
THEM AND HAD NO KNOWN ARREST RECORD.
UPI 03-30-81 04:49 PES
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(REAGAN-SON)
LINCOLN, NEB. (UPI) -- RONALD PRESCOTT REAGAN, THE PRESIDENT'S
23-YEAR-OLD SON, WAS WHISKED OUT OF LINCOLN'S HILTON HOTEL SHORTLY
AFTER 3 P.M. MONDAY AND BOARDED A CHARTERED FLIGHT HEADED FOR
WASHINGTON NATIONAL AIRPORT.
YOUNG REAGAN WAS TO HAVE DANCED MONDAY NIGHT WITH THE JOFFREY II
DANCERS, WHO ARE PERFORMING THIS WEEK AT THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA
IN LINCOLN.
REAGAN LEFT THE HILTON ACCOMPANIED BY HIS WIFE, THE FORMER DORIA
PALMIERI, AND AN UNDETERMINED NUMBER OF SECRET SERVICE AGENTS. HE WAS
DRIVEN IN A MOTORCADE, LED BY LINCOLN POLICE, TO THE LINCOLN
MUNICIPAL AIRPORT.
REAGAN, DRESSED IN BLUE JEAMS AND A RED T-SHIRT WITH THE LETTERS
USA EMBLAZONED IN WHITE, IGNORED REPORTERS' QUESTIONS ABOUT HIS
FATHER BEING SHOT IN WASHINGTON.
UPI 03-30-81 05:15 PES
UP130
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(BRADY)
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JAMES S. BRADY,
AMIABLE SPOKESMAN FOR PRESIDENT REAGAN, WAS SHOT IN THE FOREHEAD
TODAY IN THE PRESIDENTIAL ASSASINATION ATTEMPT OUTSIDE A DOWNTOWN
WASHINGTON HOTEL.
BRADY'S CONDITION WAS DESCRIBED AT THE HOSPTIAL AS "VERY
CRITICAL. II HIS HERD WAS BLEEDING PROFUSELY AS HE WAS LIFTED TO THE
AMBULANCE AND TAKEN TO GEORGE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL.
MORE MORE
UPI 03-30-81 05:16 PES
UP131
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(BRADY)'''''
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JIM BRADY, SHOT IN
THE HEAD BY A GUNMAN WHO ALSO WOUNDED PRESIDENT REAGAN, A SECRET
SERVICE AGENT, AND A WASHINGTON, D. C., POLICEMAN, IS DEAD, ACCORDING
TO CBS AND ABC REPORTS.
UPI 03-30-81 05:17 PES
UP132
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(BRADY)
1ST ADD UP130
BRADY WAS WHEELED AT 3:05 INTO A CAT-SCANNING ROOM. HIS HEAD HAD
BEEN BANDAGED, AND HE DID NOT APPEAR TO BE MOVING.
THE 40-YEAR-OLD BRADY WAS FLANKING REAGAN AS THEY EMERGED FROM THE
HOTEL, WHERE THE PRESIDENT HAD ADDRESSED A CONVENTION OF THE BUILDING
AND CONSTRUCTION TRADES DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO.
MORE MORE
UPI 03-30-81 05:19 PES
UP133
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(REAGAN-OPERATE
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- PRESIDENT REAGAN UNDERMENT AN OPEN CHEST
SURGERY TECHNIQUE KNOWN AS R THORACOTOMY TODAY AFTER BEING SHOT
OUTSIDE A DOWNTOWN WASHINGTON HOTEL, IT WAS REPORTED.
ROSS SIMPSON OF MUTUAL BROADCASTING QUOTED A SOURCE ON THE STAFF
OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON MEDICAL CENTER AS SAYING REAGAN WAS WHEELED
INTO THE OPERATING ROOM AT ABOUT 4 P.M. EST FOR A THORACOTOMY --
OPEN-CHEST SURGERY THAT COULD TAKE ANYWHERE FROM ONE TO FOUR HOURS.
SIMPSON ALSO REPORTED THAT 30 UNITS OF 0-NEGATIVE BLOOD HAD BEEN
RUSHED TO THE OPERATING ROOM AND QUOTED A MEMBER OF THE STAFF
ATTENDING THE PRESIDENT AS SAYING THE BULLET MISSED REAGAN'S HEART BY
RN INCH.
SIMPSON ALSO SAID HE WAS TOLD THE PRESIDENT WAS ON A RESPIRATOR.
UPI 03-30-81 05:21 PES
UP133
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ADD REAGAN-SHOTS
WASHINGTN (UPI) -- AT ABOUT 4:00 P.M. FBI AGENT THOMAS J. BAKER
TOLD REPORTERS THAT THE FBI HAD TAKEN OVER JURISTICTION IN THE
INVESTIGATION SINCE IT HAD OCCURED IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA AND
SAID THE FBI WAS INTERVIEWING SIX SECRET SERVICE AGENTS WHO WERE AT
THE SCENE.
BAKER SAID A "SMALL CALIBER HANDGUN" WAS RECOVERED AS WELL AS
OTHER EVIDENCE AT THE SCENE. "THE SUSPECT IS IN CUSTODY,' ADDING THAT
ONLY ONE PERSON IS BELIEVED TO BE INVOLVED "FROM THE INFORMATION WE
HAVE DEVELOPED SO FAR."
BAKER SAID THAT THE SUSPECT, WHO HE DID NOT IDENTIFY, WOULD
RECEIVE A HEARING BEFORE A U.S. MAGISTRATE IN WASHINGTON AND THAT
CHARLES RUFF, U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE DISTRICT, WOULD DETERMINE THE
CHARGES.
MORE MORE
UPI 03-30-81 05:25 PES
UP134
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ADD BRADY
ALL THREE NETWORKS REPORTED MONDAY THAT WHITE HOUSE PRESS
SECRETARY JAMES BRADY DIED FROM BULLET WOUNDS SUFFERED IN AN ATTEMPT
ON PRESIDENT REAGAN'S LIFE. BUT WHITE HOUSE AIDE LYN NOFZIGER
"EMPHATICALLY" DENIED THE REPORT.
UPI 03-30-81 05:25 PES
UP135
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BAKER SAID IT WAS LIKELY THAT THE PRINCIPLE CHARGE WOULD BE
"ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES."
"AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, HE'LL BE AFFORDED A HEARING," BAKER SAID.
"HE'S IN CUSTODY," BAKER SAID. "WE'VE RECOVERED THE GUN AND OTHER
EVIDENCE." BAKER SAID THE OTHER EVIDENCE INCLUDED THE CLOTHING OF
SOME OF THE VICTIMS, WHICH HE SAID TOTALED FOUR IN ALL.
BAKER PRAISED WHAT HE SAID WAS "EXCELLENT, OUTSTANDING
COOPERATION" FROM THE D.C. POLICE.
UPI 03-30-81 05:26 PES
UP136
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(REAGAN-CARTER)
ATLANTA (UPI) -- FORMER PRESIDENT CARTER WITHHELD IMMEDIATE
COMMENT TODAY ON THE SHOOTING OF PRESIDENT REAGAN AND THREE OTHERS IN
WASHINGTON BUT AIDES SAID HE WAS "AWAITING FURTHER WORD."
THE FOLLOWING STATEMENT WAS ISSUED BY HIS OFFICE IN ATLANTA:
"PRESIDENT CARTER IS ANXIOUSLY AWAITING FURTHER WORD ON PRESIDENT
REAGAN'S CONDITION AND THAT OF THE OTHERS WOUNDED. HE AND MRS. CARTER
JOIN THE ENTIRE NATION IN PRAYER FOR THE WELL BEING OF ALL THOSE
WOUNDED AND FOR THEIR FAMILIES."
UPI 03-30-81 05:28 PES
UP137
20
(REAGAN-SUCCESSION)
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- IF PRESIDENT REAGAN SHOULD BECOME DISABLED,
VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH COULD TEMPORARILY TAKE OVER THE OFFICE
UNDER A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT THAT GREW OUT OF THE ASSASSINATION
OF PRESIDENT JOHN KENNEDY.
THE TRADITIONAL LINE OF SUCCESSION TO THE PRESIDENCY REMAINS
UNCHANGED. AFTER THE VICE PRESIDENT THE NEXT IN LINE TO TAKE OVER
THE OFFICE WOULD BE HOUSE SPEAKER THOMAS O'NEILL, SENATE PRESIDENT
PRO TEM STROM THURMOND, R-S.C., AND THEN SECRETARY OF STATE ALEXANDER
HRIG AND VARIOUS OTHER CABINET OFFICERS.
O'NEILL REMAINED IN HIS CAPITOL OFFICE WITH ONLY THE USUAL POLICE
SECURITY, WATCHING DEVELOPMENTS ON TELEVISION.
HAIG MISTAKENLY TOLD REPORTERS AT THE WHITE HOUSE THAT HE WAS NEXT
IN LINE BEHIND BUSH.
HOWEVER, THE 25TH AMENDMENT TO THE CONSTITUTION MAKES IT UNLIKELY
THAT THERE WOULD EVER BE A NEED TO GO BEYOND THE VICE PRESIDENT IN
LINE OF SUCCESSION.
UNDER THE FIRST TWO PARAGRAPHS OF THAT FOUR-PARAGRAPH AMENDMENT,
IF THE VICE PRESIDENT SHOULD TAKE OVER THE OFFICE FOLLOWING THE DEATH
CR RESIGNATION OF A PRESIDENT, HE WOULD APPOINT A NEW VICE PRESIDENT
WHO WOULD ASSUME OFFICE FOLLOWING CONFIRMATION BY A MAJORITY VOTE OF
BOTH THE HOUSE AND SENATE.
THIS SECTION OF THE AMENDMEND HAS BEEN USED THICE -- ONCE
BEGINNING ON OCT. 13, 1973, WHEN GERALD FORD REPLACED SPIRO AGNEW,
WHO RESIGNED AS VICE PRESIDENT -- THE OTHER BEGINNING ON AUG. 9,
1974, WHEN NIXON RESIGNED AND FORD NOMINATED NELSON ROCKEFELLER TO BE
VICE PRESIDENT.
HOWEVER, THE MAIN REASON FOR THE AMENDMENT WAS THE QUESTION OF
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF A PRESIDENT WAS UNABLE MENTALLY OR PHYSICALLY TO
CONTINUE IN OFFICE BUT WAS NOT DEAD OR COULD NOT OR WOULD NOT RESIGN.
"THE SPECULATION WAS WHAT WOULD WE HAVE DONE IF HE (KENNEDY) HAD
LIVED BUT HAD BECOME A VEGETABLE," SAID A STAFF MEMBER OF THE HOUSE
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE WHO ASSISTED IN THE DRAFTING OF THE AMENDMENT.
UNDER THAT SECTION OF THE AMENDMENT, PARAGRAPHS THREE AND FOUR,
THIS WOULD BE THE PROCEDURE:
-THE PRESIDENT HIMSELF COULD DECLARE TO CONGRESS THAT HE WAS
UNABLE TO DISCHARGE HIS DUTIES AND THE VICE PRESIDENT WOULD ASSUME
OFFICE.
IF THE PRESIDENT COULD NOT OR WOULD NOT DECLARE HIMSELF UNABLE
TO CONTINUE IN OFFICE, THE VICE PRESIDENT COULD TAKE OVER IF HE AND A
MAJORITY OF THE "PRINCIPAL OFFICERS OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS"
DECLARED THAT THE PRESIDENT WAS UNABLE TO CONTINUE IN OFFICE.
THE PRESIDENT COULD CHALLENGE THE VICE PRESIDENT AND THE CABINET
BY TELLING CONGRESS HE COULD INDEED CONTINUE TO ASSUME HIS DUTIES. IN
THAT CASE, HE WOULD CONTINUE IN OFFICE.
-- IF THE VICE PRESIDENT AND THE CABINET INSISTED TO CONGRESS
WITHIN FOUR DAYS THAT THE PRESIDENT COULD NOT SERVE, NOTWITHSTANDING
HIS ASSERTIONS TO THE CONTRARY, THEN CONGRESS WOULD HAVE TO ASSEMBLE
WITHIN 48 HOURS TO DECIDE THE ISSUE. A DECISION WOULD HAVE TO BE
HANDED DOWN WITHIN 21 DAYS. A TWO-THIRDS VOTE HOULD BE REQUIRED TO
REMOVE THE PRESIDENT FROM OFFICE.
UPI 03-30-81 05:38 PES
UP138
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ADD REAGAN-SHOT
AS REAGAN WAS BEING WHEELED INTO THE OPERATING ROOM, HE TOLD NANCY
REAGAN, ""HONEY, I FORGOT TO DUCK." HE ALSO TOLD SEN. PAUL LAXALT,
R-NEV., "DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME. I'LL MAKE IT," ACCORDING TO LYN
NOFSIGER.
UPI 03-30-81 05:39 PES
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A SPOKESMAN FOR THE HOSPITAL ALSO DENIED BRADY HAD DIED.
UPI 03-30-81 05:41 PES
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METROPOLITAN POLICE SPOKESMAN JOSEPH GENTILE TOLD REPORTERS IN
LATE AFTERNOON THAT HINKLEY WAS IN THE CUSTODY OF THE FBI, CHARGED
WITH THE ATTEMPED ASSASSINATION OF THE PRESIDENT, AND WITH ASSAULT
WITH INTENT TO KILL A POLICE OFFICER.
OTHER CHARGES ARE PENDING, HE SAID.
"WE DID RECOVER A HANDGUN," GENTILE SAID, BUT HE WOULD NOT
ELABORATE.
THE SUSPECT WAS MOVED OUT OF THE WASHINGTON POLICE HEADQUARTERS IN
THE CUSTODY OF THE FBI, AND GENTILE WOULD NOT SAY WHERE HE WAS BEING
TAKEN.
GENTILE SAID HINKLEY WAS 25, AND GAVE HIS ADDRESS AT 31340
BROOKLINE, EVERGREEN, COLO.
UPI 03-30-81 05:44 PES
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NEW YORK (UPI) -- THE NATION'S STOCK EXCHANGES CLOSED EARLY TODAY
WITH PRICES DROPPING IN HEAVY TRADING FOLLOWING NEWS THAT PRESIDENT
REAGAN HAD BEEN SHOT IN THE LEFT SIDE BY A GUNMAN AFTER A SPEECH IN
WASHINGTON.
TRADING ON THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE WAS HALTED AT 3:17 P.M.
EST. OTHER EXCHANGES AND THE NASDAQ OVER-THE-COUNTER MARKET QUICKLY
FOLLOWED SUIT.
REAGAN UNDERMENT SURGERY A SHORT TIME AFTER THE MARKETS CLOSED AND
BROKERS SAID THEY DID NOT KNOW HOW THE MARKET WOULD REACT UNTIL IT
COULD BE DETERMINED HOW SERIOUSLY REAGAN WAS HURT. THERE WAS NO
INDICATION WHETHER EXCHANGES WOULD OPEN AT THE USUAL TIME TUESDAY.
MORE MORE
UPI 03-30-81 05:58 PES
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THREE HOURS AFTER BEING SHOT IN THE HEAD DURING A PRESIDENTIAL
RSSASSINATION ATTEMPT TODAY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JIM BRADY
CLUNG TO LIFE BUT HIS OUTLOOK WAS REPORTED TO BE "NOT GOOD."
BRADY WAS STANDING BESIDE PRESIDENT REAGAN WHEN WOULD-BE ASSASSIN
JOHN HINKLEY OPENED FIRE AND WOUNDED THE PRESIDENT, THE PRESS
SECRETARY, A SECRET SERVICE AGENT AND A WASHINGTON POLICEMAN. BRADY
WAS SHOT IN THE FOREHEAD AND BLED PROFUSELY AS HE WAS BEING LIFTED
INTO AN AMBULANCE FOR A TRIP TO THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
MEDICAL CENTER.
MUTUAL BROADCASTING REPORTER ROSS SIMPSON SAID HE HAD BEEN ON THE
THIRD FLOOR AND HAD TALKED TO A FRIEND OF THE SENIOR MEDICAL OFFICER
IN CHARGE, WHO SAID THE BULLET "ENTERED BRADY'S BRAIN ABOVE THE EYE
AND DID EXTENSIVE DAMAGE TO THE BRAIN. THE PROGNOSIS (OUTLOOK FOR
RECOVERY) IS NOT GOOD."
HE SAID THE SOURCE TOLD HIM "FEW PEOPLE SURVIVE SUCH A WOUND.'
MEDICAL OFFICIALS WERE GIVING MRS. BRADY A REPORT, AND SIMPSON
SAID, "SHE BEGAN CRYING VERY LIGHTLY."
THE HOSPITAL WAS STILL DESCRIBING HIS CONDITION AS "VERY
CRITICAL."
EARLIER, THE THREE TELEVISION NETWORKS QUOTED WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL
DAVID PROSPERI AS SAYING BRADY WAS DEAD. SHORTLY THEREAFTER,
SPOKESMAN LARRY SPEAKES TOLD REPORTERS THAT REPORT WAS WRONG.
"IT IS NOT TRUE," HE SAID. "HE IS IN SERIOUS CONDITION."
UPI 03-30-81 06:04 PES
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THE MARKETS CLOSED EARLY ON NOV. 22, 1963, A FRIDAY, WHEN
PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS SHOT AND KILLED IN DALLAS. BUT BEFORE
IT CLOSED THAT DAY, THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE HAD LOST 21.16
POINTS.
THE 1963 MARKET REMAINED CLOSED THE FOLLOWING MONDAY, A NATIONAL
DAY OF MOURNING, AND REOPENED THE NEXT DAY -- NOV. 16 -- WITH A BIG
RALLY THAT SAW THE DOW INDUSTRIALS SOAR 32.03 POINTS IN SUPPORT OF
NEW PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
THE DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE, WHICH HAD RISEN MORE THAN 6
POINTS OVER THE 1,000 LEVEL IN EARLY AFTERNOON, WAS OFF 2.62 POINTS
TO 992.16 WHEN TRADING WAS HALTED.
THE CLOSELY WATCHED DOW, WHICH MANAGED TO GAIN 1.98 POINTS OVERALL
LAST WEEK, HAD SKIDDED 20.44 POINTS IN THE LAST TWO SESSIONS OF LAST
WEEK, INCLUDING 10.98 FRIDAY, AFTER REACHING AN EIGHT-YEAR HIGH.
THE NEW YORK STOCK EXCHANGE INDEX LOST 0.23 TO 77.36 AND THE PRICE
OF AN AVERAGE SHARE DECREASED 10 CENTS. DECLINES TOPPED ADVANCES
817-683 AMONG THE 1,890 ISSUES TRADED.
BIG BOARD VOLUME TOTALED 33,500,000 SHARES, COMPARED WITH
46,930,000 TRADED FRIDAY.
COMPOSITE VOLUME OF NYSE ISSUES LISTED ON ALL U.S. EXCHANGES AND
OVER THE COUNTER TOTALED 37,554,100 SHARES, COMPARED WITH 53,093,100
FRIDAY.
PRIOR TO THE REAGAN SHOOTING, THE MARKET APPEARED TO BE STAGING A
RALLY AND ANALYSTS WERE WATCHING TO SEE IF IT COULD MOUNT ENOUGH
STRENGTH TO KEEP THE DOW ABOVE THE 1,000 MARK.
THE CLOSELY WATCHED INDICATOR SOARED TO ITS HIGHEST LEVEL IN EIGHT
YEARS LAST WEEK, BUT FAILED TO HOLD ABOVE THE FOUR-DIGIT MARK BECAUSE
MANY INVESTORS CASHED IN ON PROFITS.
THE MARKET HAS BEEN HURT THE PAST SEVERAL SESSIONS BY A RISE IN
SOME INTEREST RATES AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS OF DECLINES BECAUSE THE
FEDERAL RESERVE APPARENTLY TIGHTENED CREDIT A BIT AFTER THE NATION'S
MONEY SUPPLY ROSE.
A NUMBER OF BANKS LIFTED THE RATE THEY CHARGE BROKERS FOR LOANS
AND SECURITY PACIFIC BANK OF LOS ANGELES BOOSTED ITS PRIME LENDING
RATE TO 17 1/2 PERCENT FROM 17 PERCENT.
SEVERAL ANALYSTS HAVE WRITTEN THAT THEY THOUGHT THE FED HAD ACTED
TOO QUICKLY IN EASING CREDIT THE PAST COUPLE OF MONTHS AND KNOCKING
DOWN INTEREST RATES. THEY CHARGED THESE ACTIONS WERE INFLATIONARY.
HOWEVER, MANY OBSERVERS STILL BELIEVE RATES WILL DECLINE BECAUSE
THE ECONOMY APPEARS TO BE SLOWING.
MEANWHILE, INVESTORS WERE ENCOURAGED BY NEWS THAT SOLIDARITY UNION
WORKERS IN POLAND HAD SUSPENDED INDEFINITELY A NATIONWIDE STRIKE
THREATENED FOR TUESDAY. SOVIET BLOC NATIONS ARE CONDUCTING MILITARY
MANUEVERS IN THE COUNTRY.
THE AMERICAN STOCK EXCHANGE INDEX DROPPED 1.22 TO 356.65 AND THE
PRICE OF A SHARE SHED 7 CENTS.
UPI 03-30-81 06:12 PES
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BC-CORRESPONDENTS 3-30
ABC REPORTS THAT THE ACADEMY AWARDS HAVE BEEN POSTPONED FOR AT
LEAST 24 HOURS.
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(REAGAN-HINCKLEY)'"
EVERGREEN, COLO. (UPI) -- JOHN M. "JACK" HINCKLEY JR., 22, THE
SUSPECT IN THE ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT REAGAN, WAS
DESCRIBED BY ACQUAINTANCES TODAY AS QUIET, FRIENDLY AND
SPORTS-MINDED, BUT WITHOUT ANY PARTICULAR POLITICAL LEANINGS.
SECRET SERVICE AGENTS AND LOCAL LAW OFFICERS QUICKLY SEALED OFF
THE HOME OF HINCKLEY'S PARENTS IN EVERGREEN, A WELL-TO-DO COMMUNITY
IN THE PINE-COVERED FOOTHILLS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS ABOUT 25 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF DENVER.
HINCKLEY'S FATHER, JOHN HINCKLEY SR., WHO IS PRESIDENT OF
VANDERBILT ENERGY CO. OF DENVER, CLOSED HIS OFFICE SHORTLY AFTER HE
LEARNED HIS SON HAD BEEN ARRESTED IN WASHINGTON. HE WENT TO HIS
SPLIT-LEVEL HOME, BUILT OF ROCK AND WOOD, WHERE HE AND HIS WIFE WERE
INTERVIEWED BY SECRET SERVICE AGENTS.
THE FAMILY LIVES AT 31340 BROOKLINE IN THE HIWAN COUNTRY CLUB AREA
OF EVERGREEN, A TREE-LINED COMMUNITY ALONG THE COUNTRY CLUB GOLF
COURSE. MOST HOMES IN THE AREA, WHICH IS SEPARATED FROM THE DENVER
AREA BY RED ROCK FOOTHILLS, ARE VALUED AT MORE THAN $200,000.
LITTLE WAS KNOWN INITIALLY ABOUT HINCKLEY, EXCEPT THAT HE AND HIS
FAMILY APPARENTLY MOVED TO EVERGREEN IN 1974 AND HE APPARENTLY
GRADUATED FROM EVERGREEN HIGH SCHOOL IN 1977.
THE OFFICE OF GOV. RICHARD D. LAMM SAID HINCKLEY HAD NO COLORADO
DRIVER'S LICENSE, NO POLICE RECORD IN COLORADO AND NO RECORD OF
COMMITMENT TO A MENTAL INSTITUTION IN THE STATE.
NEIGHBORS OF THE HINCKLEYS SAID THEY KNEW LITTLE ABOUT THE FAMILY,
BUT ACQUAINTANCES FROM EVERGREEN HIGH SCHOOL SAID HINCKLEY WAS QUIET
AND FRIENDLY.
NADINE BURKEY, 19, SAID SHE WAS A SOPHOMORE IN HIGH SCHOOL WHEN
HINCKLEY WAS A SENIOR.
"HE WAS NICE LOOKING," SHE SAID. "HE HAD A REAL GOOD PERSONALITY
-- HE WAS REAL FRIENDLY AND POPULAR. I THINK HE PLAYED FOOTBALL
BECAUSE HE WAS KIND OF INVOLVED IN SPORTS."
SHE ADDED: "HE WAS REALLY KIND OF QUIET, AND CERTAINLY WASN'T A
TROUBLEMAKER. I DON'T THINK HE HAD ANY POLITICAL LEANINGS."
UPI 03-30-81 06:20 PES
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AN FBI SPOKESMAN SAID HINKLEY WAS BEING INTERVIEWED AND HIS
ARRAIGNMENT MIGHT BE DELAYED UNTIL TUESDAY.
"ALL THE INFORMATION WE HAVE NOW POINTS TO THE FACT THAT HE WAS
THE ONLY ONE," THE FBI SPOKESMAN SAID.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID FIVE OR SIX SHOTS WERE FIRED IN THE INCIDENT.
UPI 03-30-81 06:31 PES
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BC-PRESIDENT 3-30
THE PRESIDENT'S ANNOUNCED APPOINTMENTS FOR TUESDAY:
NONE. HE'S AT GWU HOSPITAL.
UPI 03-30-81 06:39 PES
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WASHINGTON (UPI) -- A FLORIDA CONGRESSMAN LEARNED THAT PRESIDENT
REAGAN HAD BEEN SHOT TODAY EVEN BEFORE THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS OFFICE
FOUND OUT THAT HE WAS WOUNDED.
REP. C.W. "BILL" YOUNG, R-FLA., SAID A "FRIEND", WHO HE WOULD NOT
NAME, CALLED HIM FROM GEORGE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL THIS AFTERNOON TO
TELL HIM THAT "PRESIDENT REAGAN HAD COME IN (TO THE HOSPITAL) WITH
SOME TYPE OF MEDICAL PROBLEM IN THE AREA OF THE LEFT CHEST."
INITIAL WHITE HOUSE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND PRESS REPORTS INDICATED THE
PRESIDENT WAS NOT HURT, ALTHOUGH THREE OTHER PEOPLE -- INCLUDING
WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JIM BRADY -- WERE SHOT OUTSIDE THE
WASHINGTON HILTON HOTEL.
YOUNG SAID HIS SOURCE WAS NOT SURE WHETHER THE PROBLEM INVOLVED A
HEART ATTACK OR AN "INJURY" TO THE LEFT CHEST.
"I PLACED A CALL TO THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS OFFICE," HE SAID, TO
CONFIRM THE REPORT. YOUNG WAS TOLD ABOUT THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT,
BUT AT THAT POINT THE WHITE HOUSE WAS NOT REPORTING THAT THE
PRESIDENT WAS SHOT.
"THEY CONFIRMED AN INCIDENT HAD HAPPENED AND THAT THE DETAILS WERE
SKETCHY," YOUNG SAID. "THEY DID NOT SEEM AWARE" THAT THE PRESIDENT
WAS WOUNDED, HE ADDED.
THE FLORIDA CONGRESSMAN SAID WHILE WAS STILL ON THE PHONE WITH THE
WHITE HOUSE, "NEW BULLETINS WERE COMING OVER THE RADIO AND
TELEVISION" ANNOUNCING THAT REAGAN HAD BEEN SHOT.
UPI 03-30-81 06:44 PES
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WASHINGTON (UPI) -- SECRET SERVICE DIRECTOR H. STUART KNIGHT SAID
ONLY LAST WEEK THAT SINCE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY WAS ASSINATED IN
1963 IMPROVEMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE IN PRESIDENTIAL PROTECTION MAKING
SUCH AN OCCURANCE LESS LIKELY.
IN AN INTERVIEW WITH UPI REPORTER CLAY F. RICHARDS, KNIGHT SAID
ALL RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE WARREN COMMISSION PROBE OF KENNEDY'S
ASSASSINATION WERE CARRIED OUT.
KNIGHT DECLINED IN THE INTERVIEW TO GO INTO DETAIL ABOUT ALL THE
CHANGES MADE. BUT HE SAID IMPROVED SECRET SERVICE PROCEDURES MADE IT
MUCH LESS LIKELY A SNIPER COULD GET CLEAR SHOT AT A PRESIDENT AS
KENNEDY'S ASSASSIN DID IN DALLAS.
KNIGHT ALSO SAID THE AGENCY NOW WAS MORE LIKELY TO KNOW ABOUT A
LEE HARVEY OSWALD IN ADVANCE OF A PRESIDENTIAL VISIT.
THE SECRET SERVICE SAYS A PRESIDENT IS HARDEST TO PROTECT WHEN HE
IS MAKING A WELL PUBLICIZED VISIT TO A LARGE ARENA WHERE HE IS
EXPOSED TO THE PUBLIC.
"THERE WAS A LOT OF TALK THAT PRESIDENT JOHNSON'S HABIT OF
STOPPING AND JUMPING INTO CAMPAIGN CROWDS CAUSED US A LOT OF
CONCERN, KNIGHT SAID IN THE INTERVIEW. "BUT ACTUALLY THEY CRUSED US
LESS CONCERN BECAUSE THEY WEREN'T ANNOUNCED."
BOTH BY DIRECT LETTERS AND THREATS, AND FROM INFORMATION RECEIVED
FROM OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES, THE SECRET
SERVICE RECEIVES ABOUT 5,000 COMMUNICATIONS EACH MONTH THAT COULD BE
INTERPRETED AS DANGEROUS TO AN INCUMBENT PRESIDENT.
FROM THESE, IT KEEPS A GENERAL LIST OF ABOUT 20,000 PERSONS --
WHOSE THREAT MAY HAVE BEEN SOMETHING AS CASUAL AS AN OVERHEARD
BARROOM OATH AGAINST THE PRESIDENT. THOSE NAMES ARE KEPT FOR FIVE
YEARS AND IF NOTHING DEVELOPS, THE NAMES ARE EXPUNGED.
MORE MORE
UPI 03-30-81 06:50 PES
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WASHINGTON (UPI) -- VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH ARRIVED AT ANDREWS
AIR FORCE BASE AT 6:30 P.M. EST WITH JIM WRIGHT, D-TEXAS, THE HOUSE
DEMOCRATIC LEADER WHO SPENT THE DAY WITH HIM IN TEXAS BEFORE THEIR
TRIP WAS CUT SHORT BY THE TRAGEDY.
THE PLANE WAS GUIDED INTO A HANGAR, WHERE THOSE ABOARD WERE
USHERED OFF AND WITHIN SIX MINUTES BUSH WAS HUSTLED ABOARD A
HELICOPTER AND WHISKED TO THE WHITE HOUSE.
"THIS IF THE FIRST TIME I'VE EVER SEEN HIM TAXI INTO A HANGAR,' #
SAID ONE ONLOOKER, AIR FORCE SGT. KEVIN CONNALLY, NOTING THE EXTREME
SECURITY PRECAUTIONS. "NORMALLY YOU CAN'T EVEN RUN AN ENGINE IN
HERE.
#
UPI 03-30-81 06:51 PES
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INDIVIDUALS ARE PUT ON THIS LIST BECAUSE "AT ONE TIME OR ANOTHER
THEY HAVE EXHIBITED AN INTEREST IN PEOPLE WE PROTECT THAT MIGHT BE
REGARDED AS A THREAT," KNIGHT SAID.
THERE IS A MORE SERIOUS LIST OF 400 NAMES -- PEOPLE THE SECRET
SERVICE BELIEVESRRE A VERY SERIOUS THREAT TO THE PRESIDENT. THE
SECRET SERVICE OR OTHER LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES KEEP TRACK OF THEM
WHEN THE PRESIDENT TRAVELS, SOMETIMES EVEN DETAINING THEM.
THOSE ON THE LIST OF 400 GET THERE BY A NUMBER OF FACTORS IN
ADDITION TO THREATENING THE PRESIDENT, INCLUDING ACCESS TO WEAPONS
AND A HISTORY OF MENTAL ILLNESS, KNIGHT SAID.
"THE BEST WEAPON I HAVE IS TO KNOW WHAT SOMEONE IS GOING TO DO
BEFOREHAND," SAID KNIGHT, ADDING: "ALTHOUGH THAT INVOLVES A NASTY
WORD IN THIS TOWN -- INTELLIGENCE."
PROPHETICALLY, KNIGHT SAID IN THE INTERVIEW THERE IS NO WAY THE
SECRET SERVICE CAN GUARANTEE THE PRESIDENT'S SAFETY. BUT HE EXPRESSED
CONFIDENCE HE HAD THE MONEY AND THE TOOLS TO DO THE JOB.
WITH A BUDGET OF $175 MILLION H YEAR, THE SECRET SERVICE HAS ABOUT
3,600 EMPLOYES INCLUDING 1,550 SPECIAL AGENTS ASSIGNED TO PROTECTION.
AN ADDITIONAL 800 UNIFORMED OFFICERS ARE AT THE WHITE HOUSE AND AT
EMBASSIES AROUND WASHINGTON.
IN ADDITION TO PROTECTING PRESIDENTS, THEIR FAMILES AND FAMILIES
OF FORMER PRESIDENTS, THE SERVICE STILL HAS ITS ORIGINAL FUNCTION OF
SEARCHING OUT COUNTERFEITERS.
"NO BUREAUCRAT HAS AS BIG A BUDGET AS HE NEEDS," KNIGHT SAID IN
THE INTERVIEW. "I FEEL FAIRLY CONFIDENT WE HAVE WHAT WE NEED,
CONSIDERING THE BUDGET LIMITATIONS AND THE RIGHTS WE ALL ENJOY AS
CITIZENS THAT WE DON'T WANT TO GIVE UP."
UPI 03-30-81 06:57 PES
= TO
(REAGAN-STREET)
KEY CAIL COLLINS)
NEW YORK (UPI) -- THE EARLY-EVENING PAPERS, WITH HEADLINES ABOUT A
SUBWAY HOMICIDE AND THE FATAL SHOOTING OF AN EAST SIDE DOORMAN, HAD
JUST MADE WAY FOR THE "REAGAN SHOT" EDITIONS RS COMMUTERS HEADED
TOWARD GRAND CENTRAL TERMINAL AND HOME TONIGHT.
THE SHOOTING WAS CERTAINLY DISTURBING, THE HOMEWARD-BOUND WORKERS
AGREED. BUT FEW PEOPLE IN NEW YORK EXPRESSED MUCH SHOCK AT THE NEWS
THAT SOMEONE, EVEN THE PRESIDENT HAD BEEN SHOT.
"JUST ANOTHER DAILY OCCURRENCE," SAID JERRY DATTOLICO, 29, AS HE
SAT ON R PILE OF SUITCASES.
"WE'RE LIVING IN A SOCIETY THAT'S SO LAWLESS, IT'S JUST NO
SURPRISE," SAID A 64-YEAR-OLD BUSINESSMAN. "WE HAVE A WHOLE
GENERATION NOW THAT DOESN'T KNOW WHAT IT IS TO HAVE A PERCEABLE
COUNTRY. VIOLENCE IS EXPECTED.
"I REMEMBER WHEN IT WASN'T," HE SIGHED, AS BOARDING BEGAN FOR THE
EXPRESS TRAIN TO BREWSTER.
KAREN BROOKS WAS SHOWING A NEW LINE OF CLOTHING AT THE DESIGNERS
COLLECTIVE WHEN SOMEONE CAME IN TO ANNOUNCE THAT REAGAN HAD BEEN
SHOT. "SHE SAID IT VERY CASUALLY," MRS. BROOKS SAID, AS SHE AND HER
HUSBAND WAITED FOR A TRAIN TO SCARSDALE. "IT'S BECOME VERY CASUAL.'
TO MRS. BROOKS, HOWEVER, "SOMEHOW THE FASHIONS DIDN'T SEEM ALL
THAT IMPORTANT" AFTER THE NEWS.
HER HUSBAND STEPHEN, AN INSURANCE BROKER, WAS AT WORK WHEN HE
HEARD THE NEWS. "INITIALLY, IT DIDN'T FAZE ME AT ALL," HE SAID. "I
JUST WENT ON MY WAY -- I WAS WORKING ON THIS BIG CASE."
A POLICE OFFICER STOOD EATING PEANUTS NEAR THE MAIN LOBBY,
WRIGGLING UNCOMFORTABLY UNDER HIS BULLETPROOF VEST.
THE OFFICER, WHO DECLINED TO GIVE HIS NAME, LEARNED OF THE
SHOOTING AFTER HE LEFT COURT, WHERE THE TRIAL OF A MAN ACCUSED OF
BREAKING HIS PARTNER'S HAND HAD JUST BEEN POSTPONED FOR THE THIRD
TIME.
"HE'LL BE BACK ON THE STREET BEFORE MY PARTNER WILL," THE OFFICER
PREDICTED. "I'VE GOT TWO OF THESE VESTS NOW, AND TOMORROW I'M GETTING
ONE FOR MY HEAD."
WILLIAM RAFTER, 30, WAS LAID OFF AT WORK LAST WEEK, AND HEARD THE
NEWS AS HE LEFT A JOB INTERVIEW.
"THERE'S A THEORY THAT EVERY 20 YEARS A PRESIDENT DIES IN OFFICE,"
HE SAID. "I THOUGHT IF CARTER GOT BACK IN SOMETHING WOULD DEFINITELY
HAPPEN. BUT REAGAN WAS SO POPULAR -- IT'S JUST WEIRD."
JOHN DOYLE, A 21-YEAR-OLD COLLEGE STUDENT FROM QUEENS, CANCELED
HIS MID-AFTERNOON TRAIN RESERVATION TO STAY IN FRONT OF THE
TELEVISION, SWITCHING CHANNELS TO CATCH THE LATEST NEWS.
"I WAS APPALLED, THIS REALLY BOTHERS ME," HE SAID. "AS USUAL, A
LOT OF INNOCENT PEOPLE GOT HURT."
BACK AT THE MAIN LOBBY, THE POLICE OFFICER SHIFTED UNDER THE
WEIGHT OF HIS VEST AND WONDERED ABOUT THE MAN BEING HELD FOR REAGAN'S
SHOOTING.
"WE GOT SOME SICK PEOPLE HERE," # HE SAID. "A YOUNG GUY LIKE THAT
OUGHT TO BE OUT ENTERTAINING HIMSELF WITH SOME WOMEN. AND HE'S GOT TO
30 AROUND SHOOTING SOMEBODY -- MESSING THIS COUNTRY UP."
UPI 03-30-81 07:07 PES
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WASHINGTON (UPI) -- PRESIDENT REAGAN IS OUT OF SURGERY AND
HOSPITAL OFFICIALS SAID AT NO TIME WAS HE IN SERIOUS DANGER.
UPI 03-30-81 07:40 PES
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(REAGAN-THOMAS)
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (UPI) -- HELEN THOMAS, UPI WHITE HOUSE
CORRESPONDENT, CANCELED A SPEECH TO THREE RHODE ISLAND MEDIA GROUPS
TODAY AND QUICKLY FLEW BACK TO WASHINGTON AFTER PRESIDENT REAGAN'S
SHOOTING.
MISS THOMAS ARRIVED IN IN PROVIDENCE JUST AS REAGAN'S SHOOTING WAS
ANNOUNCED.
SHE PLANNED TO SPEAK ABOUT THE REAGAN PRESIDENCY AT THE FORUM
SPONSORED BY THE RHODE ISLAND PRESS CLUB, THE RHODE ISLAND PRESS
WOMEN AND THE RHODE ISLAND NEWS PHOTOGRAPHERS. THE EVENT WAS
POSTPONED.
MISS THOMAS' PREPARED SPEECH, SCHEDULED FOR DELIVERY AT BRYANT
COLLEGE, BEGAN: "I'M PLEASED TO BE HERE TONIGHT, BUT I ALWAYS LEAVE
WASHINGTON WITH SOME TREPIDATION."
AFTER CHECKING IN FOR HER RETURN FLIGHT AT T.F. GREEN STATE
AIRPORT, MISS THOMAS SPENT 20 MINUTES ON THE PHONE WITH HER
WASHINGTON OFFICE.
SHE DICTATED LENGTHY MATERIAL ON THE PERSONALITY AND LIFESTYLE OF
PRESS SECRETARY JAMES BRADY AND THE HIGH ESTEEM IN WHICH THE WHITE
HOUSE PRESS CORPS HELD HIM.
UPI 03-30-81 07:28 PES
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DOCTORS REMOVED A BULLET FROM REAGAN'S LEFT LUNG AND SAID THE
OUTLOOK WAS "EXCELLENT."
"HE AT NO TIME WAS IN ANY SERIOUS DANGER," SAID DR. DENNIS
O'LEARY, HEAD OF CLINICAL SURGERY AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
AFTER A TEAM OF DOCTORS OPERATED ON THE PRESIDENT FOR TWO HOURS. HE
DESCRIBED REMOVING THE BULLET AS A "RELATIVELY SIMPLE PROCEDURE."
LEARY SAID A SINGLE BULLET ENTERED REAGAN'S LEFT CHEST, HIT A
RIB AND "RICOCHETED" INTO HIS LEFT LUNG, WHICH COLLAPSED.
THE DOCTOR SAID THE BULLET CAME WITHIN "SEVERAL INCHES" OF
REAGAN'S HEART BUT WAS NOT REALLY NEAR ANY VITAL ORGAN.
"HE IS IN STABLE CONDITION AND AWAKE," FOLLOWING THE. SURGERY,
O'LEARY SAID. "HE WAS AT NO TIME IN ANY SERIOUS DANGER."
HOSPITAL. BUT HE SAID HE DID NOT KNOW HOW LONG REAGAN WOULD BE IN THE
BRADY, O'LEARY SAID, WAS IN "VERY CRITICAL CONDITION" FROM A HEAD
WOUND THAT CAUSED "SUBSTANTIAL" BRAIN DAMAGE.
UPI 03-30-81 07:54 PES
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WASHINGTON (DELAHANTY) (UPI) -- WASHINGTON POLICE TONIGHT SAID THAT OOFFICER
THOMAS K. DELAHANTY, SHOT WHILE GUARDING PRESIDENT REAGAN, IS A
17-YEAR VETERAN OF THE FORCE AND A K-9 OFFICER ATTACHED TO
DEPARTMENT'S THIRD DISTRICT IN NORTHWEST WASHINGTON.
"HE IS NOW AT THE WASHINGTON HOSPITAL CENTER AND LISTED IN SERIOUS
CONDITION," SAID DEPARTMENT SPOKESMAN JOSEPH GENTILE. "WE DO NOT KNOW
THE EXACT EXTENT OF THE INJURY," HE SAID.
UPI 03-30-81 07:56 PES
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HE SAID THE BULLET PENETRATED THREE OR FOUR INCHES INTO THE CHEST
AND WOULD NOT HAVE ENTERED THE LUNG IF IT HAD NOT HIT THE RIB FIRST
"I THINK HE KNEW HE HAD BEEN SHOT," O'LEARY SAID. "I GATHER HE
FELT A LITTLE LIGHT HEADED, BUT I GATHER HE WAS CRACKING JOKES AND
WAS IN GOOD SPIRITS AT THE TIME."
O'LEARY SAID THE BULLET WHICH ENTERED BRADY'S HEAD OVER THE RIGHT
EYE PASSED THROUGH HIS BRAIN, AND ADDED THAT IF THE PRESS SECRETARY
SURVIVES HIS WOUNDS IT IS LIKELY HE WILL SUFFER BRAIN DAMAGE.
UPI 03-30-81 07:58 PES
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AM-REAGAN-HANDGUNS 3-30
BY ED ROGERS
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- A SPOKESMAN FOR A PRO-GUN GROUP SAID MONDAY
THE SHOOTING OF PRESIDENT REAGAN IS A "VERY SAD" INDICATION THAT GUN
CONTROLS DO NOT WORK. BUT OTHERS CALLED FOR TOUGHER HANDGUN LAWS.
"WE DEPLORE THIS ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT," SAID JOHN M. SNYDER,
CHIEF LOBBYIST FOR THE CITIZENS COMMITTEE FOR THE RIGHT TO KEEP AND
BEAR ARMS.
"I HASTEN TO POINT OUT THAT IT OCCURRED IN THE JURISDICTION
(WASHINGTON) WHICH HAS THE MOST RESTRICTIVE HANDGUN CONTROL LAWS IN
THE UNITED STATES," HE SAID IN A STATEMENT.
ON CAPITOL HILL, REP. PETER RODINO, D-N.J., CHAIRMAN OF THE HOUSE
JUDICIARY COMMITTEE, SAID MONDAY HE WILL PUSH FOR A BAN ON "SATURDAY
NIGHT SPECIALS" AND REQUIRE MORE DETAILED REPORTING OF GUN SALES.
"IT IS SHOCKING THAT THE VIOLENCE THAT TERRORIZES OUR CITY DAILY
HAS MADE ONE OF ITS VICTIMS OUR PRESIDENT, IN BROAD DAYLIGHT IN THE
STREETS OF OUR CAPITAL," RODINO SAID.
DONALD FRAHER, LEGISLATIVE DIRECTOR OF HANDGUN CONTROL INC., WHICH
LOBBIES CONGRESS FOR GUN CONTROL LEGISLATION, SAID IN A STATEMENT,
"WE DEPLORE THE ATTEMPT ON THE PRESIDENT'S LIFE AND BELIEVE IT POINTS
OUT ONCE AGAIN THE NEED FOR HANDGUN CONTROL IN OUR COUNTRY."
NELSON SHIELDS, CHAIRMAN OF HANDGUN CONTROL, SAID, "IT IS
VIRTURLLY IMPOSSIBLE TO PROTECT THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
WITH 60 MILLION HANDGUNS IN CIRCULATION AND ANOTHER 2 MILLION
FLOODING THE MARKET EVERY YEAR."
SNYDER, WHOSE GROUP CHAMPIONS THE RIGHT TO CARRY HANDGUNS FOR SELF
DEFENSE, SAID THAT IN THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, A PRIVATE CITIZEN
CANNOT OBTAIN SUCH WEAPONS LEGALLY.
"THE FACT THAT THIS HEINOUS ATTEMPT WAS MADE HERE UNDER THIS LAW
IS A CLEAR, ALTHOUGH VERY SAD, INDICATION THAT SUCH LAWS DO NOT
ACHIEVE A REDUCTION IN CRIMINAL VIOLENCE," SNYDER SAID.
"RONALD REAGAN IS THE MOST PRO-GUN PRESIDENT IN MY LIFETIME,' HE
ADDED. "SO 1, IN PARTICULAR, FEEL GREAT SADNESS THAT THIS ATTACK
SHOULD HAVE OCCURRED."
UPI 03-30-81 08:22 PES
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THE PRESS SECRETARY SAID MRS. REAGAN FIRST HEARD "THERE WAS A
SHOOTING" FROM HER SECRET SERVICE AGENT, BUT DID NOT IMMEDIATELY KNOW
HER HUSBAND HAD BEEN HIT.
"SHE HAD JUST RETURNED TO THE WHITE HOUSE FROM A LUNCHEON," MS.
PATTON SAID. "SHE LEARNED THE PRESIDENT HAD BEEN SHOT AFTER SHE
ARRIVED AT THE HOSPITAL."
MRS. REAGAN LEFT THE WHITE HOUSE ABOUT 2:35 P.M. EST, MS. PATTON
SAID, AND ARRIVED AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER FIVE
MINUTES LATER.
SHE ALSO SAID THE FIRST LADY TALKED WITH THE WIVES OF THE OTHER
TWO VICTIMS TAKEN TO GEORGE WASHINGTON: PRESS SECRETARY JIM BRADY AND
SECRET SERVICE AGENT TIMOTHY J. MCCARTHY, BOTH OF WHOM WERE WOUNDED.
THE THIRD VICTIM, A WASHINGTON POLICE OFFICER, WAS TAKEN TO ANOTHER
HOSPITAL.
"SHE HAS SEEN BOTH MRS. BRADY AND MRS. MCCARTHY,' THE PRESS
SECRETARY SAID. "IT WAS A PRIVATE MEETING IN AN OFFICE NEAR THE
EMERGENCY ROOM."
THE REAGANS' SON, RONALD PRESCOTT REAGAN, FLEW TO WASHINGTON AND
IS WITH HIS MOTHER AT THE HOSPTIAL. MRS. REAGAN'S CHIEF OF STAFF,
PETER MCCOY, IS KEEPING THE OTHER REAGAN CHILDREN INFORMED OF
DEVELOPMENTS.
UPI 03-30-81 09:05 PES
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(ADDING JR. AND AGE)
X X X WOUNDS.
THE GUNMAN WHO FIRED SIX SHOTS AT THE PRESIDENT AND HIS PARTY WAS
IDENTIFIED AS JOHN WARNOCK HINCKLEY JR., 25, OF EVERGREEN, COLO. HE
WAS WRESTLED TO THE GROUND AND ARRESTED. HIS MOTIVES WERE UNKNOWN,
BUT HE APPEARED TO HAVE ACTED ALONE ACCORDING TO THE SECRET SERVICE.
PICKUP 4THGRAF: "I CAN
UPI 03-30-81 09:06 PES
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X X X OCT. 7.
JIM ROBINSON, AN ATTORNEY FOR HINCKLEY'S FATHER, JOHN W. HINCKLEY
SR. OF EVERGREEN, COLO., ISSUED A STATEMENT FROM THE FAMILY THAT THE
YOUNGER HINCKLEY "HAD BEEN UNDER PSYCHIATRIC CARE. HOWEVER, THE
EVALUATIONS DID NOT ALERT ANYONE TO THE SERIOUSNESS OF HIS
CONDITION."
ROBINSON REFUSED TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NATURE OF
HINCKLEY'S PRESENT OR PAST CONDITION, OR HIS TREATMENT. MORE
UPI 03-30-81 09:08 PES
AM-HINCKLEY 1STLD-3RDADD 3-30
X X TREATMENT.
THE FBI SAID IT COULD NOT IMMEDIATELY CONFIRM OR DENY THAT
HINCKLEY HAD BEEN ARRESTED IN NASHVILLE LAST FALL. BUT AIRPORT
OFFICIALS SAID HE HAD BEEN ARRESTED TRYING TO BOARD AN AMERICAN
BIRLINES FLIGHT, AND THE METAL DETECTOR WARNED AUTHORITIES OF THE
GUNS IN THE SUITCASE.
AIRPORT SECURITY POLICE SAID THERE WERE TWO 22-CALIBER REVOLVERS
AND A .38-CALIBER HANDGUN IN THE SUITCASE. THE DESTINATION OF HIS
INTENDED FLIGHT WAS NOT KNOWN. MORE
UPI 03-30-81 09:10 PES
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UN
AM-REAGAN 5THLD-PICKUP4THGRAF 3-30
(DETAILS ON REAGAN SHOOTING SUSPECT)
BY DEAN REYNOLDS
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- PRESIDENT REAGAN WAS SHOT AT CLOSE RANGE IN AN
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT MONDAY AND UNDERWENT SURGERY TO REMOVE A BULLET
FROM HIS LEFT LUNG "SEVERAL INCHES" FROM HIS HEART. DOCTORS SAID HIS
LIFE WAS NEVER IN DANGER AND THE OUTLOOK WAS "EXCELLENT."
REAGAN'S PRESS SECRETARY JAMES BRADY, CAUGHT IN THE GUNFIRE, WAS
FIGHTING FOR HIS LIFE AND WAS IN "EXTREMELY CRITICAL" CONDITION AFTER
SUFFERING SERIOUS BRAIN DAMAGE FROM A HEAD WOUND. A SECRET SERVICE
AGENT AND A WASHINGTON POLICE OFFICER ALSO SUFFERED SERIOUS GUNSHOT
WOUNDS.
THE SECRET SERVICE IDENTIFIED THE GUNMAN WHO FIRED SIX SHOTS AT
THE PRESIDENT AND HIS PARTY AS JOHN W. "JACK" HINCKLEY JR., 25, OF
EVERGREEN, COLO. HE WAS CHARGED WITH TRYING TO ASSASSINATE A
PRESIDENT.
HIS MOTIVES WERE UNKNOWN, BUT HE APPEARED TO HAVE ACTED ALONE
ACCORDING TO THE SECRET SERVICE.
AN ATTORNEY FOR HINCKLEY'S FAMILY SAID HE HAD A HISTORY OF
PSYCHIATRIC CARE AND FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS SAID HE WAS
ARRESTED IN NASHVILLE LAST FALL FOR CARRYING FIREARMS NEAR THE TIME
BOTH PRESIDENT CARTER AND REAGAN WERE TO MAKE CAMPAIGN APPEARANCES IN
TENNESSEE.
WILLIAM BRISSEY, CAPTAIN OF THE NASHVILLE, TENN., AIRPORT SECURITY
POLICE, SAID HINCKLEY HAD BEEN ARRESTED LAST OCT. 9 FOR TRYING TO
BOARD AN AIRLINE WITH TWO .22 CALIBER AND ONE .38 CALIBER HANDGUN AND
50 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION IN A SUITCASE. PRESIDENT CARTER WAS IN
NASHVILLE THAT DAY, AND REAGAN HAD BEEN SCHEDULED TO BE THERE TWO
DAYS EARLIER, BUT CANCELLED HIS APPEARANCE.
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UPI 03-30-81 09:21 PES
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X X X NOT KNOWN.
HINCKLEY WAS FINED, TURNED LOOSE AND THE GUNS WERE CONFISCATED. IT
COULD NOT BE LEARNED WHETHER HIS IDENTITY WAS PLACED IN THE SECRET
SERVICE'S SPECIAL FILE OF INDIVIDUALS BELIEVED TO BE THREATS TO THE
SAFETY OF THE PRESIDENT.
METROPOLITAN POLICE SPOKESMAN JOSEPH GENTILE SAID HINCKLEY WAS
CHARGED MONDAY WITH ATTEMPTING TO ASSASSINATE A PRESIDENT AND ASSAULT
WITH INTENT TO KILL A POLICE OFFICER. OTHER CHARGES WERE PENDING, HE
SAID.
IF CONVICTED, HE COULD BE SENTENCED TO LIFE IN PRISON.
AN FBI SPOKESMAN SAID HINCKLEY WAS INTERVIEWED AT THE FBI'S
WASHINGTON FIELD OFFICE LATE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND HIS ARRAIGNMENT
MIGHT BE DELAYED UNTIL TUESDAY.
"ALL THE INFORMATION WE HAVE NOW POINTS TO THE FACT THAT HE WAS
THE ONLY ONE," THE FBI SPOKESMAN SAID.
FIVE OR SIX SHOTS WERE FIRED AT REAGAN, AS HE WALKED OUT OF THE
WASHINGTON HILTON HOTEL, BY A WHITE MALE IN HIS 20S, AUTHORITIES
SAID. THE ASSAILANT HIT REAGAN IN THE CHEST, WHITE HOUSE PRESS
SECRETARY JIM BRADY IN THE HEAD, AND ALSO WOUNDED A SECRET SERVICE
AGENT AND A POLICE OFFICER.
A MAN LATER IDENTIFIED AS HINCKLEY WAS WRESTLED TO THE GROUND BY
SECRET SERVICE AGENTS AND POLICE OFFICERS AND INITIALLY TAKEN TO
METROPOLITAN POLICE HEADQUARTERS FOR QUESTIONING, BEFORE BEING
TRANSFERRED TO THE FBI FIELD OFFICE.
THE ASSAILANT'S WEAPON WAS A .22-CALIBER REVOLVER, WHICH WAS
RECOVERED AT THE SCENE AND TURNED OVER TO THE FBI, AUTHORITIES SAID.
SECRET SERVICE AGENTS AND LOCAL LAW OFFICERS QUICKLY SEALED OFF THE
PLUSH HOME OF HINCKLEY'S PARENTS IN EVERGREEN, A WELL-TO-DO COMMUNITY
IN THE PINE-COVERED FOOTHILLS OF THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS ABOUT 25 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF DENVER. MORE
UPI 03-30-81 09:27 PES
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EDITORS:
WE ARE PREPARING A 6TH LEAD AM-REAGAN THAT WILL WRAP UP THE DAY'S
EVENTS: IT WILL RUN ABOUT 2,000 IN THREE TAKES AND WILL BEGIN MOVING
ON THIS WIRE IN ABOUT A HALF HOUR.
UPI WASHINGTON
UPI 03-30-81 09:28 PES
AM-REAGAN 6THLD-WRITETHRU 3TAKES 3-30""
(WRAPPING UP DAY'S EVENTS)
URGENT
BY DEAN REYNOLDS
WASHINGTON (UPI) -- A YOUNG GUNMAN AMBUSHED PRESIDENT REAGAN AT
CLOSE RANGE MONDAY AND FIRED HALF-DOZEN SHOTS -- ONE OF THEM PIERCING
THE PRESIDENT'S LUNG INCHES FROM HIS HEART. DOCTORS REMOVED THE
BULLET IN A TWO-HOUR OPERATION AND SAID REAGAN WOULD RECOVER.
THE WOULD-BE ASSASSIN, IDENTIFIED AS JOHN WARNOCK HINCKLEY JR.,
25, OF EVERGREEN, COLO., WAS TACKLED AND PINNED TO THE PAVEMENT,
WHISKED AWAY IN A SQUAD CAR AND CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER.
OFFICIALS SAID THAT LAST FALL DURING THE PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN
HINCKLEY HAD BEEN ARRESTED FOR CARRYING THREE GUNS.
THE SHOTS OUTSIDE A WASHINGTON HOTEL, CRACKLING THROUGH A DISMAL
RAINFALL LIKE BALLOONS BURSTING AT A CHILD'S BIRTHDAY PARTY, GRAVELY
WOUNDED PRESIDENTIAL PRESS SECRETARY JAMES BRADY AND LEFT A SECRET
SERVICE AGENT AND A POLICE OFFICER IN SERIOUS CONDITION.
THE SHOOTING STUNNED THE WORLD AND A NATION WHOSE CITIZENS SEEM
UNABLE TO SHAKE THE STIGMA OF SEEMINGLY MINDLESS MURDER OF PUBLIC
FIGURES.
SEN. EDWARD M. KENNEDY, WHO BURIED TWO ASSASSINATED BROTHERS
INCLUDING THE LAST PRESIDENT SHOT, DEPLORED THE INCIDENT: "VIOLENCE
AND HATRED ARE ALIEN TO EVERYTHING THIS COUNTRY IS ABOUT. WITH OUR
PRAYERS MUST GO OUR RESOLUTION TO RID OUR SOCIETY OF VIOLENCE AND ITS
CAUSE."
BUT REAGAN HIMSELF TOOK THE EVENT IN STRIDE, JOKING WITH
BYSTANDERS AS HE WALKED INTO THE HOSPITAL UNDER HIS OWN POWER. AT
8:50 P.M. HE HANDED DOCTORS IN THE RECOVERY ROOM A HAND WRITTEN NOTE
PARAPHRASING W.C. FIELDS: "ALL IN ALL, I'D RATHER BE IN
PHILADELPHIA."
DOCTORS AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL SAID THE
70-YEAR-OLD REAGAN IS AN EXCELLENT PHYSICAL SPECIMEN WITH THE BODY OF
A YOUNG MAN AND HIS SURVIVAL NEVER WAS IN DOUBT.
THE PROGNOSIS FOR COMPLETE RECOVERY IS "EXCELLENT," AND REAGAN
SHOULD BE ABLE TO RESUME PRESIDENTIAL DUTIES TUESDAY MORNING FROM HIS
HOSPITAL BED.
AND VICE PRESIDENT GEORGE BUSH, ORDERED BACK TO WASHINGTON FROM
TEXAS, SAID "I CAN REASSURE THIS NATION AND A WATCHING WORLD THAT
THIS NATION IS FUNCTIONING FULLY AND NORMALLY."
THE STUNNING MURDER ATTEMPT OCCURRED OUTSIDE THE SPRAWLING
WASHINGTON HILTON HOTEL, ONE MILE FROM THE WHITE HOUSE, WHERE REAGAN
HAD JUST DELIVERED A SPEECH TO A UNION CONVENTION.
WAVING AND SMILING, REAGAN NEARED THE BULLETPROOF PRESIDENTIAL
LIMOUSINE WHEN THE GUNFIRE CRACKLED. THE GRIN ON REAGAN'S FACE TURNED
TO FROZEN HORROR AS A SECRET SERVICE AGENT SHOVED HIM INTO THE CAR.
PANDEMONIUM ERUPTED. BYSTANDERS SCREAMED IN HORROR. GUNS WERE
DRAWN IN AN INSTANT. HINCKLEY WAS BURIED IMMEDIATELY UNDER A MASS OF
AGENTS.
AND THE BLOODY BODIES OF BRADY, SECRET SERVICE AGENT TIMOTHY
MCCARTHY AND DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA POLICE OFFICER THOMAS DELAHANTY
WERE SPRAWLED ON THE RAINSWEPT PAVEMENT.
AN ATTORNEY FOR HIS FAMILY SAID HINCKLEY HAD A HISTORY OF
PSYCHIATRIC CARE. FEDERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS SAID HE WAS
BRRESTED IN NASHVILLE FOR CARRYING FIREARMS NEAR THE TIME BOTH
THEN-PRESIDENT CARTER AND REAGAN WERE TO MAKE CAMPAIGN APPEARANCES IN
TENNESSEE.
WILLIAM BRISSEY, CAPTAIN OF THE NASHVILLE, TENN., AIRPORT SECURITY
POLICE, SAID HINCKLEY HAD BEEN ARRESTED OCT. 9 FOR TRYING TO BOARD AN
BIRLINER WITH THREE HANDGUNS AND 50 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION IN A
SUITCASE.
THERE WAS NO IMMEDIATE INDICATION HOW A PERSON ONCE SO DETAINED BY
AUTHORITIES COULD HAVE PLACED HIMSELF -- WITHOUT DETECTION AND
CARRYING A .22 CALIBER HANDGUN -- 10 FEET FROM REAGAN.
BRADY'S PROGNOSIS WAS GRIM. DOCTORS SAID THE BULLET HAD ENTERED
HIS SKULL OVER HIS RIGHT EYE AND PASSED THROUGH HIS BRAIN, AND DR.
DENNIS O'LEARY SAID EVEN IF THE 40-YEAR-OLD PRESS SECRETARY LIVES,
PERMANENT BRAIN DAMAGE IS LIKELY. MORE
UPI 03-30-81 10:03 PES
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"OBVIOUSLY, HE WAS STUNNED. BUT HE WAS TOTALLY IN CONTROL OF
HIMSELF AND COMPLETELY CALM THROUGHOUT ALL OF IT," SAID WRIGHT.
"THE VICE PRESIDENT DEMONSTRATED COMPLETE COMMAND OF HIS EMOTIONS.
THERE WAS NO LACK OF CONTROL, THERE WAS NO INDECISION AT ALL."
SHIRLEY GREEN, BUSH'S DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY, SAID THE VICE
PRESIDENT HEARD THE NEWS OF THE SHOOTINGS WHEN HIS PLANE WAS ON THE
RUNWAY AT FORT WORTH, TEXAS, AFTER HE HAD GIVEN A SPEECH TO THE
SOUTHWESTERN CATTLEMEN'S ASSOCIATION.
HE WAS ON HIS WAY TO AUSTIN TO ADDRESS THE TEXAS LEGISLATURE WHEN
THE NEWS CAME THAT SHOTS HAD BEEN FIRED AT THE PRESIDENT. HIS PLANE
LANDED IN AUSTIN BRIEFLY FOR REFUELING AND THEN HEADED FOR
WASHINGTON.
THE AIR FORCE JET WAS GUIDED INTO A HANGAR AND THOSE ABOARD WERE
USHERED OFF. WITHIN SIX MINUTES, BUSH WAS HUSTLED ABOARD A HELICOPTER
AND ARRIVED AT THE WHITE HOUSE ABOUT 7 P.M. EST.
"THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I'VE EVER SEEN HIM TAXI INTO A HANGAR,'
SAID ONE ONLOOKER, AIR FORCE SGT. KEVIN CONNALLY, NOTING THE EXTREME
SECURITY PRECAUTIONS. "NORMALLY YOU CAN'T EVEN RUN AN ENGINE IN
HERE."
LAST WEEK, BUSH WAS DESIGNATED BY REAGAN TO HEAD THE
ADMINISTRATION'S "CRISIS MANAGEMENT" TEAM IN THE EVENT OF A CRISIS, A
DECISION THAT INITIALLY UPSET SECRETARY OF STATE ALEXANDER HAIG.
HAIG TOLD REPORTERS MONDAY, "CRISIS MANAGEMENT IS IN EFFECT," WITH
HIM IN CHARGE IN BUSH'S ABSENCE.
WRIGHT SAID HE UNDERSTOOD BUSH SPOKE WITH HAIG BY TELEPHONE FROM
ABOARD THE PLANE. IN WASHINGTON, HAIG TOLD REPORTERS THAT IN THE
RBSENCE OF BUSH, HE HAD TAKEN CONTROL OF THE ADMINISTRATION.
"AS OF NOW, I AM IN CONTROL HERE IN THE WHITE HOUSE PENDING RETURN
OF THE VICE PRESIDENT, AND IN CLOSE TOUCH WITH HIM. IF SOMETHING CAME
UP, I WOULD CHECK WITH HIM, OF COURSE," HRIG SAID.
UPI 03-30-81 10:09 PES
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WASHINGTON (UPI) -- PRESIDENT REAGAN, IN THE RECOVERY ROOM
FOLLOWING SURGERY TO REMOVE A BULLET IN HIS LUNG LATE WEDNESDAY,
COULD NOT RESIST MAKING A JOKE.
AS HE EMERGED FROM THE ANESTHESIA HE COULD NOT SPEAK BECAUSE OF
THE TUBES IN HIS MOUTH. SO HE GAVE THE ATTENDANTS A HANDWRITTEN NOTE.
IT SAID:
"ALL IN ALL, I'D RATHER BE IN PHILADELPHIA. ii
UPI 03-30-81 10:10 PES
-Nancy learns how
to live with peril
In a compelling article excerpted from her
kidnap me and send Ronnie my head if he
autobiography, Nancy Reagan remembers an-
wouldn't agree to release certain individuals
other assassination attempt on her husband's
from prison.
life and how she has come to terms with the
Later, in 1976, right after Ronnie an-
danger she and her family face in the public
nounced his intention to run for president in
eye. She also comments on today's morality
Washington, we flew to Miami. We were on a
and why she and the president firmly advo-
platform, and a man called out "Hi, Dutch-
cate the death penalty.
glad to see you." Anytime anyone says
By Nancy Reagan with Bill Libby
"Dutch" we know he's from the Midwest,
Los Angeles Times Special
where Ronnie was once a sports announcer
The families of men in power live in a
and used that nickname. Ronnie recognized
fishbowl. Some of the pressures placed on
him and said, "Hi, I'll be down to see you
your man press you, too, and you have to be
afterward."
strong to stand them. I had to learn to live
AS A CANDIDATE, Ronnie had just been
with the thought and possibility of danger.
joined by the Secret Service men. They had
But you take all the precautions you can, and
told him to turn left when he came down
then put faith in God and go about your daily
from the platform. Instead, he turned right to
life. If you don't, you can't function.
see his old friend. I followed behind "Tom-
During the time in 1968 when Ronnie was
my" Thomas, our Florida chairman. We had
a favorite-son candidate, Secret Service
gone only a few steps when I heard Tommy
agents had been assigned to us as they had to
yell, "What the hell do you think you're
several others after the tragic assassination of
doing?" And he plunged into the crowd.
It turned out that he had spotted a young
Chicago Sun-Times, Wednesday, April 1, 1981
Robert Kennedy. They were wonderful men,
and we became close friends with them.
man with a gun. Tommy is a tall, large man,
One night we were in bed when we heard
but he was very courageous to act as he did.
a sound that Ronnie said was a shot. He got
The Secret Service moved in quickly, but it
up, put on a robe, and went out in the hall. A
took a lot of effort to subdue this 20-year-old,
young Secret Service man carrying a shotgun
who was very strong.
was on the stairs and said very politely,
When they took the gun away from the
"Governor, would you mind not getting In
young man, it turned out to be a toy. But it
front of any windows."
certainly looked real, and our emotions were
IT SEEMS THAT one of the agents saw
certainly real.
Isn't it a shame what
two men trying to light a Molotov cocktail
we've come to this in our country, or in the-
beneath our windows. The agent got off one
world for that matter?
shot-the one we'd heard-but didn't dare
For a long time I've thought about the
fire again as the men ran to a car and took
absence of courage, the decline of standards,
off. They left the unlighted firebomb behind.
the loss of values, and the disappearance of
Ronnie, in discussing the incident with the
quality that seem to be afflicting our country.
press, described the shot that was fired as a
WHEN ALEXANDER Solzhenitsyn won the
warning shot. Later, the agent told him,
Nobel Prize, he said, "One word of truth shall
"Governor, we don't fire warning shots. I just
outweigh the whole world." One word of
missed, and I couldn't fire again because of all
truth that remains constant despite efforts to
the houses around here."
erase it from the language is morality-and I
I've never asked about threats on our lives.
mean It in the broadest sense. Morality is a
I don't know how many there have been and
word whose meaning can provide us an
I don't want to know. I always knew some-
anchor in the worst storms and one I believe
thing was brewing, though, because there
we should try to instill in our children.
would suddenly be more security men around
Human beings need moral standards to
than usual. The only incident I was made
guide them. Society needs them to keep it
aware of-accidentally-was one Lheard
from flying apart. Moral standards evolve, of
about on TV. It was a threat against me
course. They're not fixed in the stars. We -
personally, and I must say that it rattled me.
It rattled Ronnie even more. The plot was to
need such standards because they encourage
the most important asset of civilized people-
resident
wielding a toy gun. The incident convinced Mrs. Reagan of the need to
EARLY IN THE 1976 CAMPAIGN, the Reagons encountered a prankster
follow Secret Service security procedures. In this photo, a cro
surrounds the Reagans while they compaigned in New Hampshire. (A
7-D
Saturday, March 6, 1982 Philadelphia Inquirer
Associated Press
Actor Don Williams will portray President Reagan in some scenes of the re-enacted assassination attempt
Reagan shooting is dramatized
The President will play himself in a brief TV spot
Associated Press
drama - in which the cast in-
hospital.
cludes the same doctors and
blood donation is.
WASHINGTON - President
The television show is co-pro-
Reagan has resumed his acting
nurses who treated Reagan and
duced by the hospital and televi-
A spokesman for WJLA said its
career, appearing briefly as him-
the three others who were
sion station WJLA. The station
show was unprecedented in that
self im a television show about
wounded in the assassination
said there were no plans to air
it is the first time a major nation-
the assassination attempt in
attempt.
the show elsewhere.
al event has been recreated using
which he was shot and wounded.
An actor portrays Reagan in
many of the actual participants.
The program will air in Washing-
various hospital scenes, but in
During the filming of the
The film will be followed by a 30-
ton on March 30, the first anni-
one segment, three of the-George
White House passage, Reagan
minute discussion led by David
versary of the event.
Washington University Hospital
expressed deep thanks to the
Schoumacher, a news anchor-
surgeons talk with the real Presi-
surgeons who worked on him,
man at the station, with George
The program, "The Saving of
dent at the real White House. It is
Drs. Ben Aaron, David Gens and
Reedy, press secretary to former
the President," is being de-
a re-enactment of the "house
Paul Columbani. He remarks that
President Lyndon B. Johnson,
scribed as a "docudrama" - a
call" the doctors made after the
he now has "firsthand knowl-
and Sam Donaldson, ABC's White
combination of documentary and
President's 12-day stay at the
edge of what a lifesaving thing" a
House correspondent.
N070
RW
REAGAN ACTS AGAIN
WASHINGTON (AP) -- PRESIDENT REAGAN HAS RESUMED HIS ACTING CAREER,
APPEARING BRIEFLY AS HIMSELF IN A TELEVISION SHOW ABOUT THE
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN WHICH HE WAS SHOT AND WOUNDED. THE PROGRAM
WILL AIR IN WASHINGTON MARCH 30, THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE EVENT.
THE PROGRAM, ''THE SAVING OF THE PRESIDENT,'' IS BILLED AS R
DOCU-DRAMA IN WHICH THE CAST INCLUDES THE SAME DOCTORS AND NURSES
RESPONSIBLE FOR SAVING THE LIVES OF THE PRESIDENT AND THE THREE OTHER
WOUNDED.
AN ACTOR PORTRAYS REAGAN IN VARIOUS HOSPITAL SCENES, BUT IN ONE
SEGMENT, THREE OF THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL SURGEONS
TALK WITH THE REAL PRESIDENT AT THE REAL WHITE HOUSE. IT IS A
RE-ENACTMENT OF THE ''HOUSE CALL'' THE DOCTORS MADE AFTER THE
PRESIDENT'S 12-DAY STAY AT THE HOSPITAL,
THE TELEVISON SHOW IS CO-PRODUCED BY THE HOSPITAL AND TELEVISION
STATION WJLA. THE STATION SAID THERE WERE NO PLANS TO AIR THE SHOW
ELSEWHERE.
DURING FILMING OF THE WHITE HOUSE PASSAGE, REAGAN EXPRESSED DEEP
THANKS TO THE SURGEONS WHO WORKED ON HIM, DRS. BEN AARON, DAVID GENS
AND PAUL COLUMBANI. HE REMARKS THAT HE NOW HAS ''FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE
OF WHAT R LIFE-SAVING THING'' A BLOOD DONATION IS.
WJLA SAYS ITS SHOW IS UNPRECEDENTED IN THAT IT IS THE FIRST TIME A
MAJOR NATIONAL EVENT HAS BEEN RECREATED USING LARGE NUMBERS OF THE
ACTUAL PARTICIPANTS. THE HALF-HOUR FILM WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A
30-MINUTE DISCUSSION LED BY DAVID SCHOUMACHER, A NEWS ANCHORMAN AT
THE STATION, WITH GEORGE REEDY, PRESS SECRETARY TO FORMER PRESIDENT
LYNDON B. JOHNSON, AND SAM DONALDSON, ABC'S WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT.
AP-WX-03-05-82 1403EST
N158
RA
REAGAN-CALIF
LOS ANGELES (AP) PRESIDENT REAGAN'S FAMILY SECLUDED THEMSELVES
MONDAY AMID TIGHT SECRET SERVICE SECURITY AS FRIENDS SAID THEY WERE
SHOCKED BY THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT OUTSIDE R WASHINGTON, D.C.,
HOTEL.
"I FELT COMPLETE DISBELIEF AND SHOCK,'' THE PRESIDENT'S
72-YEAR-OLD BROTHER, NEIL, SAID OUTSIDE HIS HOME IN RANCHO SANTA FE,
NEAR SAN DIEGO.
THE PRESIDENT'S 39-YEAR-OLD ACTRESS-DAUGHTER- MAUREEN, WAS "IN A
COMPLETE STATE OF SHOCK, SAID A SPOKESMAN FOR KABC RADIO IN LOS
ANGELES, WHEN SHE CO-HOSTS R TALK SHOW. BUT KABC SAID SHE WAS
'CONFIDENT AND HOPEFUL' HER FATHER WOULD RECOVER.
"WE HAVE TALKED TO MAUREEN'S SECRETARY, AND SHE WILL BE HEADING
OUT VERY SHORTLY FOR WASHINGTON,' THE SPOKESMAN SAID.
MICHAEL REAGAN, 35, THE PRESIDENT'S ELDEST SON, WAS SECLUDED IN
HIS SUBURBAN SHERMAN OAKS HOME, WHICH WAS CORDONED OFF BY SECRET
SERVICE AGENTS.
IN LINCOLN, NEB., REAGAN'S YOUNGEST SON, RON, LEFT A DANCE TOUR
WITH THE JOFFREY II BALLET AND, WITH HIS WIFE, DORIA, BOARDED A
PRIVATE JET FOR WASHINGTON. RON REAGAN, 23, DIDN'T REPLY TO
REPORTERS' QUESTIONS AS HE AND HIS WIFE RUSHED FROM THEIR HOTEL TO A
WRITING CAR.
IN SACRAMENTO, GOV. EDMUND BROWN JR. SAID THE SHOOTING ''IS AN
OUTRAGE. IT'S JUST ANOTHER SYMPTOM OF THINGS THAT HAVE TO BE STOPPED
IN THIS SOCIETY. "
"MY HEART GOES OUT TO MRS. REAGAN. I JUST HOPE EVERYTHING IS ALL
RIGHT,' SAID BROWN, WHO MADE A FALTERING RUN FOR THE DEMOCRATIC
PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION LAST YEAR.
ACTOR BOB HOPE, WHO APPEARED IN A NUMBER OF MOVIES WITH REAGAN AND
ACTIVELY CAMPAIGNED FOR HIM, SAID FROM HIS HOME IN THE LOS ANGELES
SUBURB OF TOLUCA LAKE, ''THE FIRST I KNEW, A FRIEND CALLED ME UP AND
SAID 'TURN ON TELEVISION. THE PRESIDENT HAS BEEN SHOT AT.'
SINGER FRANK SINATRA SAID HE WAS ''TOO OVERCOME BY THE SHOCKING
SITUATION TO TALK ABOUT IT,'' SAID SINATRA PUBLICIST LEE SOLTERS.
SINATRA HAS BEEN PERFORMING AT CAESARS PALACE IN LAS VEGAS.
NEIL REAGAN SAID HE WAS HAVING LUNCH AT A CLUB WHEN "A PERSON
CAME IN AND SAID SOMEONE HAD SHOT AT THE PRESIDENT. ... A FEW MINUTES
LATER, ANOTHER PERSON SAID THE PRESIDENT HAD BEEN HIT. AT THAT POINT
I BROKE DOWN AND BEGAN TO CRY.
"I EXPECTED SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO COME,' HE ADDED. ''IT'S THE
WAY SOCIETY IS TODAY.'
BUT HE ADDED: "MY BROTHER IS A PRETTY TOUGH FELLA. I EXPECT HE
WILL GET UP FROM THIS AND GO BACK TO WORK. "
AP-WX-03-30-81 1940EST
N072
RA
REAGAN-RANCH
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. (AP) -- LEE CLEARWATER, RANCH FOREMAN AND
WOODCUTTING COMPANION TO PRESIDENT REAGAN, SAYS HE PLANS TO TELL HIS
BOSS TO ''COME BACK WHERE YOU BELONG, ;; TO THE SECLUSION AND SAFETY
OF THE RANCH.
''COME BACK HERE. WE LOVE YOU. WE'RE NOT GOING TO SHOOT YOU,''
CLEARWATER SAID HE WOULD TELL REAGAN AS SO ON AS HE HAS RECOVERED
ENOUGH FROM MONDAY'S ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT TO ACCEPT TELEPHONE CALLS.
CLEARWATER WAS REACHED BY TELEPHONE LATE MONDAY NIGHT AT REAGAN'S
RANCHO DEL CIELO, 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF SANTA BARBARA.
THE FOREMAN SAID HE WAS NOT SURPRISED THAT DOCTORS FELT THE
70-YEAR-OLD REAGAN'S EXCELLENT PHYSICAL CONDITION WAS A FACTOR IN HIS
SURVIVING THE BULLET WOUND AND TWO HOURS OF CHEST AND LUNG SURGERY.
"I COULD HAVE TOLD THEM THAT. HE'S JUST A KID COMPARED TO YOU AND
ME, ; SAID CLEARWATER, WHO IS IN HIS 60S.
THE FOREMAN SAID HE HAD LAST TALKED TO REAGAN ABOUT 10 DAYS AGO,
AND THE PRESIDENT SAID HE HAD HEARD FROM THE SECRET SERVICE THAT R
STRONG STORM BROUGHT AN 8- TO 9-INCH SNOWFALL TO THE MOUNTAINTOP
RANCH.
''LORD, LEE, I SURE DO MISS IT," CLEARWATER SAID REAGAN TOLD HIM.
THE STORM ALSO BROUGHT DOWN MANY OAK TREES AT THE RANCH.
"I'M GOING TO TELL HIM I'M SAVING ALL THE WOOD FOR HIM,
CLEARWATER SAID. "AND WHEN WE GO OUT AND CUT WOOD, WE'LL NEVER GET
IT CUT IN OUR LIFETIME. "
AP-WX-03-31-81 1345EST
N126
RV
R VBX RD99
R VBX
ADVISORY
THE NATIONAL SHRINE OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION WILL HAVE A
SPECIAL MASS TO PRAY FOR THE RECOVERY OF PRESIDENT REAGAN AND THE
OTHERS SHOT IN MONDAY'S ATTACK ON TUESDAY, MARCH 31.
TIME: 12 NOON
AP-WX-03-30-81 1717EST
N127
BW
BRADY,
BULLETIN
WASHINGTON (AP) -- R SPOKESMAN FOR THE SENATE REPUBLICAN LEADER
SAID TODAY THAT WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY JAMES S. BRADY HAD DIED
OF R BULLET WOUND SUFFERED IN AN ABORTIVE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AIMED
AT PRESIDENT REAGAN.
AP-WX-03-30-81 1719EST
N128
UA
REAGAN-GUNSHOTS REACTION
BY THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SHOCK, SADNESS AND ANGER GREETED THE SHOOTING MONDAY OF PRESIDENT
REAGAN.
''TODAY'S EVENTS ARE A CHILLING REMINDER THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO
ASSURE THE SAFETY OF A PUBLIC FIGURE,' SAID DETROIT MAYOR COLEMAN
YOUNG.
IN OHIO, GOV. JAMES A. RHODES SAID THE REPORTS OF THE
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN WASHINGTON IN WHICH REAGAN AND THREE OTHERS
WERE WOUNDED ''SHOCKED ME AS I KNOW THEY HAVE SHOCKED EVERY AMERICAN
BUST IT
AP-WX-03-30-81 1720EST
N132
RW
REAGAN-SENATE REAX
WASHINGTON (AP) THE SENATE HALTED LEGISLATIVE BUSINESS MONDAY
AS SHOCKED LEGISLATORS RECEIVED NEWS THAT PRESIDENT REAGAN HAD BEEN
WOUNDED.
SEN. CLAIBORNE PELL, D-R.I.: SAID THE ''GENERAL ATMOSPHERE OF ALL
OF US IS ONE OF SHOCK AND HORROR.''
HE SAID NEWS OF THE 1963 ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT JOHN F.
KENNEDY SEEMED ''LIKE ONLY A MONTH AGO.''
SHORTLY AFTER NEWS ORGANIZATIONS REPORTED THE PRESIDENT HAD BEEN
WOUNDED, SENATE MAJORITY LEADER HOWARD H. BAKER JR. RECESSED THE
SENATE, CITING THE ''GRAVITY'' OF THE SITUATION.
THE HOUSE HAD ALREADY FINISHED ITS BUSINESS FOR THE DAY BEFORE THE
PRESIDENT WAS SHOT.
HOUSE SPEAKER THOMAS P. O'NEILL, D-MASS., WHO IS IN THE
CONSTITUTIONAL LINE OF SUCCESSION TO THE PRESIDENT IMMEDIATELY AFTER
THE VICE PRESIDENT, WAS IN A MEETING IN HIS OFFICE WHEN NOTIFIED OF
THE SHOOTING.
BAKER TOLD A HUSHED CHAMBER THAT REAGAN HAD BEEN WOUNDED.
SEN. ALAN CRANSTON, D-CALIF., THE ASSISTANT DEMOCRATIC LEADER OF
THE SENATE, SAID HE WAS CHATTING WITH SEN. S.I. HAYAKAWA, R-CALIF.,
WHEN SEN. J. JAMES EXON, D-NEB., WALKED BY AND SAID THE PRESIDENT HAD
BEEN SHOT AT BUT APPARENTLY NOT HIT.
"IT IS DEEPLY TRAGIC FOR PRESIDENT REAGAN, FOR (PRESS SECRETARY)
JIM BRADY AND FOR THE OTHER TWO WHO SUSTAINED WOUNDS THAT THIS
TERRIBLE EVENT OCCURRED,' CRANSTON SAID.
"IT IS ALSO PROFOUNDLY TRAGIC FOR OUR COUNTRY THAT THESE EVENTS
OCCUR: THAT THEY CAN EFFECT THE HIGHEST PEOPLE IN THE LAND, TO THE
LOWEST, PEOPLE SIMPLY WALKING THE STREETS. WE MUST FIND A WAY TO STEM
THE VIOLENCE THAT SWEEPS OUR NATION AND THAT AFFECTS T00 MUCH OF THE
WORLD.''
CRANSTON SAID HE ASSUMED THE SHOOTING WOULD LEAD TO RENEWED CALLS
FOR GUN CONTROL, BUT HE DID NOT KNOW IF THEY WOULD BE MORE SUCCESSFUL
THAN BEFORE BECAUSE OF WHAT HE DESCRIBED AS LEGITIMATE DIFFERENCES OF
OPINION ON THE ISSUE.
THE DEMOCRATIC WHIP SAID SEN. EDWARD N. KENNEDY, D-MASS., WHO LOST
TWO BROTHERS TO ASSASSINS, AND SEN. RUSSELL LONG, D-LA., WHOSE
FATHER, FORMER SEN. HUEY LONG, WAS GUNNED DOWN BY AN ASSASSIN, WERE
AMONG THOSE WATCHING IN THE CLOAKROOM. HE SAID NEITHER MADE ANY
COMMENT, ALTHOUGH KENNEDY MADE A SPEECH ON THE FLOOR.
CRANSTON SAID THE SENATORS WERE 'SHOCKED AND STARTLED WHEN THE
STORY CHANGED' AND IT TURNED OUT THE PRESIDENT HAD BEEN WOUNDED.
HE SAID THERE WERE ABOUT 20 SENATORS IN THE GROUP.
A SHAKEN SEN. DANIEL PATRICK MOYNIHAN, D-N.Y., SAID SOFTLY: ''HOW
MUCH SHOOTING IS GOING TO HAVE TO HAPPEN BEFORE WE GET RID OF THOSE
GUNS.''
SEN. HENRY M. JACKSON, D-WASH., A FORMER PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE
HIMSELF, SAID, ''WE'RE REMINDED ONCE AGAIN OF HOW DANGEROUS THIS
WORLD IS.''
AGAIN, OUR HOPES ARE DASHED "THAT VIOLENCE ONCE AGAIN WOULD NOT
VISIT AN AMERICAN PRESIDENT, JACKSON SAID. 'WHAT CAN ONE SAY?''
''OBVIOUSLY THE MAN (THE SHOOTING SUSPECT) HAD TO BE A FANATIC,''
JACKSON ADDED.
BEFORE THE SENATE RECESSED, KENNEDY SPOKE BRIEFLY ON THE FLOOR,
SAVING, "WITH OUR PRAYERS FOR THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN WOUNDED I THINK
MUST GO OUR RESOLUTION TO RID OUR SOCIETY OF HATRED.''
''VIOLENCE AND HATRED ARE ALIEN TO EVERYTHING THIS COUNTRY IS
ABOUT,' KENNEDY SAID.
AP-WX-03-30-81 1739EST
N134
DI
THATCHER-REAGAN
LONDON (AP) -- PRIME MINISTER MARGARET THATCHER HEARD OF THE
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION OF PRESIDENT REAGAN MONDAY AT HER OFFICIAL
RESIDENCE AND IMMEDIATELY SENT R PERSONAL MESSAGE TO THE PRESIDENT
SAYING SHE WAS ''PRAYING'' HE WAS NOT SERIOUSLY WOUNDED.
HER DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY, NEVILLE GAFFIN, SAID MRS. THATCHER, IN
THE MESSAGE FROM HER 10 DOWNING STREET RESIDENCE, EXPRESSED SHOCK AND
SAID SHE WAS ''VERY DISTRESSED.''
MRS. THATCHER ALSO SAID HER SYMPATHY WENT OUT TO MEMBERS OF THE
PRESIDENT'S STAFF WHO WERE WOUNDED AND THAT HER THOUGHTS WERE WITH
MRS. REAGAN AND OTHER MEMBERS OF THE REAGAN FAMILY.
MRS. THATCHER BECAME THE FIRST EUROPEAN LEADER TO MEET WITH REAGAN
AFTER HIS JANUARY INAUGURATION WHEN SHE VISITED WASHINGTON IN LATE
FEBRUARY.
AP-WX-03-30-81 1742EST
N140
UI
FORD-REAGAN
TOKYO (AP) -- FORMER PRESIDENT GERALD R. FORD, WHO WAS HIMSELF THE
TARGET OF TWO ASSASSINATION ATTEMPTS, WAS ASLEEP IN R TOKYO HOTEL
ROOM EARLY TUESDAY WHEN AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE ON THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT
RONALD REAGAN.
FORD SPOKESMAN BOB BARRETT SAID THE FORMER CHIEF EXECUTIVE WAS
INFORMED OF THE SHOOTING AT 5:45 A.M. (3:45 P.M. EST) IN A TELEPHONE
CALL FROM WHITE HOUSE SPOKESMAN DAVE GERGEN.
BARRETT SAID FORD ''EXPRESSED GRAVE CONCERN FOR THE PRESIDENT AND
HIS PERSONAL SUPPORT FOR MRS. REGAN, AND WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE
SITUATION.''
FORD MET SOON AFTERWARD WITH U.S. AMBASSADOR MIKE MANSFIELD, WHO
CAME FROM HIS EMBASSY RESIDENCE DIRECTLY ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE
OKURA HOTEL WHERE FORD IS STAYING.
THE FORMER PRESIDENT WAS IN THE LAST DAY OF A FIVE-DAY VISIT TO
JAPAN, CLOSING OUT AN 11-NATION TOUR IN WHICH HE HAS CARRIED PRIVATE
MESSAGES FROM REAGAN TO A NUMBER OF FOREIGN LEADERS.
HE WAS SCHEDULED TO SPEAK ON DEFENSE ISSUES AT A LUNCHEON AND HOLD
A NEWS CONFERENCE IN THE AFTERNOLON BEFORE DEPARTING FOR PALM
SPRINGS, CALIF., ABOARD A PRIVATELY OWNED JET AIRCRAFT.
AP-WX-03-30-81 1805EST
N142
UA
OSCARS
URGENT
HOLLYWOOD (AP) -- ORGANIZERS OF THE ACADEMY AWARDS CEREMONY
DECIDED MONDAY TO POSTPONE THE NATIONALLY TELEVISED PROGRAM 24 HOURS
BECAUSE OF THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT ON PRESIDENT REAGAN.
CHARLIE FRANK, R SPOKESMAN FOR ABC TELEVISION IN NEW YORK, SAID
THE DECISION HAD BEEN MADE TO DELAY THE PROGRAM UNTIL TUESDAY NIGHT
AT 10 P.M. EST.
EARLIER, NORMAN JEWISON, PRODUCER OF THE SHOW, FAY KANIN,
PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMY OF MOTION PICTURE ARTS AND SCENCES, AND
JOHNNY CARSON, THE SHOW'S HOST, HAD MET WITH ABC TELEVISION OFFICIALS
AT THE LOS ANGELES MUSIC CENTER TO DISCUSS THEIR OPTIONS.
FANS HAD STARTED ARRIVING BEFORE DAWN FOR FRONT-ROW SEATS OUTSIDE
THE MUSIC CENTER AND A CHANCE TO VIEW THE WINNERS AND LOSERS AT THE
EVENINGS'S EXTRAVAGANZA.
THE SPECTATORS SAT IN THE WARM CALIFORNIA SUN THROUGHOUT THE DAY,
AS THEY AWAITED THE LIMOUSINES THAT WOULD BRING THE GLAMOROUS
PARTICIPANTS TO HOLLYWOOD'S BIGGEST BASH. BUT THE WAIT WAS WELL WORTH
IT FOR THE DEVOUT FANS, WHO COULD LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING ROBERT
REDFORD, ROBERT DENIRO AND OTHERS WHO RARELY APPEAR AT PUBLIC EVENTS.
STARTING TIME FOR THE CEREMONIES, TELECAST BY ABC, WAS 7 P.M.
(PST), AND JEWISON HOPED TO BRING DOWN THE CURTAIN WITHIN THREE HOURS.
AP-WX-03-30-81 1815EST
N143
UA
REAGAN-OSCARS
HERE IS A TEXT OF THE REMARKS PRESIDENT REAGAN, A FORMER FILM
ACTOR, HAD TAPED IN ADVANCE FOR MONDAY NIGHT'S TELECAST OF THE
ACADEMY AWARDS. ABC CANCELED PLANS TO BROADCAST THE SEGMENT AFTER
REAGAN WAS SHOT AND WOUNDED IN AN ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT MONDAY.
''GOOD EVENING TO MY FELLOW AMERICANS EAGERLY AWAITING THE
PRESENTATION OF THE 53RD ACADEMY AWARDS. IT'S SURELY NO STATE SECRET
THAT NANCY AND I SHARE YOUR INTEREST IN THE RESULTS OF THIS YEAR'S
BALLOTING.
''WE'RE NOT ALONE. THE MIRACLE OF AMERICAN TECHNOLOGY LINKS US
WITH MILLIONS OF MOVIEGOERS AROUND THE WORLD. IT IS THE MOTION
PICTURE THAT SHOWS US ALL, NOT ONLY HOW WE LOOK AND SOUND, BUT MORE
IMPORTANT, HOW WE FEEL. WHEN IT ACHIEVES ITS MOST NOBLE INTENT, FILM
REVEALS THAT PEOPLE EVERYWHERE SHARE COMMON DREAMS AND EMOTIONS.
TONIGHT I APPLAUD ALL WHO CREATE, MAKE, DISTRIBUTE, EXHIBIT AND
ATTEND MOVIES. I SALUTE THE ACADEMY FOR THE INFLUENCE ITS WORK HAS
HAD ON THE WORLD'S MOST ENDURING ART FORM. FILM IS FOREVER. I'VE BEEN
TRAPPED IN SOME FILM FOREVER MYSELF, AND AS A FORMER MEMBER OF THE
ACADEMY, I ASK YOU NOW TO JOIN NANCY AND ME IN ENJOYING THIS YEAR'S
CEREMONIES. "
AP-WX-03-30-81 1818EST
N151
XW
PRIME MINISTER
WASHINGTON (AP) -- PRIME MINISTER ANDREAS VAN AGT OF THE
NETHERLANDS ARRIVED IN WASHINGTON FOR A TWO-DAY VISIT SHORTLY AFTER
THE ATTEMPT TO KILL PRESIDENT RONALD REAGAN.
A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DUTCH EMBASSY SAID THE PRIME MINISTER HEARD
THE NEWS ABOARD HIS PLANE, AND ISSUED THIS STATEMENT ON ARRIVING AT
ANDREWS AIR FORCE BASE, JUST OUTSIDE WASHINGTON:
"I HAVE JUST BEEN INFORMED OF THE ATTEMPT ON THE PREIDENT'S LIFE
AND I EXPRESS MY FEELINGS OF DEEP SHOCK AND ABHORRENCE THAT THIS HAS
HAPPENED. WE HOPE AND PRAY THAT HE MAY NOT HAVE BEEN HURT SEIOUSLY
AND THAT ALSO THE LIVES OF THE SECRET SERVICE MEN AND PRESS SECRETARY
BRADY MAY BE SAFE.''
HE SENT THIS MESSAGE TO REAGAN, WITH WHOM HE HAD BEEN DUE TO HAVE
TALKS AND LUNCH ON TUESDAY:
''WE PRAY FOR YOUR SPEEDY RECOVERY. YOU MAY REST ASSURED THAT THE
VISIT OF THE FOREIGN MINISTER AND MYSELF TO WASHINGTON WILL IN THESE
CIRCUMSTANCES EVEN MORE EXPRESS THE STRONG TIES OF FRIENDSHIP BETWEEN
OUR TWO COUNTRIES AND PEOPLES. "
VAN AGT WAS LODGED AT BLAIR HOUSE, THE OFFICIAL RESIDENCE FOR
DISTINGUISHED VISITORS, ACROSS THE STREET FROM THE WHITE HOUSE. THE
PRESIDENT WAS AT GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL, A LITTLE MORE
THAN A KILOMETER AWAY.
AP-WX-03-30-81 1900EST
THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
Monday, April 6, 1981
23
OPINION AND COMMENTARY
The good-humored Ronald Reagan
By Godfrey Sperling Jr.
the Gridiron's annual banquet. Here Mr. Rea-
Stockman Impersonator continued:
President) beseeched Ronald Reagan to the
gan displayed a sheer delight at the satire
tune of "Cold Cold Heart":
Washington
that was often directed at him.
Oh, what fun to swing the ax while
In the 1960s the Washington Gridiron Club,
"I was watching him, and he was in
easing up the Income tax,
I tried so hard, my President,
made up of veteran reporters who are very
stitches." another head-table guest. Miss Gin-
For you folks
just to get Inside your dream.
sparing of their accolades, sang of President
ger Rogers, reported. And It was obvious to
Gather round the gulllotine and
But you' afraid each thing I do is
Kennedy: "His wild Irish prose. It sparkles as
the Gridiron reporter-actors who looked right
watch me being really mean,
just some evil scheme
It glows."
out at the President that he was enjoying the
To po' folks.
The memories of my famous past
Now. after 20 years, another truly witty
humor immensely.
If I had Aladdin's lamp for only a day.
keep us so far apart,
President, also with Irish-American creden-
One song that the President seemed to love
I'd make a wish and here's what I'd
How can I free your doubtful mind
tials, has stepped upon the stage.
and which might well have caused other
say:
and melt your cold, cold heart?
Mr. Reagan's quips at the hospital helped
presidents to frown or keep a sober face was
Freeze my heart to zero so I'll be my
the ditty from the Gridiron Club member cast
Ronnie's hero
The President got his turn later In the'
as David A. Stockman, the President's chief
Every morning.
evening. He received a good laugh with his
Washington letter
budget shaper and spending cutter. "Stock-
opening line: "Fellow communicators - and
man" entered to a drum roll and, to the muslc
The President himself was the target in
should I say, fellow thespians?" Then came
of "Carollnn In the Morning," sang:
the opening number, which sounded the
one quick one-llner after another.
buby the nation at an anxious time. It was his
theme of the show - the triumph of Holly-
For Instance, he admitted to occasional
courageous way of reassuring his fellow
Nothing cases tensions quite like cutting
wood in the election. Sung to the tune of "Any-
breakdowns in communications In his admin-
Americans that all was well - that he was
widows' pensions in the morning.
thing Goes." one verse went:
Istration, saying "sometimes our right hand
going to make It.
Nothing could be sweeter than to beat
doesn't know what our far-right hand is
It was truly an exhibition of grace under
a welfare cheater as a warning.
That old cowpoke has won the battle
doing."
pressure. But, beyond that, Mr. Reagan was
For the hungry children knocking on
And Hollywood's In the saddle
Guests afterward did not say that the
very, very funny. especially his "All things
my door.
And that just shows
President had been hilarlously funny. But
considered, I'd rather be In Philadelphia"
I'll have a balanced dlet ready by
Anything goes.
they applauded his keen wit. And more than
one-liner and his joking to doctors and nurses
Eighty-four.
anything else they liked his ability to laugh at
that "If I'd gotten this much attention In Hol-
Mr. Reagan was said to have liked the
himself - and his constant good humor.
lywood. I would have stayed."
Members of the Gridiron cast searched
"Henry Kissinger" song the best. Here a
On the Saturday night before the tragic 00:
Mr. Reagan's face to see how he was taking it.
petulant "Henry Kissinger" (Mr. Kissinger
Godfrey Sperling Jr. is chief of the
currences of Monday the President attended
He was laughing, obviously loving it. The
was at the head table, too, not far from the
Monitor's Washington bureau.
WASHINGTON POST
4/5/81
Vernon E. Jordan Jr.
My President, Too
From an address April 3 to the National Urban League, by
its president, Vernon E. Jordan Jr.:
Why is it that Americans seem able to be united only in times
of tragedy or crisis? An experience like the terrible attempt on
the life of President Reagan brings all people together in prayers
for his recovery and outrage at the vicious attack on his life.
And that feeling cuts across the political spectrum. Even the
most outspoken opponents of his economic program, including
myself, like him as a human being, respect the office he holds,
and abhor violence of any kind, especially violence of the sort we
witnessed in Washington.
I want to back him when I think he is right. And I want to op-
pose him when I think he is wrong. I want the opportunity to
educate him to my way of thinking and, if I fail, want to know
that I must respect his views with the same tolerance with which
he must respect mine.
And in a democracy, I do not' want a man with a gun to deprive
me of my president, for, right or wrong, he is my president and the
symbol of my nation's authority and leadership. America chose
Ronald Reagan to be its president, and all Americans want him to
serve his term in the White House for the next four years.
The president is president of all of the people, and all of the peo-
ple have a stake in his ability to discharge the functions of his office.
We all have a stake in the stability of the government. We all realize
that our freedoms are endangered when dangerous weapons in the
hands of people with twisted minds replace the political process.
As one who has been the victim of a similar attack, I know
what the president is going through, and he has my prayers and
hopes for a complete recovery.
WASHINGTON STAR
4/4/81
A-9.
HUGH SIDEY
Attack Shows a Leader
Who is Something Special
Even with his new six-inch scar,
"heroic dreams" and the people who
cracked seventh rib and his dam-
assured themselves he would not
aged left lung. Ronald Reagan is es-
stick to his course once the going
sentially the same man he was 10
got tough may now have to recal-
years ago and maybe even 20 years
culate the future. Men who yield
ago. Harry Truman's measure of
their beliefs do it in their private
mortals is as good today as when he
worlds long before the public may
decreed it: Men don't change much
find out. It may be another irony
in character and courage after about
of this strange age of make-believe
50.
that the man who first acted heroics
But the perception of Reagan this
in fact came to believe them and in-
week is dramatically more focused,
corporate them into hislife. Courage
the understanding of what brought
may be nothing so much as an act
him to the White House has been
that masks the daily uncertainties
revealed in one of those rare flashes
and becomes in the forge of events
of truth tragedy sometimes unveils.
reality itself.
We have witnessed with a singu-
Those who have assured us that
lar clarity the raw ingredients of
this last week's events may mean a
leadership, the most vital element
certain bubble of new esteem for
in presidential success, the thing in
Reagan and his programs but pro-
the human adventure that most of-
vide little lasting improvement for
ten defies analysis and frustrates the
his cause may have missed the-intan-
statistical handicappers and finally
gibles of leadership.
mocks the ideologues and the critics
We have been reminded again
of the daily political drama. The na-
how perishable are our aspirations
ture of the man is paramount.
and how they cluster around the
The selfish millionaire, the un-
man in the Oval Office, nurtured or
feeling and relentless conservative
not by his vision and determination.
who could take school lunches from
We have been reminded again that
hungry children and medicine from
the destruction of that person or the
the sick. turns out never to have
fracturing of his will can plunge us
been. Reagan had a higher cause.
into confusion.
Not that it was necessarily right. But
For too long now we have debated
Reagan's zealous detractors failed to
whether Reagan's IQ was sufficient
see that this small-town romantic
for White House duty, whether he
really believed the way back to more
read the right books or knew enough
human dignity and less want and
of the details of the world's prob-
injustice lay in a larger effort that
lems. Those things are not unimpor-
could not finally be calculated in the
tant but they always have been less
mathematics of poverty and wealth.
meaningful than the difficult calcu-
Reagan had a-mission beyond him-
lations of heart and mind. The
self, although some of his advocates
world's most successful leaders
did not and some of his programs
erred constantly and often
appeared to be self-rewarding.
grievously in specific policies but al-
most never in resolve and purpose.
A Man Well Armored
Perhaps we make too much of this
A few minutes of terror disclosed
episode, grasping for any sign in a
a man familiar with life's fragile na-
nervous season that we are begin-
ture and its absurdities, a man appar-
ning to recover our spirit. Yet, such
ently well armored against self-pity
small omens have opened our eyes
and determined to cling to some-
before and helped us surmount trou-
thing more than just his person,
ble. With grace and a few well-
something we call duty. God knows
chosen sentences, John Kennedy
if he even understood it, but the
built a trust that somehow endured
world witnessed a courage rarely
through months of technical bun-
glimpsed in those who lead. In more
gles in 1961. That kind of fierce elo-
precise terms for these days, it is
quence is not the-mark of Ronald
the stuff that makes devoted follow-
Reagan but we have seen something
ers. That may be more important
else that could be just as important.
than all the speeches Reagan has giv-
History is biography, special peo-
en, than all the quiet hours of per-
ple form the guideposts of
sonal persuasion for his measures
civilization. It is too early to judge
on Capitol Hill.
how Ronald Reagan will measure up
We have seen in this 70-year-old
throughout his time. But the stuff
former actor the sudden glint of the
of successful leadership is finally an
American people we have been and
accumulation of adversities bluntly
which we think we still may be. That
confronted and firmly mastered.
quality often weighs more heavily
Nothing that Ronald Reagan has
in the balance of a country's affairs
done so far has meant so much to
than party platforms and promises.
his presidency as the stark but sim-
The critics of "simple virtues" and
ple test last Monday that showed us
those who smiled when Reagan
something special behind the good
brought up his corny lines about
guy smile.
U.S.NeWS
&WORLDREPORT
APRIL 13, 1981
$1.50
WHAT IMPACT?
MICHAEL EVANS-WHITE HOUSE
A recovering President Reagan, his wife
beside him, takes a hospital stroll.
U.S.NeWS
& WORLD REPORT
MICHAEL EVANS-WHITE HOUSE
WHAT
MPACT?
Repercussions of the assassination attempt will ripple
Taped by television crews, the attack
on Reagan was later witnessed by mil-
for months-in domestic and foreign policy alike.
lions-the second time in a generation
For now, the U.S. is happy to have a hero for President.
that the nation was stunned by the
sight of a President shot in the streets
A gunman's attack on President Rea-
Reagan team and potentially a power-
during a public appearance.
gan touched off shock waves that
ful political force in 1984 or beyond.
But by the end of the week, doctors
promised lasting effects on a fledgling
Top White House aides, thrown
reported Reagan was in "satisfactory"
administration and the nation.
into a state of confusion in early stages
condition and was expected to recover
Ramifications go beyond the ques-
of the emergency, embarked on a cam-
speedily, barring unexpected complica-
tion of how quickly Reagan-felled by a
paign to reassure the nation that the
tions such as bleeding or infection.
bullet in the chest on March 30-will be
administration is in firm control.
The 70-year-old Reagan, by all ac-
able to return to the Oval Office. In the
Reagan, having suffered a severe
counts, exhibited the recuperative
aftermath of the assassination attempt:
injury, will come under increasing pres-
powers of a much younger man. Asso-
Polls showed Reagan is widely re-
sure from staff and family not to over-
ciates added that he also laid to rest
garded as a hero, admired for showing
tax himself. This could force a change in
lingering concerns that he was too old
courage and humor during a painful
a freewheeling style that has made him
to handle the rigorous demands of the
ordeal. The boost in popularity already
especially vulnerable to attack.
Presidency.
is muting opponents and may even
The Secret Service, one of whose
Boost for Reagan. "It's clear proof
prolong his honeymoon with Congress.
agents was wounded in the assassina-
of his physical stamina," said Presiden-
Secretary of State Alexander Haig
tion attempt, will undergo a full-scale
tial Counselor Edwin Meese. "The way
shapes up as a casualty, attacked by
review of the measures it takes to pro-
he reacted and all that will further en-
White House aides who felt the former
tect the Chief Executive.
hance people's view of him."
general behaved erratically during the
Advocates of gun control, led by
The President was wounded by a lone
tumultuous hours after the shooting.
Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.),
assailant about 2:30 on a rainy Monday
Vice President George Bush, un-
will press anew for çurbs on the sale of
afternoon as he walked to his limousine
flappable throughout the crisis,
handguns like the one used to shoot
after addressing a labor meeting at the
emerges as the real No. 2 man on the
Reagan-but probably will not succeed.
Washington Hilton Hotel. James Brady,
22
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 13, 1981
tempt did not take long to become evi-
dent on Capitol Hill, where lawmakers
suddenly became reluctant to attack
the fallen President's proposals to cut
taxes and federal spending.
Said Richard Wirthlin, Reagan's poll-
ster: "The most avid readers of pub-
lished polls are the 435 members of the
House and 100 members of the Senate.
The economic program is not going to
get a free ride, but some of the closer
Idn
votes may tilt our way."
Confirmation of that view came
from Senator Gary Hart (D-Colo.), who
noted: "Just before the assassination at-
tempt, a number of Democrats were
getting ready to release critiques or
blasts. Now they won't do that.
The day after the shooting, on March
31, the GOP-dominated Senate beat
back half a dozen attempts to soften
the President's budget cuts. While the
outcome was assured even before the
attack, the Republicans picked up sur-
prising Democratic support.
"There will be a positive reaction in
Congress," predicted Max Frieders-
dorf, Reagan's chief lobbyist. "Any time
a leader is harmed in any way, there is
TIMOTHY
UPI
always a natural sympathy. It will en-
In the burst of gunfire, three others took bullets as well as Reagan-White House press
hance his relations with Congress. I
aide James Brady, left, Secret Service Agent Timothy J. McCarthy, top right, and
think it will increase his popularity."
Washington policeman Thomas K. Delahanty. All were expected to survive.
White House aides made it clear that
the administration would fully exploit
tive Bill Alexander (D-Ark.). "But will
House over who would be the adminis-
Reagan's condition in order to get its
Congress pass his tax cut because the
tration's official "crisis manager," a job
programs through Congress.
President was shot? The answer is no."
Haig wanted but which went to Bush.
Some lawmakers disputed the notion
If Reagan gained stature from the
The incidents led some Reagan advis-
that an outpouring of sympathy would
attempt to kill him, his White House
ers to press for the Secretary's ouster,
smooth the way for Reagan's proposals,
team, and Secretary of State Alexander
and such pressures are bound to grow.
particularly the one for a 30 percent
Haig in particular, were clear losers.
By contrast, Bush's low-key conduct
tax cut spread over three years.
"Serious flaws." A series of mislead-
after the shooting won applause from
"He will be stronger politically be-
ing announcements about whether the
members of the White House inner cir-
cause now he is a national hero on top
President had been wounded, and who
cle, who praised his steady perfor-
of being President," said Representa-
was in charge in the interim, exposed
mance and deference to Reagan.
what many analysts termed serious
Bush filled in at nearly every official
Nancy Reagan, arriving at hospital, was
flaws in the executive branch.
function at which the President would
described as exhausted, unable to eat.
Confusion peaked when Haig went
before television cameras soon after
the shooting and declared he was con-
stitutionally third in line for the Presi-
dency and "in control" of the White
House pending the return of Vice Pres-
ident Bush from a Texas trip.
As Haig spoke, his voice quavered, his
face perspired and his arms trembled.
His abrupt comments and shaky man-
ner drew harsh private criticism from
senior Reagan aides, who questioned
the propriety of the statements. His
announcement also triggered a behind-
the-scenes dispute with Defense Secre-
tary Caspar Weinberger over who was
in control of U.S. armed forces.
By executive order, military author-
ity in times of extraordinary emergency
passes from the President to the Vice
President to the Defense Secretary.
The flare-up came just a week after a
Secretary of State Alexander Haig, right,
flap between Haig and the White
angered White House staffers.
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 13, 1981
Looking for a motive, authorities found
evidence that Hinckley wanted to win the
love of young actress Jodie Foster.
cal way. The kid with a gentle gaze and
engaging smile gradually changed into
a lumpish young man with glassy eyes
and a glower. The manager of his col-
lege-town apartment building, Mark
Swafford, while unstopping Hinckley's
sink once, found "there were junk-food
bags and empty ice-cream cartons sit-
ting around all over the cabinets."
His parents, meantime, moved to an-
John Hinckley-
As a high-school pupil, Hinckley was
other plush home on the edge of a golf
an "average student, neither the type
course in the exclusive Denver suburb
to be in the National Merit Scholarship
of Evergreen. His mother played ten-
A Misfit Who
program nor at the bottom of the
nis and did volunteer work. His father
class," said a classmate, Thomas Black-
joined a Bible-study class. They ar-
Craved Fame
well. "He was noticeable, but he was
ranged psychiatric help for their son
not the outstanding type."
but seldom talked of him to others.
So obscure was Hinckley at Highland
Early warning? There had been one
Estranged from family and
Park High School that Principal E.A.
earlier brush with the law. Last Octo-
Sigler says: "When this came up, I had
ber, Hinckley was arrested in Nashville
friends, in love with a movie
to look back to verify that he was a
and fined $50 after trying to board an
actress he never met, the man
graduate."
airliner with three handguns. Presi-
accused of shooting Reagan
Sigler and others who knew Hinck-
dent Carter was in town that day.
is one of society's losers.
ley speculate that his emotional prob-
The Hinckley family-described as
lems may stem from feelings of failure
"just destroyed" by the shootings-has
Behind the gun that shot the Presi-
to measure up to expectations. A friend
gone into seclusion and sent condo-
dent was but a shadow of a man, a
asserts: "There are pressures in the
lences to those wounded. They have
figure both strange and too familiar.
family to achieve."
hired the firm of Edward Bennett Wil-
John Warnock Hinckley, Jr., didn't
Hinckley's father took a $120,000 in-
liams, one of the nation's best-known
fit into society-but he fit the pattern.
vestment in 1970 and built an oil-and-
trial lawyers, to defend their son.
A loner. A drifter. Jobless. Soft look-
gas-exploration company that had reve-
Authorities looking for clues to
ing. Barely known by those whose lives
nues of 4.87 million dollars last year. His
Hinckley's behavior focused on letters
he touched, his passage marked by clut-
older brother, Scott, is vice president of
he wrote to actress Jodie Foster, best
ter and grime and confused scribblings.
his father's firm. Ironically, Scott is a
known for playing a teen-age prostitute
"If you don't love me, I'm going to
casual friend of Neil Bush, the Vice
in "Taxi Driver," a film about a dement-
kill the President," he reportedly
President'sson, and family members are
ed loser who stalks a political figure.
wrote to an actress he had never met.
known as staunch Reagan supporters.
An unmailed letter Hinckley wrote
In many of these aspects, Hinckley
The youth's older sister; Diane, is the
to Foster reportedly said: "I would
was of a kind with the losers who stalk
wife of a Dallas insurance underwriter
abandon this idea of getting Reagan in
the leaders-like Lee Harvey Oswald
and mother of two small children.
a second if I could only win your heart
who shot John Kennedy, like Sirhan
"Everything fits perfectly except
and live out the rest of my life with
Sirhan who shot Robert Kennedy, like
John," observes a family friend.
you, whether it be in total obscurity or
Arthur Bremer who shot George Wal-
Hinckley, now 25, did try to succeed.
whatever. I will admit to you that the
lace. In fact, a photograph of Oswald
He enrolled at Texas Tech University
reason I'm going ahead with this at-
and a newspaper clipping about John
in 1973, studying business administra-
tempt now is because I just cannot wait
Lennon, former Beatles' rock musician
tion. He made the dean's honor list in
any longer to impress you.
shot to death on Dec. 8, 1980, were
1977, but he couldn't keep up the
"Jodie," the letter closes, "I'm asking
found in his Washington hotel room.
pace. He went to college for seven
you to please look into your heart and at
Yet the man who is linked this time
years, off and on, never graduating.
least give me the chance with this his-
to the smoking gun had some unusual
One professor, Otto Nelson, recalls
torical deed to gain your respect and
characteristics.
Hinckley because the student chose to
love. I love you forever, John Hinckley."
John Hinckley was a child of wealth,
do a report on Hitler's autobiography,
Hinckley failed in that attack, as in so
privilege and influence. The son of an
Mein Kampf. Says Nelson: "He made
much else. Now the boy brought up in
oilman, he was reared in a $300,000
an A minus.
I have to conclude that
a mansion is at a federal correctional
home in Highland Park, an old-money
he read the material' carefully and
facility in North Carolina, in a room
enclave of Dallas with huge oak trees,
thought about it effectively." Another
with sink, toilet, single bed, one bullet-
azaleas, pools and fountains.
teacher recalls: "There were usually
proof window-and no TV or radio.
He played junior-high basketball. In
empty chairs around him, as if he con-
Meanwhile, a shaken society tries to
the seventh and ninth grades, he was
sciously chose to sit apart."
figure out what to do with someone
homeroom president. It wasn't noted
Unnoticed figure. One measure of
who thought that the killing of a Presi-
then, but his life had peaked already.
Hinckley's isolation: About two dozen
dent could win him the love of a
Hinckley became less active in bas-
high-school classmates were on the
stranger.
ketball by the ninth grade, recalls child-
Texas Tech campus with him, and not
hood friend Kirk Dooley, because "some
one can recall having seen him.
By JOHN S. LANG with bureaus in Houston, Denver,
of the other guys began to be quicker."
Hinckley's decline showed in a physi-
Chicago and Lós Angeles
26
0
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 13, 1981
have appeared. One day included an
early morning White House staff meet-
Line of succession as set
ing and a national-security briefing.
Who's in Charge
by the Presidential
Succession Act of 1947-
Later there were sessions with labor
When a President
leaders, cabinet officers, members of
Is Out of Action?
Vice
Congress and, finally, talks with envoys
President
from Poland and Turkey.
Once the President leaves the hospi-
Events of March 30 raised troubling ques-
tal, Bush and others are believed likely
tions about who runs the government when a
House
to retain control over many of the du-
President dies, becomes disabled or loses
Speaker
ties they inherited. For the Vice Presi-
touch with the White House.
dent, this new eminence could pay big
Despite past efforts to set up an orderly
dividends if his boss decides against
transfer of power that would cover all contin-
Senate
seeking a second term in 1984.
gencies, the shooting of President Reagan un-
President
Meanwhile, the White House
covered several murky areas in the law.
Pro Tem
strained to project an image of business
This much is clear:
as usual-a campaign credited by many
If Reagan had died-Vice President George
Secretary
with helping defuse public panic.
Bush would have become President. Under the 25th Amend-
of State
Everything possible was done to de-
ment, ratified in 1967, Bush then could have named a new
pict Reagan as rapidly shaking off the
Vice President, subject to confirmation by a majority of
effects of his wound, and also to convey
members of the House and Senate.
Secretary
of the
the impression of a White House func-
Simultaneous vacancies in both the Presidency and Vice
Presidency would have triggered a 1947 law, illustrated in
Treasury
tioning smoothly and calmly.
No pictures of Reagan were allowed
the accompanying chart, that puts Speaker of the House
until he could present a relatively robust
Thomas P. "Tip" 'Neill, Jr., (D-Mass.) third in the order of
Secretary
appearance free of drainage tubes. On
succession, followed by Senate President Pro Tem Strom
of Defense
the morning after his operation, he
Thurmond (R-S.C.) and members of the cabinet in the order
made a point of signing a bill scrubbing
their departments were created.
If a President is incapacitated-A Chief Executive unable
Attorney
an increase in federal milk-price sup-
General
ports. A day later, he conducted a staff
to discharge his duties may, under the 25th Amendment,
meeting, and on the next he was receiv-
step aside by informing the Speaker of the House and presi-
ing full national-security briefings.
dent pro tem of the Senate. The Vice President then would
Secretary
Command post. All the props of the
become acting President until the President declared him-
of Interior
Presidency were assembled at the hos-
self fit.
pital. Rooms on Reagan's floor were
If a President is disabled but unwilling or unable to step
Secretary
hastily transformed into a miniature
aside voluntarily, succession becomes more complex-and
of
White House-a complete communica-
potentially explosive. The Vice President, when backed by a
Agriculture
tions command post, filing cabinets,
majority of cabinet members, may officially declare the Pres-
desks, typewriters and other office
ident unable "to discharge the powers and duties of his
equipment.
office" and may assume the role of acting President. Resis-
Secretary
of
No one expects the shooting to make
tance by the President would throw the matter into Con-
Commerce
Reagan a prisoner of the White House,
gress, where within days the action must be affirmed by a
shunning public appearances for fear
two-thirds vote of both chambers or the President must be
of another attempt on his life.
restored to office.
Secretary
Reagan wore a bulletproof vest on
If a crisis occurs-Who ran the country while Reagan lay in
of Labor
several occasions during the campaign
surgery under anesthesia? It was during this period that the
but apparently has not used one since.
lines of authority apparently became tangled.
Secretary
He is expected to put one on again for
Secretary of State Alexander Haig declared shortly after
of Health
occasions when he is deemed especially
the assassination attempt that "constitutionally I am in
and Human
vulnerable. The Secret Service is con-
control here in the White House, pending return of the Vice
Services
sidering additional agents for his guard
President." Bush was then returning to Washington from
detail and may keep more distance be-
Texas but staying in touch with Haig and other officials at the
Secretary
tween the President and crowds.
White House.
of Housing
and Urban
But once Reagan has bounced back
In fact, Haig was not in charge. If a domestic crisis had
Develop-
from his injury, aides predict, he will
occurred that required a presidential decision, Bush would
ment
resume public appearances. He still
have been in command despite his absence from Washing-
plans a series of trips across the country
ton. If Bush had been unavailable, the Speaker of the House
Secretary
to sell his economic program, plus an
would have been next in the regular order of succession.
of Trans-
April 27-28 visit to Mexico to confer
What Haig meant to convey, it was later explained, was
portation
with President José López Portillo.
that as the senior cabinet official he had assumed control
Whatever happens later, loyalists of
over the White House Situation Room, a is-communica-
Secretary
both parties agreed on one thing: For-
tions center
of Energy
mer actor Ronald Reagan on March 30
If both Reagan and Bush had been disabled or cut off from
played in real life the role of hero more
communication during a military crisis, responsibility over
convincingly than in any movie he
the nation's defenses would have devolved not to the Speak-
Secretary
ever made.
er, or Haig, but to Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger
of
Education
under a secret national command authority" directive that
By WILLIAM L CHAZE with the magazine's White
recent Presidents, including Reagan, have endorsed
House and congressional staffs
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 13, 1981
25
Did Secret
been typical. Reporters wait-
ing to question Reagan as he
left a speaking engagement
inside were directed to stand
Service Drop
behind a rope stretched
across the sidewalk. The public was
also allowed into the area, and the gun-
man moved up alongside reporters and
Its Guard?
cameramen close to the hotel exit used
by the President.
Agents insist that in these settings,
RON EDMONDS-WIDE WORLD
there is little they can do to keep by-
As soon as the gunfire died
President, as some onlookers claim to
standers away. "We would like to move
away, inquiries began. A
have done?
people back farther, but those we pro-
Should the Secret Service have
key question was whether the
tect and the media would not allow it,
known about Hinckley because of his
and it's not realistic in a democracy,"
President's protectors had
earlier arrest on a firearms charge in
says John W. Warner, Jr., a Secret Ser-
done everything they could.
Nashville during a presidential visit?
vice official.
Has security become lax on rou-
Several eyewitnesses reported after
The shooting of Ronald Reagan only
tine presidential travel in Washington?
the shooting that they had seen Hinck-
1½ miles from the White House un-
Whenever the President leaves the
ley pacing nervously near the hotel
derscores a truism of the times: It is not
White House, agents scour his route
exit-behavior that agents are trained
possible to fully protect a President un-
step by step in advance, checking
to regard as suspicious. But no agent
less he is willing to become a recluse.
streets for danger points, securing
spotted the man and moved in on him.
Even so, the latest attack-the third
building corridors and reviewing
The Secret Service brands these re-
attempt in six years to gun down a
crowd-control procedures.
ports as mistaken. Agency spokesman
Chief Executive in a public place-is
Still, there inevitably are gaps in the
Warner declared that people saw not
prompting a hard look at the Secret
defensive measures because "politi-
Hinckley but "someone else-a strange
Service, the elite corps that guards the
cians want to be near the people," says
person who frequents the area. We had
President. Congress, the Secret Ser-
Richard Davis, a former assistant Trea-
him under surveillance."
vice's parent Treasury Department
sury secretary who had authority over
The danger list. Another question
and the agency itself are asking these
the Secret Service. Davis notes that ev-
troubling some is why Hinckley was
questions—
ery President relishes contact with the
not listed in a computerized Secret
How was the man charged as the
public, whether he stops to chat,
Service file on about 25,000 persons,
assailant, John W. Hinckley, Jr., able to
shakes hands or merely waves.
many of whom are mentally ill and
get within 15 to 25 feet of Reagan as
Hotel entrances, where crowds gath-
have threatened public figures. About
the Chief Executive left a Washington
er to see a visiting Chief Executive, are
400 of those on the list are considered
hotel?
special points of vulnerability. The se-
particularly dangerous. Their where-
Why didn't agents spot Hinckley
curity arrangements at the Washington
abouts are checked periodically.
on the scene as a potential threat to the
Hilton on March 30 appear to have
Hinckley was arrested last October 9
in the Nashville airport for pos-
Agent Timothy McCarthy lies wounded on the sidewalk outside the Washington Hilton shortly
sessing three handguns on the
after he attempted to shield Reagan from gunfire with his own body.
same day that President Jimmy
Carter visited the city, but the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
did not inform the Secret Ser-
vice of the case. Dr. Frank Och-
berg, the state of Michigan's
mental-health director and a Se-
cret Service consultant, says
that, had the agency known
about the Nashville incident,
"agents would have investigated
and might have identified
POLIC
Hinckley as a 'stalker' who fol-
lows Presidents."
But Secret Service officials say
that even if they had known
about the firearms case, Hinck-
ley probably would not have
been put under surveillance and
agents would not necessarily
have learned that he had come
to Washington in late March.
As to whether agents uncon-
sciously let down their guard in
Washington, where presidential
travel is routine, former Trea-
sury official Davis believes that
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT
27
"it's possible." He adds: "Trips to the
Washington Hilton are so repetitive it's
like a milk run."
9 Others
If Ronald Reagan's medical prognosis
Despite the questioning of their
is correct, he will be the first sitting
work before the shooting, Secret Ser-
vice agents are given high marks for
Who Faced
President to survive a gunshot wound.
Nine of the 38 Presidents before him
were attacked by armed assailants. Four
their actions once bullets started to fly.
They followed the book to the letter:
Assassins
Presidents died. For a look at earlier as-
The agent closest to the President
sassination attempts and the assailants:
quickly shoved him into his limousine,
while another agent, Timothy McCar-
thy, stepped into the line of fire, stop-
Andrew Jackson: Richard Lawrence, a psychotic who
ping with his own body a bullet that
thought himself King Richard III of England, aimed two
might have hit Reagan. McCarthy is
pistols at Jackson in the Capitol in Washington on Jan. 30,
the first agent ever wounded while
1835. Both pistols misfired, and Jackson was unhurt. Ruled
guarding a President. Other agents
insane, Lawrence was committed to an asylum for life.
forced the gunman to the ground.
When the Secret Service men no-
Abraham Lincoln: John Wilkes Booth, an actor who favored
ticed that Reagan was coughing up
the South in the Civil War, entered an unguarded box at a
blood, they rushed him to a nearby
Washington theater and shot Lincoln in the head. The
hospital. The agents in the presidential
President died the next day, April 15, 1865. Booth was
limousine are being faulted by some,
killed when soldiers attempted to arrest him 11 days later.
however, for allowing the President to
walk into the emergency room despite
his injury.
James Garfield: As Garfield strolled through a Washington,
Protection experts say that although
D.C., railroad station on July 2, 1881, he was shot by
presidential security will always have
Charles J. Guiteau, a radical member of the President's own
its limits, more can be done.
Republican Party. Garfield died more than two months
For one thing, Chief Executives
later. Guiteau was convicted of murder and hanged.
could wear bulletproof garments in
public. President Ford used such a vest
William McKinley: Leon F. Czolgosz, an anarchist, shot
after he faced gun-wielding women
McKinley in the chest and stomach at the Pan-American
twice within three weeks in 1975. But
Exposition in Buffalo, N.Y., on Sept. 6, 1901. McKinley died
he found the heavy clothing cumber-
eight days later. Convicted of murder in a one-day trial,
some and soon gave it up.
Czolgosz was electrocuted at an Auburn, N.Y., state prison.
Reagan wore a bulletproof jacket
several times during the 1980 cam-
Theodore Roosevelt: John IN. Schrank, who claimed he
paign after threats were made against
was instructed by the ghost off McKinley, shot Roosevelt in
him, but he is not known to have done
the chest on Oct. 14, 1912, as the ex-President was cam-
so since taking office.
Too much work? Secret Service
paigning for another term. Roosevelt recovered. Schrank
was ruled insane and died in a mental hospital in 1943.
manpower could be increased, though
the 1,550-member force has already
grown substantially in recent years. Be-
Franklin D. Roosevelt: Giuseppe Zangara, blaming capital-
sides protecting Presidents and their
ists for his stomach pains, fined a pistol at then President-
families, agents guard ex-Presidents,
elect Roosevelt in Miami, Fla., on Feb. 15, 1933. Roosevelt
foreign embassies and visiting heads of
escaped harm, but Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak was
state, and are responsible for investi-
killed. Zangara was tried and executed within days.
gating counterfeiting and forgery.
The catalog of potential President
Harry S. Truman: On Nov. 1, 1950, two Puerto Rican na-
killers is almost surely far from com-
tionalists, Oscar Collazo and Griselio Torresola, tried to
plete. Experts note that most of those
shoot their way into Blair House, Truman's temporary resi-
who have attempted to assassinate po-
dence. The President was unharmed. Torresola and a guard
litical figures in recent years did not
died. Truman commuted Collazo's death sentence.
appear on Secret Service lists. A scien-
tific panel will complete a study this
summer that is expected to lead to
John F. Kennedy: Rifle fire mortally wounded Kennedy in
some new Secret Service criteria for
a Dallas, Tex., motorcade an Nov. 22, 1963. Lee Harvey
identifying dangerous people.
Oswald, a pro-Castro radical, was arrested, but he was later
But most experts agree that no lists
fatally shot by Jack Ruby, a saloon owner. There is still
or added precautions can make Presi-
dispute over whether Oswalld was the lone assassin.
dents completely safe. John F. Kenne-
dy, who was assassinated in 1963, once
Gerald Ford: On Sept. 5, 1975, in Sacramento, Calif., drug-
summed it up this way: "If anyone
cult member Lynette Fromane pointed a pistol at Ford, but
wants to do it, no amount of protection
she was disarmed. Seventeen days later in San Francisco,
is enough. All a man needs is a willing-
Sara Jane Moore, a political activist, shot at the President
ness to trade his life for mine."
but missed. Both women are serving prison terms.
By TED GEST
28
U.S.INEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 13, 1981
ROCKY'S
POLICE EQUIPMEN
SHOP
DISCOUNT SALES
John W. Hinckley, Jr., went to Rocky's of
Dallas for a West German-designed .22-
caliber pistol similar to the one below, ac-
cording to police.
about $45 each for it and a
matching weapon.
The gun now belonged
to John Warnock Hinck-
ley, Jr., who is accused of
using it in the March 30
attack on President Rea-
gan; his press secretary,
DAVE
James Brady, and two
Saturday-Night Specials-
lawmen in Washington.
Four days before he
bought the pistols in Dallas, Hinckley
Plentiful and Easy to Get
was arrested in Nashville, charged with
carrying three guns, fined $50 plus court
costs and released-a fact not recorded
There's no trick to buying
the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco
on the Dallas gun form and not re-
a cheap gun like the one that
and Firearms-roughly 1 for every 3
quired. The charge was a misdemeanor.
wounded Reagan. Despite an
persons age 16 and older.
Citizens from coast to coast can buy
Some 20,000 Americans were mur-
handguns just about as easily.
import ban, they continue to
dered or accidentally killed or commit-
Virginia and Colorado, for example,
flood in from abroad.
ted suicide with handguns last year.
follow the Texas practice of requiring
Gun-control laws vary from place
some apparent proof of identity and
In many parts of America today, a
to place. But many are based on the
signature of the federal form. There's
license to drive is a license to buy a
federal Gun Control Act of 1968 re-
no waiting period. California requires a
pistol-few questions asked.
quiring little more than proof of age
15-day wait so authorities can make
That fact was illustrated once again
and residence-usually, a driver's li-
background checks-but Californians
in the attempted assassination of Presi-
cense-plus a seldom checked pledge
can cross the state line to Arizona,
dent Reagan. The gun fired at the
that the buyer is not a felon, a mental
where there is no wait.
President was a 22-caliber revolver
patient or a drug addict.
Scoffing at the law. Localities that
purchased over the counter in Dallas.
Despite the 1968 federal law, the
do have strict gun-control laws-New
Around the U.S., a survey shows,
components of small, cheap pistols
York City; Washington, D.C.; Detroit;
handguns are being purchased with
known as Saturday-night specials are
Cleveland, and Columbus, Ohio,
ease, including cheap foreign-made
pouring in from overseas. The law for-
among them-often see their efforts
models imported despite federal legis-
bade the importation of such guns-
frustrated for similar reasons. People
lation intended to keep them out of the
but it failed to cover weapons shipped
travel to a suburb or nearby county
country.
to this country as disassembled parts.
where the legal buying is easy or get
Police records show that handguns
Result: Gun merchants in West Germa-
illegal firearms bootlegged in from
are among the hottest-selling consum-
ny, Belgium, Brazil, Italy, Finland,
places such as Texas and Virginia.
er items in the United States. The cus-
France and Britain send the makings
While opinion polls show that most
tomer increasingly is the law-abiding
to U.S. plants for assembly.
Americans want tougher gun control,
citizen, convinced that the police can
The strands come together in the
millions are acting otherwise. Even in
no longer protect him or her from vio-
saga of the gun believed to have been
the aftermath of the Reagan attack,
lent criminals.
used to shoot the President, as outlined
House and Senate leaders say there is
Officials in the Miami area, for exam-
by federal law-enforcement officials:
no chance Congress will pass any
ple, report a huge upsurge in firearms
The parts of this pistol were manu-
sweeping control law this year.
registration-and 31 cases in which
factured by Roehm Firearms Company
The most that is likely to happen is
armed victims struck back at assailants
in Sontheim-Brenz, West Germany,
that lawmakers may try to close some
last year. "The sheep in the herd real-
and shipped to R.G. Industries in the
of the more glaring loopholes in the
ize that the shepherd is sitting bound
riot-scarred Liberty City area of Mi-
1968 law. One proposal getting men-
and gagged on the hillside," says Dade
ami. There, in a converted church sur-
tion: Tighten rules on imports to cut off
County Medical Examiner Joseph Da-
rounded by barbed wire, the parts
the trade in disassembled parts. Anoth-
vis. "So the sheep are fighting back."
were assembled into a weapon: A six-
er possibility: Much stiffer federal pen-
Says Fulton County, Ga., District At-
shot 22-caliber model known as an
alties for those who use guns in the
torney Lewis Slaton: "Atlanta is an
RG14, with a 1 /4-inch barrel and a re-
commission of crime. But such propos-
armed camp. We've got guns all over
tail list price of $39.45.
als are still in the talking stages, with
the place." Adds Denver Detective
An unidentified wholesaler bought
no indication when action might come.
John Mamuzich: "People are selling
the weapon and sold it to Rocky's Pawn-
Meantime, Americans are buying
guns out of the trunks of their cars. It's
shop in Dallas. There, say the records of
guns with little more inconvenience
as easy as selling a used lawn mower."
proprietor Rocky Goldstein, it was
than a trip to the grocer's.
Nationwide, the situation is this:
bought October 13 by a young man who
Private citizens now own about 50
showed a Texas driver's license, filled
By DAVID NAGY with the domestic bureaus of the
million handguns, by the estimate of
out the simple federal form and paid
magazine
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 13, 1981
29
Although the operation is
The President as Patient
considered a major one, Rea-
gan's surgery was neither ex-
traordinary nor rare.
-Behind the Scenes
"It's a standard type of proce-
dure," explains Dr. W. Gerald
Austen, chief of surgery and
cardiology at Massachusetts
Luck helped, but it was the
The bullet had bounced off a rib and
General Hospital. "We see it all too
Chief Executive himself who
lodged in the lower left lobe of the left
frequently."
turned out to be a vital cog
lung, causing significant bleeding and
It was not an easy night, however.
collapsing the lung.
Concern mounted in the recovery
in the race by doctors and
Attendants moved fast. A tube was
room. Reagan was breathing with the
nurses to save him.
quickly inserted in his chest to expand
help of a respirator, but tests to moni-
the lung and drain off blood pooling
tor oxygen in his blood were disturb-
Ronald Reagan emerged from a
inside the chest cavity.
ing. X-rays showed that blood clots
week of ordeal with a gunshot wound
Reagan never went into shock, but
were obstructing his airways.
in his lung, a 6-inch incision across his
his blood loss was so great that emer-
By 9 p.m., doctors decided to per-
chest-and a reputation as a world-
gency surgery was essential. He was
form a bronchoscopy-a procedure in
champion patient.
given a transfusion of 2½ quarts of
which a fiber-optic instrument is in-
The President was expected to make
blood-nearly half the normal volume
serted in a tube already in the patient's
a complete recovery. By April 3, he
of blood in the body. Roughly 40 min-
windpipe so that doctors can locate the
had progressed to the point that White
utes after arriving at the hospital, Rea-
blood clots and remove them.
House officials forecast he might re-
gan was in the operating room.
Slight setback. Reagan was on mor-
turn to the Oval Office-at least part
"The President was never in serious
phine to relieve the pain. His head was
time-within two weeks of being shot.
danger," said O'Leary. "At no point in
raised; he was alert and in good humor.
For the next six to eight weeks, the
time was he even remotely close to
But the attempted bronchoscopy failed
nation's First Patient is to increase his
extremis"-a medical term for death.
because of a kink in the tube.
activities gradually to regain his physi-
The 2-hour operation began with a
Throughout the night, nurses took
cal strength. If all goes well, doctors say
6-inch horizontal incision just below
turns removing blood clots through a
he will be able to ride horseback in two
the left nipple. Two ribs were
tube with a suction device. Fortunate-
to three months.
stretched apart to open up the chest.
ly, Reagan's lungs began to improve.
"The prognosis is excellent," said Dr.
The team, headed by Dr. Benjamin
By 2 a.m., X-rays showed that his lungs
Dennis O'Leary, dean of clinical affairs
Aaron, first made sure there was no
were close to normal, and an hour later
at George Washington University Hos-
bleeding from other organs such as the
he was taken off the respirator.
pital soon after surgery. "He is physio-
liver, kidneys, spleen, stomach.
At 6:15 a.m., the patient was moved
logically a very young man. There
Then the doctors turned to the lung
to the intensive-care unit, jammed
should be no complications or perma-
and removed the bullet. They looked
with nurses in yellow uniforms and
nent injuries."
at the heart and examined major arter-
banks of dials and TV screens that
A bright side. Reagan is considered a
ies. Finding everything in order, they
monitor vital signs of the very sick.
lucky case-lucky that the 22-caliber
sewed up their patient and transferred
Fifteen hours later, Reagan was
bullet missed his heart by several inch-
him to the recovery room.
moved again-this time to a $234-a-
es and lucky that he reached the hospi-
tal emergency room quickly.
Dr. Dennis O'Leary shows reporters how
He was also lucky, doctors say, that
bullet entered the President's body.
at age 70, he had no underlying health
problems that could have exacerbated
STEFFAN
his wound or slowed his recovery.
More than luck pulled the President
Bullet's
through, however. Talks with the doc-
Path
tors and nurses on the surgical and in-
tensive-care teams make that clear.
They told the behind-the-scenes story
of what happens when the President of
Left
the U.S. is rushed to a big-city hospital.
Lung
George Washington University Hos-
pital, three fourths of a mile west of the
White House, is an older teaching insti-
tution with up-to-date facilities.
At 2:35 p.m., on March 30, Reagan
walked in the door of its emergency
room with the aid of Secret Service
men, then fell to one knee. He was
Bullet
pale, lightheaded. He was coughing up
ricocheted
blood and gasping for breath. Not until
off seventh
attendants stretched him out in the re-
riband
suscitation bay of the emergency room
entered lower
and cut away his clothes did everyone
USN&WR.drawing
leftlung.
realize that he had been shot.
30
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 13, 1981
from the White House without Se-
cret Service men. He wondered if
A President Who
he now might wear a bulletproof
vest whenever he is in crowds.
Enjoys a Josh
At one point, Reagan swapped old
It was a stream of wisecracks
rhymes with a doctor. He was con-
cerned about the brand-new blue
and jests from a wounded Ronald
pin-striped suit he had been wear-
Reagan that reassured Americans
ing. He got a newspaper, skipped
most in the wake of an attempted
the assassination stories, noted the
presidential assassination.
THERE AINT NO REPUBLICANS OR
finding of another black child's body
Even with a bullet in his chest,
DEMOCRATS NOW... WE ARE ALL FAMILY
in Atlanta and turned to the comics.
he was making such quips as
The entertainer. Throughout the
these-
GET WELL QUICK RON
President's stay in the hospital, his
To his wife Nancy: "Honey, I
WE NEED YOU!
America
sense of humor stood out. His one-
forgot to duck."
liners revealed the Hollywood per-
To the surgeons who were
P.S. WE CANT AFFORD TO LOSE A CUSTOMER
former with a vaudevillian's heart.
about to operate on him: "Please
For all the humorous quips that
tell me you're all Republicans."
drew laughs, however, there were
When tubes in his throat kept
just as many that flopped, said the
him from talking during the hours
staff.
that followed surgery, Reagan
Doctors know that humor is im-
turned to a pencil and pad.
A firm that rents uniforms hung this banner
portant in responding to stress and
Told that a nurse would spend
across street from Reagan's hospital.
in speeding up the recovery pro-
the night in his recovery room, he
cess. In the recovery room, Reagan's
wrote: "Does Nancy know?"
day private room with beige walls, two
one-liners-written on a pad-not only
Said another note: "If I'd gotten
blue easy chairs, a rust-colored sofa and
showed that the patient was in good
this much attention in Holly-
a television set hung on the wall.
spirits but reassured the medical team
wood, I would not have left."
Meanwhile, the White House took over
as to his general condition.
One of the President's notes
a corridor for use of Reagan's secretary
"It was a time of high anxiety," re-
read: "As Winnie Churchill said,
and the Secret Service.
calls Dr. Jack E. Zimmerman. "The X-
"There is no more exhilarating
Despite those accommodations, the
ray and oxygen studies were bother-
feeling than being shot without
hospital's guiding principle was to treat
some. He knew we were worried, but
results.'
Reagan like any other patient so that
it was hard to get overwhelmed when
After undergoing a particularly
no medical mistakes would be made in
you have a patient putting out one-
painful medical procedure, Rea-
the tense atmosphere.
liners. It gave everybody reassurance
gan paraphrased the epitaph of
To the hospital staff, Reagan was a
that the patient was doing all right."
comedian W. C. Fields: "All in all,
model patient. "What impressed me
According to a New York City inter-
I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
was that he was willing to do anything
nist, Dr. William M. Hitzig, laughing
When Reagan could talk again,
that would make him get better fast-
and joking have a metabolic effect on
he rattled off these one-liners—
er," says nurse Maureen McCann.
the body. Humor, Hitzig explains,
To daughter Maureen: "One of
For instance, the key to recovery
changes the salivary glands to produce
my new suits is ruined."
from lung surgery is physiotherapy to
more juice. It stimulates hormones
To his three highest White
exercise the lungs. Every 4 hours, Rea-
from the pituitary, hypothalamus and
House aides: "Who's minding the
gan had to turn over on his stomach.
adrenal glands-even the sex glands.
store?" and "Well, I guess I really
The nurses clapped his back to vibrate
For the medical staff, one of the
screwed up the schedule today."
his body and shake the secretions in his
lightest moments came when nurse
To an aide who told him that he
lung in order to prevent pneumonia.
McCann resolved a major mystery. She
would be happy to know the gov-
This was very important because Rea-
was combing Reagan's hair, parting
ernment was running normally in
gan had been hospitalized for pneumo-
first one side, then the other and quiet-
his absence: "What makes you
nia many years ago. "Someone like you
ly examining the roots. "Now," the
think I'd be happy about that?"
saved my life," Reagan told McCann.
President said, "you can tell the world
To a nurse who told him to keep
"She sat by my bedside and kept saying,
I don't dye my hair."
up the good work: "You mean this
'Breathe, breathe, breathe.' Vibrating
Meanwhile, the business of the Presi-
may happen several more times?"
the back can be very painful over a fresh
dency went on. The day after surgery,
On learning that he would not
surgical incision. "He never com-
Reagan signed a bill limiting dairy sup-
be well enough to throw out the
plained," says McCann.
ports. He worried about his signature,
first ball to open the major-league
Physiotherapy also includes forced
made wobbly by intravenous tubes in
baseball season on April 8: "I am a
coughing to bring up sputum. In anoth-
his arm. He met with aides. He read
right-hander, and it is the left side
er exercise, Reagan used a deep-
memos. He made decisions.
that hurts."
breathing device which involved suck-
When a question arose over whether
Reagan cracked most of his
ing on a tube to measure the strength
Secretary of State Alexander Haig
jokes before learning that his
of his lungs.
should cancel his trip to the Middle
press secretary, James Brady, had
In between exercises, medications
East, it was the President who decided
been critically wounded in the
and examinations, Reagan talked and
he should go.
assassination attempt. Tears filled
talked. He told nurse Debbie Augsbach
"The world has not stopped just be-
his eyes when he was told of Bra-
about growing up in a small town and
cause of this," said Reagan.
dy's plight. "Oh, damn," the Pres-
about his father. He reminisced about
ident said. "Oh, damn."
how President Truman could walk
By ABIGAIL TRAFFORD
U.S.NEWS & WORLD REPORT, April 13, 1981
U.S. 4/13/81 Thored 31 Report
Why U.S. Lifestyle
awareness that this is going to be a
notorious and even historic event.
Q Would the recent trend of closing
mental hospitals be putting more potential
Produces Assassins
assassins on the streets?
A I don't think there's clear evi-
dence that assassination is a function of
A new attempt on a President's life raises old questions:
mental illness per se.
Why do such attempts continue? What will it take to bring them
Q What about the growing leniency in
sentencing-does that raise the level of
to a halt? For answers, the magazine went to a noted
assassination risks?
psychiatrist and consultant on violent crime.
A The odds are that locking up peo-
ple longer for crimes is no solution,
Q Dr. Menninger, what accounts for
since people who have made assassina-
the string of assassination attempts
tion attempts are people who have
against national leaders in the last two
never committed a crime for which
decades?
they would have been locked up. Any-
A Every society produces its alienat-
way, our whole philosophy does not
ed persons who try to carry out their
call for preventive detention.
own agenda, but some characteristics
Q Would the frequency of assassina-
of ours increase the potential risk.
tion attempts in recent years be due, in
For one thing, more guns are avail-
part at least, to the media-especially the
able than ever before-and these are
influence of television?
the main weapons in assassination as
A Not necessarily. Yet I think the
well as violent crime, of which we have
great expansion of the media has pro-
more than any other Western industri-
W. Walter Menninger, senior staff psychia-
duced an overload of communications
alized nation.
trist at the Menninger Foundation.
for some people-and television, which
We also have a tradition of individual
makes an event so immediately known,
freedoms-and more resistance to lim-
be loners and don't have effective so-
can certainly be a factor.
its on those freedoms.
cial relations with other people, at least
Q Do assassinations in this country of-
Another thing is affluence. Potential
currently. They are generally unmar-
ten develop from political or economic
assassins can easily go to where their
ried or have had a very poor marital
grievances?
target is. In the John Lennon case, the
relationship. They are people without a
A More so in the last century, per-
alleged assassin flew in from Hawaii.
consistent work history, particularly in
haps, assassins have had some kind of
Q As a psychiatrist who has been in-
the year or so before the assassination
specific but distorted political reason to
volved in studies of violence and presi-
attempt is made.
justify their action-but not as a mem-
dential security, how did you react to the
They are individuals who consistent-
ber of an organized political move-
attempt on President Reagan's life?
ly use a handgun as their weapon and
ment. They are personal zealots.
A My initial response was that I
select a moment when a well-known
In the Reagan case, I don't think we
wasn't surprised-in part, because I've
figure is appearing in public. Until the
really know the motivation of the ac-
been reviewing some of the data on
attempts by Lynette "Squeaky"
cused assassin, despite press reports.
assassinations and, in part, because of
Fromme and Sara Jane Moore on then-
Q Is it significant that, in this country,
the tenor of the times.
President Ford, they were all males.
attacks on leaders come from loners,
Moreover, this is a President of
Q Do assassins share a particular fam-
while Western Europe's problem is terror-
strong and forceful character, who has
ily background or class level?
ist groups?
expressed his opinions on public issues
A In nearly all instances, there has
A That's one of the striking con-
that excite emotions and who is not
been some hint of early disruption in
trasts thus far: We have been less sub-
viewed as a conciliator. This sets the
family life. The list does cut across class
ject to the terrorist approaches. That
stage for making him a lightning rod—
somewhat, but the striking thing is
doesn't mean we may not be, and I'm
a target for assassination.
that, as yet, none have been black.
well aware that the FBI and other
Q Is a profile building up on persons
Q Does the desire for attention or
federal law-enforcement agencies are
who try to carry out assassinations?
fame play a strong role in a person's de-
constantly concerned about that
A Not a specific profile, but there
sire to kill a prominent person?
possibility.
are common elements.
A At some level, I would think, the
Q Is there some way to greatly reduce
Characteristically, assassins tend to
would-be assassin must clearly have an
the threat of assassination in the United
States?
Five Assailants and Their Targets
A There's no simple answer. In
democratic philosophy, the elected
leader frequently performs ceremonial
and political tasks in public. There is no
perfect way to forestall attempted as-
sassinations short of confining the Pres-
ident to the White House and limiting
his communication with the public to
television broadcasts and other media.
Other nations can, by totalitarian
means, limit people's access to travel as
Lee Oswald
Sirhan Sirhan
Arthur Bremer
Lynette Fromme
Sara Jane Moore
well as to weapons. I don't think we're
(John Kennedy)
(Robert Kennedy)
(George Wallace)
(Geraid Ford)
(Gerald Ford)
about to go in that direction.
32
Copyright © 1981, U.S.News & World Report, Inc.
NATIONAL REVIEW
4/17/81
Reagan's Finest Hour
tonald Reagan has exorcised the national nightmare.
He looked it in the eye and cracked some jokes. His
143 sanity was overwhelming, and the baggy. neurotic
levils of self-hatred slunk back into the shadows. We
re not. repeat not, a sick society, Reagan told us with
:is jokes. His own behavior provided an exemplary
netaphor. I'e cannot be defeated, at home or abroad,
gan said in effect, "Cut it out, boys. Grow up.'
f we refuse to be defeated.
quipped that the shooting had ruined a favorite
"Honey, forgot to duck," he said when he first saw
Surrounded by squads of physicians, he said th
his wife. Distraught. she was reassured. "Who's mind-
he'd had this much attention in Hollywood he IT
ng the store?" he asked his assembled aides, reassur-
have stayed there.
ing them too-and also reminding them that there is a
Reagan did not have to say so directly, and in
store which they must mind. As he went into the oper-
he made his point more powerfully by making us
ating room he quipped to the surgeons, "I hope you're
it ourselves: The United States is the most stable
all Republicans." (One of the physicians-as reported
public in the history of the world. It was thus desig
by the magnificent Dr. Dennis O'Leary, hospital
by its founders. Four of its Presidents have been k
spokesman-responded with answering style: "Today
in office, and others have been the targets of assass
everyone is a Republican.") And when Reagan came
But all transitions have been remarkably peaceful
out of surgery he once again reassured us with a joke:
orderly. The great ship of the Republic sails
"All in all, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
through all seas, however stormy. It cannot be $
Reagan knew with his utterly sure instinct that on
by a .22 slug.
Monday afternoon the nation itself had once again
The day after surgery, the President signed a
been wounded psychically. Suddenly, in a psychic ex-
eliminating an increase in dairy price supports.
plosion, all of those old images burst again into the
Reagan revolution rolls forward, picking up mom
national consciousness, magnified by television, turned
tum. Runaway legal services to be cut back. Cr.
into terrible metaphors. Kennedy in the open car.
requirements for ramps and lifts for wheelchairs C
Ruby and Oswald. King in Memphis. Funeral trains.
celed. A more balanced policy toward southern A
Bobby in Los Angeles. Squeaky Fromme. The Moore
ca. A larger role for private initiative in park lan
wornar. Hours and hours of TV coverage. Once again,
A growing national consensus, now acknowledged
this time, the idiot chorus began to warm up. Senator
be irresistible, for across-the-board budget cuts.
Bill Bradley of New Jersey, who seems intent these
have the momentum, the President was telling us
days on turning himself into a walking banality, in-
his cool, steady behavior. Let us not be distracted.
toned that we are a sick society. Dan Rather, who
In a single afternoon, as we say, Ronald Reagan e
might as well have been nude on CBS-TV, all but fan-
orcised what might be called the "Kennedy nigh
tasized a coup by Al Haig, blah, blah, blah.
mare," the view that absurdity controls our destin
With his jokes and his courage and his sanity Rea-
He proved that a physical wound need not be a sp
itual wound, and from his bed in the George Washin
ton University Hospital he reminded America of wh
it actually is. We cannot remember when an America
statesman has so naturally exhibited the virtue of gra
under pressure.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR
4/10/81
1981
23
DN AND COMMENTARY
Richard L. Strout
Closeness counts
Washington
York Times, as had his father before him. Ike left things "to
White House press secretaries are a breed of their own
Jim." Hagerty brought television into the press conferences.
and have rarely been studied by political scientists. They are
first with edited snatches and then with longer items (but live
so close to the president that James Brady was tragically in
coverage waited for Jack Kennedy by way of Pierre Salin-
the line of fire at the attempt on President Reagan's life. In
ger).
the nature of things they must be in sympathy with the presi-
Hagerty changed history at one point and it is this that I
dent whose views they attempt to articulate. They stand
associate him. The CIA had invented the U-2 spy plane. a
close in at a great public gathering, listening to the way the
floppy-winged glider built round a jet engine that could fly
president utters the sentences written for him, buoyed by a
right over Russia watching impotent Soviet attack planes be-
hearty round of applause or cast down by the failure of a
low, and equipped with a camera that could see a golf ball on
supposedly electric phrase to strike a spark. Some of these
a green at 50,000 feet. Suddenly it was knocked out of the air
press secretaries have developed great power.
by a new Soviet rocket as Ike prepared for the summit with
The Brady-Reagan relationship gave promise of being one
Khrushchev in Paris in May 1960. After the summit Ike was
of the happiest. I watched a group of reporters at breakfast
supposed to go to Russia, to return Khrushchev's visit to the
the other morning pestering genial Jim Brady. He enjoyed it.
US. His pleasant face in Russia might have tempered the
He kept his affability and calm through eggs and bacon and I
cold war - who knows?
jotted down in my notes "a valuable man for the President!'
The crucial question, though, was whether Ike would ac-
Past White House secretaries, I thought, would welcome him
knowledge that he had been spying on Russia, contrary to
historically as their equal. Alas, I did not know the tragedy
international protocol. or would issue a diplomatic plea of
ahead.
personal ignorance that would probably have preserved rela-
Let me review some members of this unusual calling.
tions. First the administration issued ambiguous cover sto-
President Roosevelt's Stephen T. Early put the modern
ries under Hagerty's directions, to the effect that pilot Glenn
stamp on the White House-press relations. He was a witty,
Powers was unfortunately "off course" when the Russians
amiable expositor of the administration and served an
knocked him down, presumably destroying him and his
amazing 142 months.
plane. Ike was in Gettysburg chuckling over golf scores with
Harry Truman and Charlie Ross followed the Roosevelt
George Allen.
team: Charlie was one of the most gentlemanly men who
ever held the job. He was in Truman's high school class in
On May 7 Khrushchev sprang his surprise. He had cap-
Independence. Mo., and it was he (not the bespectacled Tru-
tured the US pilot and Powers was talking: Washington had
man) that the class voted "most likely to succeed." Harry
directed the overflights. Would Ike take responsibility? To
and Charlie sat down one night at the White House and called
admit participation might ruin the summit; to feign igno-
up their old high school teacher and thanked her for what she
rance would weaken him at home in a field in which he was
had done for them. Charlie was former head of the Washing-
sensitive. On a drive back to Washington Hagerty apparently
ton bureau of the St. Louis Post Dispatch. The best White
encouraged him to accept responsibility.
House press secretaries, I think, are former newsmen.
These events followed: On May 11 Ike said he knew of the
The list comes down to modern presidents: the two Rons,
flights; May 16 - Khrushchev in Paris for the summit can-
for example, Ron Ziegler for Nixon and Ron Nessen for Ger-
celed the invitation to Ike to visit Russia (they had even pre-
ald Ford. There was Jody Powell for President Carter - who
pared a golf course for him); Ike in Paris, grim, said no more
was ideal in that he knew the President inside out and talked
overflights but called Khrushchev's "ultimatum" unaccep-
with him 30 minutes every morning. (The least satisfactory
table. May 17 - the summit (attended by DeGaulle and Mac-
press secretaries are the ones who don't know what is going
millan) collapsed and so did Ike's hopes for détente and
on.) But Jody had the limitations of most of the Carter group:
world conciliation.
it was too ingrown and would have been better off with
Here was a case where a powerful press secretary. at a
broader experience.
critical juncture, apparently gave council that changed his-
Of all press secretaries of modern times Jim Hagerty was
tory. Ah, me - that is the business of White House press
most influential. He had been a first-rate reporter on the New
secretaries, to be very close to their presidents
Regan's surprise
It seems to be fashionable these days to
ment. Our people are in here by 7:30 in the
hurl darts at the federal government and its
morning, certainly by 8. When I left last night
burgeoning bureaucracy. To be sure, there is
at twenty of eight, there were still people
a lot of waste and redundancy in the system.
around here working, which is a 13-hour day.
Some bureaucrats don't work very hard; oth-
Plus homework and weekends, you've got
ers see government as a cushy job. But there
people working 70. 80 and 90 hours a week for
is more than one side to every question, and
what I know are salaries that are less than a
Americans should not be left with an impres-
third they could command in the private
sion that government employment is a sine-
sector."
cure. On the contrary, Washington has a
Let's hope this doesn't provide justifica-
goodly share of hard-working public servants.
tion for seeking big federal salary increases
Even the Reagan administration may
at a time when most Americans have to
have to revise its evaluation. Listen to what
tighten their belts. But it does put a bit of per-
Treasury Secretary Donald Regan replied
spective on the problem of bloated bureauc-
when asked by the National Journal about his
racy. Heaven knows, government would im-
greatest surprise since coming to the capital:
prove by a judicious pruning of officials as
"[It's) the long hours that people work for
well as programs. But the devotion and dili-
SO little money
at the top levels of govern-
gence of many should not go unrecognized.
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
4/13/81
Section 1, page 9
some 25-year-old would-be murderer did not have the
power to change the feelings Reagan had about his
country. By making light of the shooting, Reagan
was saying that it had no more importance that
what it actually was: the irrational action of a dis-
turbed young man.
PRESIDENT REAGAN was not going to join in
the handwringing over what the shooting meant
about American society. He was not going to be part
of the chorus bemoaning what has happened to our
national life. He still believed that the soul of Ameri-
ca was good, and he was refusing to allow someone
Bob
like John W. Hinckley Jr. to overrule his convictions.
So while the rest of America was debating the
Greene
philsophical implications of the shooting, Reagan was
inquiring of one of his assistants: "Does anybody
know what that guy's beef was?" To the President,
the murder attempt was no more than that: a man
The Reagan vision
with a beef, not a comment on the nation's health.
And before long Reagan was wondering out loud
whether he would be able to throw out the first
survives shooting
pitch of the new-baseball season - another graphic
indication that he chose to linger on the sunshine of
hopefulness, not the murkiness of despair.
WEEK AGO today, a rather embittered
A of American society, and the pessimism
column appeared in this space concerning
You didn't have to be a fan of Reagan's politics to
the shooting of President Reagan. The
understand what he was trying to tell the nation,
point I was trying to make was about the
even while he was still confined to a hospital room.
And you didn't have to be a supporter of his policies
meanness one must feel in trying to live in the midst of such
to be affected by the convictions that were making
him do it. Michael Kilian of The Tribune - a writer
a society.
who is often cynical about politicians, and has often
readers agreed with my point of view. is, They
been critical of Reagan - had this to say:
called a sad country in which to live in 1981, was
Many and wrote to say that the United States and
"I AM AWED by the incomparable grace and
indeed, that the assassination attempt on the President
courage, the wit and toughness displayed by Ronald
just another graphic example of that fact.
Reagan and his wife in this, the worst moment of
But it occurs to me that there is one person who
his presidency and their lives. Like Andrew Jackson,
would disagree most vehemently with such an
he has the spit and callous of the common man, yet
something nobler. He is one of nature's gentlemen, a
outlook.
splendid symbol of his country. Were the United
That person is Ronald Reagan.
States to have a constitutional monarch or a Presi-
there is anything that President Reagan has
dent who served only as chief of state, there would
demonstrated If in the days following the attempt on his
be no one more suitable."
his vision life, of a better America, an American as
it is that he is refusing to give up that on is
All over America, people are drawing the same
message from Reagan. He knows that be was
fresh and as hopeful as it used to be.
elected as President because most people trusted the
DURING mocked Reagan for pursuing such a to the
HIS campaign for the presidency, vision. many
things he was saying about the nation and what it
can be: And he wants his countrymen to know that
critics critics said that there is no going back desire
the actions of one gunman have not changed his
The of yesteryear, and that Reagan's values was to
mind about any of those things. He doesn't want
America recapture old - some said outmoded -
anyone else to change their minds, either.
naive and misdirected.
If Reagan recovers as fully às it is hoped he does,
the public liked what It was hearing from
the time will come when political criticism and par-
But Many voters who disagreed with his specific on
tisan debate over his policies are as fervid as they
Reagan. plans cast their ballots for him anyway.,
ever were, And that is as it should be.
policy strength of the hopeful message that lay just pub- be
the neath the surface of his every speech, his every
But one thing will not change. In the days fol-
lowing the attempt on his life, by reaffirming his
lic pronouncement.
hopes for his country, Ronald Reagan has shown us
after the assassination attempt, Reagan made vio-
all - supporters and critics alike - something we
And that this newest example of mupderous cast a
are not likely to forget. We have here one remark-
it clear against a President was not going to some-
able man.
lence shadow on the bright vision that he - and
times When he first saw his wife in the corridor of the
he alone - had for his country.
room and said, "Honey, I forgot to
emergency duck," it was more than a quip. It was a signal that
If there is anything that
President Reagan has
demonstrated in the
days following the
attempt on his life, it is
that he is refusing to
give up on his vision of
a better America.
EDINBURGN EVENING NEWS
4/2/81
(SCOTLAND)
CDINBURCH EVENING NEWS APRILLINE
THEY'LL never again
be able to snipe at
Ronnie Reagan for
making 54 B movies.
Give the man
Because n he's
starred in a classic.
Walking into hospital
wounded, with a bullet
this Paper. mornings
near his heart, and real
blood on the chest
an Oscar!
which was splattered for
25 years with ketchup,
he's given the perfor-
He deserves it for
before the election. for fear
he unwise-cracked away the
mance of a lifetime.
Presidency.
In real life.
But it was pure gold corn.
What John Wayne did for
has turned into true story grit.
his style, his grace
It was rich with courage, and
America in celluloid, Reagan
ripe with concern for
America first. and if I fall,
He bit his lip bravely on the
guys, keep the flag flying."
bullet. He actually fired all
those final reel remarks they
and just sheer guts
Ronnie Reagan really is
don't script-write like that any
the man in the white hat,
more.
with the stars in his eyes
"Honey, I forgot to duck",
and stripes on his sleeve. So
he told his anxious posse of
stone - "all in all, I'd rather
the lanky six footer grinned
I no longer give a damn if he
weakly. as his loving Nancy
sidekicks, at the moment when
be in Philadelphia."
dyes his hair, or if he's
rushed to gather him in her
they usually stick a cigarette
A youth within 22 shot of
revelling in acting the part
arms. "I hope you're all
- or, in his case, a jelly bean
what could have been
he's been after for years.
Republicans", drawled the
- between the hero's pale lips.
Reagan's sunset after only
gunned-down man as the
And, when he could no
two months in the saddle.
It was R helluva perform-
doctors. grim-faced, probed
said: You could see the
ance. Pure Oscar.
longer speak, he scrawled down
him for lead.
the famous last words W. C.
feeling in the President's
And there isn't an one who
"Don't worry. I'll make it",
Fields wanted on his tomb-
eyes. He was in a state of
could have done it with more
shock or fear. It will be
style. grace, and guts.
etched on my eyes forever."
We've seen that look in the
Yes of them all, as the
Elinburgh, Scattand
clock hands touch High
Noon. But it's a blue-steel
man who remembers to ask,
just before they put him
under. who's minding the
store ?"
O.K., so it was corn. It was
the stuff they tried to stop
pouring from Reagan's lips,
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
4/7/81
Reagan crisis: What we learned
By Eugene Kennedy
The Vice President's diffidence reflected, as wax does the
ring whose seal it bears, that the source of power was surely
REVELATIONS OFTEN confront us when we least expect
outside himself. It was a strange completion of the aborted
them. They come to us when we are not prepared to accept
gesture of Alexander Haig earlier in the day.
them as, for example, in a sudden glimpse of ourselves in a
His was not a bold grasp for authority by a man with a
store window. Even though the glass is shadowed and filled
sense of command, but a quirky and halting statement by an
with passing strangers, the truth of what we really look like
outsider desperately unhappy that power lay elsewhere on
is revealed to-us
that rainy afternoon. The radar echoes of the day came back
So it was on the day that Ronald Reagan was shot, on that
from all of these events and personalities with the unre-
long afternoon when truth and rumor bobbed like puppets for
markable outline of the true power center of the government
our attention, and when in the coalescense of images and
in the offices of Meese and Baker
events, we experienced a revelation about ourselves.
President Reagan was the sturdy central figure, of course.
ANOTHER UNEXPECTED revelation concerned profes-
But we really learned more about his advisers - and their
sionalism, a concept which has been under seige in the
worries about his fragility and need for protection than
United States for the last 15 years.
about him Messrs Edwin Meese and James Baker, like dis-
Professionals have been vigorously assailed not only by
creet undertakers good at denying death, left a break as big as
consumer groups checking up on their performances in a
a gap in a Watergate tape in the continuity of the afternoon dur-
variety of fields, but by hordes of others. Lawyers, especial-
ing which the public was led to believe that Mr Reagan had
ly, have been under attack, the charges against them
not been injured
focusing on their competence and privileged role in Ameri-
Their next version, also to be revised later, projected a
can life.
President entering the hospital hardly more distressed than
Few people have dorfe more to restore the image of the
he had been by a thousand blank cartridges on the Warner
professional than Dr. Dennis O'Leary, spokesman on televi-
back lot This excessive re-arranging indicated their own
sion for the medical center at which the President was the
habitual concern about managing the President's image, as
patient. With each precise sentence and careful explanation,
though, were they not at his side to point to where to sign on
O'Leary not only relieved the national anxiety but also
the document or to hand him a schedule, he might not know
restored a measure of confidence in medicine itself. For in
what to do next.
him we had a revelation of the knowledgeable professional
The ironic revelation of the long afternoon lay in the fact
physician and teacher in action.
that the more his counselors insisted that the President was
The swift and sure reactions of the Secret Service agents
in complete control, the clearer became their need to keep
and the other law enforcement officials provided more
things under their own control.
examples of well-trained professionals who know just how to
THIS WAS reinforced by the return of the Vice President
carry out their jobs.
to Washington. His arrival was elaborately staged to demon-
THE REVELATIONS abounded even more in the way the
strate that the succession of government was secure but also
great masses of us absorbed the shock of the shooting.
to show that George Bush was certainly not the man in
and carried on with our daily activities. We had been
control of it. More hangdog than sprightly jogger, Bush
through this before. We had heard dreadful bulletins and
seemed, in his brief TV appearances, like a man who had
watched similar horrors unfold. And although we were not
been given explicit instructions by the President's staff. It
numb to the shock, we were familiar with it and drew on our
was all right for him to go into the White House, but he
experiences in order to handle it.
certainly wasn't supposed to touch anything.
An event that might have sent mobs into the streets of the
great cities of other countries saw us finish our day's work
and go home without any serious disturbance: It was not a
Eugene Kennedy, a Loyola University psychologist, is au-
revelation of callousness but of how, through suffering the
thor of "Father's Day." a novel about Chicago politics and
public traumas of the last generation, we have learned to
Notre Dame (Doubleday).
cope with even the most awful possibilities.
CHICAGO TRIDUNE
4/6/81
World press on Reagan shooting
The assassination attempt on President Reagan was
gripped by forces of disunity, the fear of an uncontrollable
viewed with both sympathy and outrage in newspaper
destiny.
editorials throughout the world. Here are some excerpts:
La Republica, Rome
Can the President of the United States govern from a
John Wayne would have been proud of him. In a B-movie,
hospital bed with the international horizon so obscured by
the President of the United States, 70 years old, with a bullet
black clouds?
in his lung, delivering laconic one-liners on his way to the
Le Figaro, Rome
operating room and after coming out of the anesthetic, may
have sounded corny. In real life, it is true grit.
It is paradoxical that Ronald Reagan, who publicly de-
Ronald Reagan has guts and he has style. He is a man to
fends uncontrolled possession of weapons, and who "sup-
be admired.
plemented" Carter's human rights propaganda with his
When it comes to authority and popularity, this baptism by
propaganda about the struggle against international terror-
fire could be the President's real inauguration.
ism, has himself almost fallen victim to the terrorism which
Daily Mail, London
so extensively mushrooms in his own country.
Rude Pravo, Prague
A calmer country might start from basics. The President
of the United States is now, without question, the most
The public will not be satisfied with affirmations that
vulnerable target in the Western world. Every nut in the
(the attack) was masterminded and executed by a supposed-
land-tens of thousands fancies a potshot at him.
ly imbalanced young man. In the background we have
Why should this be so in America when, in Europe, with a
the facts that Reagan stood for a toughening of American
roughly equivalent population, the threat comes mostly from
policy on domestic and international issues.
organized red, green and purple brigades? Because the
Camhuriyet, Ankara
President is a symbol: Because he is now the man the
All the security precautions in the world are not sufficient
deranged exist to shoot. He seems, in part, a victim of the
to safeguard the life and well-being of a President in a place
mythology of office. Hail to the chief: death to the chief.
where it is possible for a man who has been treated for
He is the victim of the gun-slinging myths of America. He
mental disturbance to buy and carry a weapon without
is the victim of a social divide which, in its concentration of
hindrance.
ghetto violence based on the bitter divisions of rich and poor,
The responsibility that rests on this greatest of powers,
black and white, fuels the fear. Fear that so easily puts
which only now is beginning to regain its function as leader
revolvers into the hands of white, middle-class madmen.
of the free world, demands a remedy for this affliction -
The Guardian, London
even if this entails restrictions on the exaggerated freedom
There are 55 million handguns in America one for every
that leaves society defenseless against the drawn guns of
family. A gun is bought every 13 seconds.
madmen.
Most Americans, it seems to outsiders, would rather die by
Maariv Daily, Tel Aviv
the gun than live without one.
Of this sort of thing, Lenin once said: "Crazy? Perhaps.
How many more Presidents-and ordinary people-must
But crazy in whose service?" After all, Reagan has a lot of
be shot down before America hangs up its gun belt?
enemies outside, and they have all sorts of ideas about him.
While every crank has the right to be his own private
And in conclusion: such a number of attacks on America's
army, there will be more public tragedies - and more. A
Presidents in so short a period adds nothing to its prestige.
radio reporter commented that the television coverage of the
Yediot Aharonot, Tel Aviv
assassination attempt "was so good that it looked Te-
(Mr. Reagan) has forgotten that the real terrorism that
hearsed." But when the camera crews get so much experi-
ought to be fought is American terrorism the terrorism in
ence of the real thing, who needs practice?
Washington itself.
Daily Mirror, London
Ash-Sharq, Beirut
The United States was born out of the violence of conquest,
The issue which the American nation must now face
rebellion and civil war.
Its myths are those of the
squarely is whether to continue to allow individual states to
frontier, where the fastest gun was king and every man had
have a variety of conflicting gun laws.
It
is important
his fate in his own hands.
that the American people discuss this issue seriously and in
The United States has risen to become a major industrial
all its aspects,
and military power claiming universality for its values while
Any attempt on their President's life brings the rest of the
seeming unable to shake off the darker elements in its
world to the brink, because the activities of the U.S.A. are so
tradition.
entwined with the well-being of all the world's other peoples.
The roots of the problem lie deep in American society
The Nation, Nairobi
Times of London
General Haig set aside respect for the law and the
'Violence is as American as apple pie," runs a saying
American Constitution, behaved literally in military terms,
which is as dismissive as it is cynical. That sick minds have
and crowned himself the medieval king of Washington. The
used violence so often against the nation's highest represent-
American Constitution is perhaps the most watertight instru-
ative can be explained not least by a deification of the
ment of government in the world that anyone would
American President which is unique in the modern world.
attempt to tamper with it is almost beyond belief.
This offers the assassin the maximum return on his need for
The Standard, Nairobi
self-assertion even if he does not achieve his murderous
The free selling of guns in the United States is supported
goal. as in the case of Ronald Reagan.
by the broad masses. That is why Congress has not been
Sueddeutsche Zeitung, Bonn
able to pass gun control legislation. Violence being used to
Violence belongs to the American climate.
As long as
kill a President could naturally arouse popular indignation,
the nation fails to draw the consequences from this finding,
but it seems no one can do anything about it.
America will remain the country of the quick-draw revolver
Peoples Daily, Peking
- as it likes to depict itself in its films and the results for
The shooting was another stain on the political history of
political life are bitter.
the United States. We believe this violent act demonstrates a
Allmegeine Zeitung, Frankfurt
basic weakness in U.S. society, and that weakness is the
In a country where guns are easy to obtain
it's
not
frequency of violence. The U.S. government's laissez-faire
surprising that history is at the mercy of accidents such as
attitude toward the possession of firearms is a major cause
the one Mr. Reagan just escaped.
of American society's propensity for violence.
Already known as a "9-to-5 President," what will his
Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo
schedule be like while recovering from the attack and
There are more sick minds in the U.S. than the outside
after?
world realizes.
Le Monde, Paris
Indian Tribune, New Delhi
The voilence which runs through the country like the
What is ironic about the latest show of unrestrained
rumbling of distant thunder is the same current which
violence in the U.S. is that the latest victim is himself an
renders America dynamic, vibrant, audacious, but also
ardent and vigorous objector to any gun control law.
brutal, dangerous and sometimes bloody. Societies so
Manila Times Journal, the Philippines
well policed that violence never cracks the surface are
societies so weakened that storm or malady can sweep them
Possibly the latest explosion of mindless violence, one
away in no time.
hopes, will persuade President Reagan to have second
Journal de Geneve, Geneva
thoughts about the gun lobby.
Morning Post, Hong Kong
Blood has always been a part of its history a secret
violent component of America which, from time to time,
With the ready availability of handguns, Americans
explodes like the hidden crater of a volcano.
become their own worst enemies.
Australia
If freedom is to remain, then freedom must pay the price.
Corriere della Sera, Milan
Is the pace of modern society provoking an increase is
It is natural to ask whether that gunshot did not reawaken
insanity?
The News. Mexico City
in everyone a sense of ungovernability. a feeling of a society
Nation
how miserable Bush is on television. He's
Reagan Is Doing Fine
got all the punch of Jerry Ford."
Charismatic or not, Bush continued
to acquire respect within the White House
But he will have to ease back into full-time command
as a consummate team player. Said one
Reagan intimate: "He has enhanced him-
T
he President's fever was gone and his
ments. Said Hospital Spokesman Dr.
self. He didn't rub anybody the wrong
lung unclogged. Slightly gaunt, but on
Dennis O'Leary: "He likes visitors more
way." Indeed, Bush has scrupulously
the mend. he padded last week at half
than his doctors do." Baker, Deaver and
avoided filling in for Reagan when to do
speed around. his hospital room. Then at
Meese arrived together at 7:15 every
so might smack of usurpation: for in-
week's end Ronald Reagan was driven
morning and spent 15 or 20 minutes sup-
stance, he sits in his own chair-not the
in a limousine from George Washington
plying a distilled overview of the day's
President's-at Cabinet meetings. None-
University Hospital back home to the
business. Nancy Reagan arrived in time
theless, Bush has remained unusually well
White House. Awaiting him there were
for lunch, and remained at the hospital
apprised of national security details since
some 75,000 letters and telegrams, sev-
until 9 at night, slipping in and out be-
Reagan's shooting-more current, in fact,
eral meadows' worth of flowers and an
tween meetings and medical tests. In all,
than the hospital-bound President.
even ton of jelly beans.
the President received about two dozen
Reagan's fellow victims were also on
The national surge of relief may have
well-wishers last week, including Daugh-
their separate roads to recovery. Secret
raised too far and fast expectations about
ter Maureen. Reagan will miss her wed-
Service Agent Timothy McCarthy left the
the speed of Reagan's recovery. For at
ding if it is held as scheduled in Los An-
hospital headed for a month's R. and R.
least a month, his presidential duties will
geles next week; meanwhile, he has
in Acapulco. Washington Policeman
remain pared to the minimum, and until
postponed a state visit to Mexico set for
Thomas Delahanty was not seriously
well into summer the U.S. may have a
a few days later.
wounded in the shooting. But surgeons
part-time Commander-in-Chief.
Especially worrisome to Reagan's
last week removed a bullet from his neck,
Says a top aide of his boss: "He knows
lieutenants, however, is his absence from
necessitating a longer hospital stay.
that he will have to slowly work to get
his strength back." Nancy Reagan rushed
WELCUME
along the redecoration of the White House
HOME
solarium in anticipation of her husband's
homebound days. The President will
Mr. President
DIRCK HALSTEAD
probably not leave the family quarters this
week, but the only medical care he now re-
quires is penicillin pills, daily checks of
his temperature and blood pressure and
thrice-weekly chest X rays. His work load
last week was limited to two hours a day.
For the time being, Reagan's daily offi-
cial meetings, outside of those with his
staff, will be kept to one or two. Says Dep-
uty Chief of Staff Michael Deaver: "We're
going to take it easy."
Fortunately, perhaps, Reagan has al-
ways parceled out authority. Even before
the shooting, three members of his staff
-Presidential Counsellor Edwin Meese,
Chief of Staff James Baker, and Deaver
-had achieved a kind of supereminence.
With restrictions on the President's time
for months to come, this troika's power
will grow more entrenched. It remains to
The President arrives home from the hospital amid White House well-wishers
be seen how well this apparatus would
Rest in the solarium, delegated authority and minimum duties.
serve if events called for a 24-hour-a-day
President.
the battle for the Administration's eco-
Delahanty had his homecoming Saturday.
Last week was generous to the conva-
nomic program. The President was to
Presidential Press Secretary James
lescing President. There was no festering
have gone on the hustings this spring, in
Brady, the most gravely injured, was able
political problem, no diplomatic crisis
state legislatures and citizens' meetings,
to sit up and converse last week, doctors
-although Reagan did draft a message to
rounding up popular support for his pro-
said, but may require a year to recuper-
Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev warn-
posed budget and tax cuts. His convales-
ate. His doctors hope that he will recover
ing him against an invasion of Poland.
cence has scrubbed what would have been
the "majority" of his mental capacity and
Even if Reagan had not lain wounded, his
the campaign's canny opening salvo
90% of his physical. But they worry about
official obligations would have been slight.
-Reagan appealing on network televi-
a "flattening" of his personality, since the
One of those chores was rich with irony
sion for the tax cut, just as taxes came
bullet partly lobotomized Brady's brain.
-Reagan formally proclaimed next Sun-
due. Said one political adviser: "There is
Said Dr. O'Leary: "It is possible he could
day the beginning of Victims' Rights
no question we are handicapped with the
walk with a cane. We do not," he added,
Week. Said the country's most prominent
President laid up." The most prominent
"expect miracles."
criminal prey: "Only victims truly know
surrogate campaigner available is Vice
The President, thanks to his remark-
the trauma crime can produce."
President George Bush, who substituted
able physical constitution, has apparently
Reagan described his own victimiza-
for Reagan in announcing a White House
been spared complications. Besides the
tion to a pair of FBI agents who were piec-
plan to ease air-quality and safety reg-
six-inch scar on his left side, Reagan's
ing together an official picture of the as-
ulations on automobiles (see ECONOMY &
only hospital vestige will be a bill-to be
sassination attempt. They were among a
BUSINESS). But Bush is no match for his
paid by insurance for federal employees
stream of visitors who made Reagan's
boss as a political salesman. Said one un-
injured on the job.
-By Kurt Andersen.
schedule seem chockablock with appoint-
charitable White House aide: "I forgot
Reported by Douglas Brew/Washington
TIME. APRIL 20. 1981
21
A President Who
Enjoys a Josh
It was a stream of wisecracks
and jests from a wounded Ronald
Reagan that reassured Americans
most in the wake of an attempted
presidential assassination.
Even with a bullet in his chest,
he was making such quips as
these-
To his wife Nancy: "Honey, I
forgot to duck."
To the surgeons who were
about to operate on him: "Please
tell me you're all Republicans."
When tubes in his throat kept
him from talking during the hours
that followed surgery, Reagan
turned to a pencil and pad.
Told that a nurse would spend
the night in his recovery room, he
wrote: "Does Nancy know?"
Said another note: "IfI'd gotten
this much attention in Holly-
wood, I would not have left."
One of the President's notes
read: "As Winnie Churchill said,
There is no more exhilarating
feeling than being shot without
results.'
After undergoing a particularly
painful medical procedure, Rea-
gan paraphrased the epitaph of
comedian W. C. Fields: "All in all,
I'd rather be in Philadelphia."
When Reagan could talk again,
he rattled off these one-liners-
To daughter Maureen: "One of
my new suits is ruined."
To his three highest White
House aides: "Who's minding the
store?" and "Well, I guess I really
screwed up the schedule today."
To an aide who told him that he
would be happy to know the gov-
ernment was running normally in
his absence: "What makes you
think I'd be happy about that?"
To a nurse who told him to keep
up the good work: "You mean this
may happen several more times?"
On learning that he would not
be well enough to throw out the
first ball to open the major-league
baseball season on April 8: "I am a
right-hander, and it is the left side
that hurts."
Reagan cracked most of his
jokes before learning that his
press secretary, James Brady, had
been critically wounded in the
assassination attempt. Tears filled
his eyes when he was told of Bra-
dy's plight. "Oh, damn," the Pres-
ident said. "Oh, damn."
U.S. news+ 4/13/81 Thared 31 Report
THE SUN
Lowell, Massachusetts
He played a part in this case bigger than he
Founded by John H. Harrington
ever did on the silver screen. He came through
it, as somebody said, looking like John Wayne
IN 1878
on Korseback. There is unlimited admiration
for him today as a man of extraordinary cour-
age and self control. Imagine wise cracking in
the operating room after being shot! It's in-
Vol. 103, Saturday, April. 4, 1981, No. 77
credible. His spirit is indomitable.
Yes, we have an excellent man at the head of
our government today, and all America knows
A terrific guy -
that better now than ever before. We are lucky
to have him and lucky that God spared his life.
President Ronald Reagan has revealed
His popularity has risen immeasurably as peo-
more of himself to the people of the United
ple everywhere note, almost with incredulity,
States - and the world - in the short time
the magnificent response of Ronald Reagan to
that has elapsed between the attempt on his
this terrible crisis in his life and the life of the
life on Monday and today than he could have
nation. He is hero to us all today, a man to
hoped to do in a lifetime of political campaign-
emulate. His reaction to the crisis bodes well
ing. He has come out of the ordeal he went
for the country should it ever face a similar
through so well that today his stock is higher
showdown in the future.
than ever in the eyes of all of us. Few men
The President has proved that he knows
could have taken what he did and still get off
how to react in times of emergency. He did it
one liners in a hospital emergency room!
better than most of us could ever hope to do
The man's character, his resolve, his physic-
under the same circumstances. The guy has
al and mental strength have aroused the
the courage of a lion, the strength of a bull and
admiration of all. Most other men, especially
the kindness of a gentle man. What more could
those 70 years of age, would have melted under
the people of this country ask for in a Presi-
the strain but the President kept his head ab-
dent?
out him, he kept up his courage, his morale
There isn't an ounce of vindictiveness or
and even his sense of humor. It's been a long
bitterness in his bones. He is a person to
time since we have seen a man in the White
admire and emulate. No longer can there be
House who could laugh and crack a joke the
criticism of him as a third rate movie actor; he
way President Reagan has been able to do. It's
is a first rate man of extraordinary qualities.
super
That is the lesson that has emerged from this
When he told his wife, Nancy, that "he for-
harrowing week that tested the nerve of all
got to duck," when he asked his pretty nurse if
Americans.
"Nancy knew about us?, "when he scribbled a
Soon he will be back on his feet, in
note to one of the physicians admitting that
charge once again. Wherever he goes,
all in all, I would rather be in Philadelphia,"
even in the halls of Congress (especially
when he expressed the hope that the doctors
there, perhaps), he will be cheered and
who were surrounding him with their life or
applauded as never before and with good
death procedures were "all Republicans" -
reason. He has been a tonic for this coun-
and when his eyes filled with tears as he
try. We now have a real life hero in the
learned of the critical condition of Press
President, and what more could we ask
Secretary James Brady, after all of this and
for in national government than that?
more, the world began to understand that
Ronald Reagan was truly a fine man.
Out of this terrible incident has emerged a
man we can all admire, regardless of political
considerations. Somebody hung a sign on a
building facing the hospital wishing the Presi-
dent a speedy recovery. The sign said that at
this time, there was no such thing as Republi-
cans and Democrats but only Americans, all of
them rooting for a quick recovery for the Presi-
dent, one of theirs, one of us. The President
would have liked that
WASHINGTON POST
4/12/81
In Congress, the Democrats are
grappling with a suddenly unknow-
able task.
MARY McGRORY
House Speaker Thomas P. O'Neill
Jr. came back from a hospital visit
the other day and summed up the
dilemma in his mellow Irish tones.
Reagan
"A beautiful person. I wish he
agreed with me.
O'Neill. the partisan Democrat,
Re-emerges,
finds Reagan infinitely more conge-
nial than his Democratic predeces-
sor. Jimmy Carter, who was mushy
Admired
on policy and cement-hard on peo-
ple, was not his kind of guy. Carter
didn't tell Irish stories. Reagan does.
The Democrats' "alternative bud-
Ronald Reagan comes out to a dif-
ferent world.
get," he said, was being put forward
For one thing, he will see full
"at an inopportune moment.'
spring in Washington. He missed the
So the president emerges stronger
daffodils and the forsythia. But the
politically and weaker physically.
Admiration enfolds him, but so
tulips, the azaleas and the dogwood
does anxiety. His convalescence will
have been coming on while he was
in his hospital-room painfully rid-
require the most delicate manage-
ding himself of the "debris" in his
ment. If he does little, people will
be reminded that he is 70 years old
injured lung.
The White House, which was still
and has had chest surgery. If he does
strange to him after only 70 days
too much, they will worry that he
is pushing. himself to prove he is a
of occupancy, has become "home,"
full-time president.
by virtue of not being the hospital.
He went in to George Washington
If he is seen to tire quickly or
speak thickly. hackles will be raised
as a president of 70 days. He comes
out as a hero. He demonstrated un-
about the special vicious quality of
the "Devastator" bullet, which we
der harrowing circumstances that
belatedly discovered from the FBI
he has one of the greatest gifts a
was the kind that John Hinckley Jr.
president could have. He does not
had somehow obtained. The "Devas-
take things personally.
tator" contains lead azide.
After a run of chief executives
The president will find the coun-
(with the conspicuous exception of
try curious about how his
Gerald Ford) who seemed to believe
experience has changed him. Has he
that all happenings were the result
changed his mind about guns? Or
of. some special animus from an in-
does he still think that the death
dividual or a group bent on wreck-
penalty will cure the epidemic vio-
ing the Republic as personified in
lence of which he is the most con-
the White House, Reagan's detach-
spicuous victim? Whatever he
ment about a bullet from a demented
wants, it seems safe to say, will be-
stranger is reviving. Lyndon John;
come the law. He has the kind of
son and Jimmy Carter both saw
credentials on guns that Nixon had
themselves as Southern victims of
on China.
the implacable Northeast. Richard
The country has been as philo-
Nixon presented himself as a casu-
sophical as he is about what almost
alty of partisan plots.
stopped the world on March 30. The
Even before he was shot, Reagan
other patients are prospering. The
had been affably demonstrating that
valiant Secret Service agent, Tim Mc--
he saw political differences as just
Carthy, has gone off on vacation. Jim
that. His relations with the press also
Brady, the Lazarus of the horror -
proved an ability to distinguish be-
he was declared dead by three net-
tween what people are and what
works at one bad moment- is sitting
they do:
up and laughing. Officer Thomas
Remarkable" and "ex-
Delehanty, the "Devastator" bullet
traordinary" to use two of the
removed from his neck, is mending.
words that were being flung around,
The scene of the shooting has be-
a bit indiscriminately, as things
come a tourist site. The other day
turned out, by Dr. Dennis O'Leary,
outside the Washington Hilton, a
our tour guide at the hospital - still
young couple was smiling, into a
apply to the president's gallant con-
camera held by a friend. They were
duct. The country responded with
very particular about standing ex-
torrents of flowers and letters. The
actly on the grate in the sidewalk
first lady became a woman with a
where Brady fell with a bullet in
sick husband, her daily visit to the
his brain.
hospital the object of aching sym-
It has been an odd time. The next
pathy there are so many pleasanter
few weeks could be more so. The
things to do on spring days in Wash-
only certainty in Washington has
ington.
been the gorgeous and inexorable
People who still think that Rea-
advance of spring
gan's social policies make the
country's poor like the Jews at
Masada waiting for the battering
ram of imperial power. people who
still think that Reagan's foreign poli-
cy is dangerously wrong. think dif-
ferently about Reagan as a human
being.
WASHINGTON STAR
4/10/81
JAMES J. KILPATRICK
Reagan May Indeed Be
An Indispensable Man
Eleven days have passed since the
Perhaps the Secret Service should
attempted assassination of President
have kept spectators at a greater dis-
Reagan, and little by little the story
tance from the presidential limou-
drops out of the news. Let me try, if
sine. Perhaps the limousine should
I may, to take a reflective look at the
have been parked eight feet from the
man, the event, and the aftermath.
door instead of 25 feet. These critical
First the man, simply as a man. Er-
conjectures are useless.
nest Hemingway once defined cour-
If an assassin is truly determined
age as grace under pressure. Here
to try for a president, only luck will
was a 70-year-old man with a bullet
prevent a mortal wound. We cannot
in his chest, walking into the hospi-
seal a president in a White House
tal under his own steam, still able
vault. Presidents must make public
to reassure his anxious wife with a
and social appearances; presidents
grin and a feeble joke. "Honey," he
must travel; they must take risks as
said, "I guess I forgot to duck.' That
part of the job. All the Secret Service
is class.
can do is sensibly to minimize the
Mr. Reagan is a special man: presi-
risks.
dent of the United States. And one
No system of data retrieval yet de-
thing we-learned in the hours that
vised could have protected Mr. Rea-
followed the shooting and the sur-
gery is that, politically speaking, he
is an indispensable man. During
"He will lose some fights
these hours we heard almost inces-
sant conjecture about a transfer of
on particular budget
power to the vice president. If Mr.
items, but he will not
Reagan had gone into a prolonged
coma, what then?
lose the war."
The 25th Amendment, adopted in
1967, spells out the constitutional
gan against his assailant 11 days ago.'
process. It would have been up to
No gun control law ever drafted
Vice President Bush and a majority
could have prevented John W.
of the Cabinet to publish a written
Hinckley Jr. from getting his hands
declaration that "the president is un-
on a gun.
able to discharge the powers and du-
Members of the Secret Service are
ties of his office," whereupon Mr.
rational men. Try as they may, they
Bush would have become "acting
cannot think themselves into the
president."
sick and irrational mind of a drifter
who supposed crazily that he could
No Historic Transfer
win the "love and respect" of a young
No such historic transfer of power
actress by killing Mr. Reagan. He
was undertaken on March 30, thanks
wanted to impress her.
to the common-sensical view that
the Soviets were unlikely to launch
What Lies Ahead?
atomic war during the two hours the
Assuming the president's contin-
president was under anesthesia.
ued smooth recovery, what lies
Nevertheless, the grim possibility
ahead? The public opinion polls al-
served to focus attention on Mr.
ready show a spurt in Mr. Reagan's
Bush and to think of him in terms
approval ratings. Class tells. He will
of presidential command. The vice
lose some fights on particular bud-
president is an able, attractive, thor-
get items, but he will not lose the
oughly modest man with wide exper-
war.
ience in government. He has yet to
To. survive danger, to walk tall,
demonstrate that body of political
to laugh in the face of death - this
principles and convictions with
is the stuff of which legend is fash-
which Mr. Reagan has long been
ioned. For a considerable time the
Identified. The Reagan program de-
cartoonists will have to direct their
mands, in a word, Mr. Reagan. No
malice somewhere else, probably to-
surrogate could take his place.
ward Secretary of State Alexander
The event itself reminds us anew
Haig. We are not likely to hear much
not only of the peril of the
talk in the future of Mr. Reagan as
presidency but also of the impossi-
nothing but an ex-actor. The role
bility of protecting against that peril
he played 11 days ago was for rèal,
absolutely.
and he played it superbly.
Part 1/ Friday, April TO, 1981
"the President's best day yet" since
was ended.
REAGAN: Relaxed Style Helped in Crisis
his office hours will be considerably
he was wounded March 30. Rea-
Speakes denied that doctors in-
less than 9 to 5. "This will be deter-
gan's temperature was down to nor-
tend to limit Reagan to a two-hour
mined day to day, based on consul-
mal, he was taken off antibiotics,
workday once he returns to the
tation with the doctors and his own
Continued from First Page
calls "the big three": counselor to
George Bush presiding.
and physical therapy for his chest
White House. But, initially at least,
Another senior staff member cit-
wishes," Speakes said.
the President Edwin Meese III,
In the Reagan White House, Ca-
ed as an example of "the kind of de-
chief of staff James A. Baker III and
binet Council recommendations
tail he (Reagan) leaves to us" the
deputy chief of staff Michael K.
usually are kicked around by the
content of diplomatic letters that
Deaver. Before he was hospitalized,
full Cabinet, with the President
Secretary of State Alexander M.
Reagan normally met with these
presiding.
Haig Jr. carried from the President
three at the beginning and the end
to heads of state in four Middle
of each workday at the White
Make Preliminary Decisions
Eastern countries in the last few
House.
"He uses his Cabinet as a board of
days.
At the hospital, Reagan has also
directors. The only difference, as he
"We simply asked the President
been receiving nightly national se-
always says, is that there's no vote
if we had his authority to sign his
curity reports from the State De-
on this board. He makes the deci-
name to those letters. And he said,
partment, daily intelligence reports,
sion," an aide said. "He's a very
'Yes, of course,' without asking to
periodic Defense Department me-
good delegator of authority, but you
read the letters," the aide said.
mos, a summary of mail from mem-
can't delegate decisions of a certain
"That's a good example, We'll
bers of Congress, recommendations
magnitude."
say, 'Mr. President, it would be ap-
for key appointments and decision
Thursday, Dr. Dennis O'Leary,
propriate that you send a message
memos from his Cabinet Councils.
who is in charge of patient care at
to so-and-so, expressing such-and-
Reagan 'Can Run the Country'
George Washington University
such.' He doesn't care whether he
It is to these Cabinet Councils-
Hospital, said that "it will take four
sees the message, as long as he's
essentially subcabinets grouped by
to six months before he (Reagan) is
confident we're going to get an ap-
propriate message sent out."
general subject matter-that Rea-
chipper," although O'Leary added
gan entrusts much of the prelimina-
that Reagan "can run the country.
Backlog of Decision
ry decision-making at the White
He's doing that now."
Although senior advisers insist
House. The councils have continued
(White House Deputy Press Sec-
that the hospitalized President has
to meet regularly since Reagan was
retary Larry Speakes quoted Dr.
been making all the decisions that
shot, usually with Vice President
Ruge as saying that Thursday was
are "essential" for him to make, one
acknowledged that there is a back-
log building up of unresolved pres-
idential decisions-one, for in-
stance, on offshore oil drilling; an-
other on airline regulations.
"The criterion now is whether it's
'time urgent," a key adviser. said.
"Ifit's not, it's postponed."
There is also another criterion, of
course: whether it is an issue Rea-
gan is interested in personally.
J
For example, on Monday morning
p
Reagan edited a statement that
fi
went out under his name announc-
a
ing the Administration's decision to
r
relax automobile regulations. The
idea was to save the troubled auto
industry more than $1.3 billion.
"It's something he has strong
views about and we knew he would
want to see that statement before it
went out," an aide said.
Basically, Reagan's workday
from a hospital bed has consisted of
early morning and late afternoon
meetings with top aides, usually
those the White House unofficially
LOS ANGELES TIMES
4/10/81
Aides Used to Making Decisions
Reagan Style Credited
for Smooth Operation
By GEORGE SKELTON and DON IRWIN, Times Staff Writers
WASHINGTON-Ronald Rea-
lished style of governing has pro-
gan may be the first "9-to-5 Pres-
vided, however, is ample room and
ident" in two decades, and that ini-
authority for subordinates to carry
tally raised eyebrows in workaholic
on with the spadework and prelim-
Washington. But Reagan's relaxed
inary decisions necessary for them
style is now generally credited with
to develop final options for the
having kept the government run-
President to choose among.
ning relatively smoothly while he
"This President isn't now and
has been hospitalized.
never has gotten involved in detail.
More than the banker's hours the
I mean, he doesn't want to get in-
President usually keeps-with
volved with it," a senior aide said.
Wednesday afternoons off for "free
"He's very supportive and has
time," such as horseback riding-it
confidence in his people," the aide
is Reagan's long established modus
continued. "If this had happened to
operandi of heavily delegating au-
a (President like) Carter, I suppose
thority to trusted subordinates that
there would have been a reluctance
has kept his Administration func-
by his staff to move forward on
tioning "without missing a beat," as
some things."
the White House describes it.
Please see REAGAN, Page 14
"If this were a President like Jim-
my Carter, who insisted on making
every decision down to who got to
play on the White House tennis
court, he never would have made it
through last week," one key Rea-
gan aide said. "Ronald Reagan
probably doesn't even know there is
a White House tennis court."
President's 'Best Day Yet'
At George Washington Universi-
ty Hospital, where Reagan is recu-
perating from a gunshot wound in
the chest and working only two
hours a day, dectors talked Thurs-
day about the President's returning
to the White House sometime be-
tween today and Monday. Thursday
was "the President's best day yet,"
his personal physician. Dr. Daniel
Ruge, said.
"I promise to 'suit up' and come
off the bench as soon as possible,"
Reagan wrote as a postscript to a
note he sent. to House Minority
Leader Robert H. Michel (R-III.)
Thursday, asking that Repulicans
"redouble" their efforts to "enact all
the key elements" of his embattled
economic recovery plan.
Despite such determined spirit,
Reagan's wound will clearly reduce
his ability to work for weeks to
come, just as it has in the 10 days
since he was shot.
What Reagan's previously estab-