Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan
On March 30, 1981, President of the United States Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington, D.C., as he was returning to his limousine after a speaking engagement at the Washington Hilton. Hinckley believed the attack would impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had developed an erotomanic obsession.
Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan
Washington Hilton, Washington, D.C., United States
March 30, 1981
2:27 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Attempted assassination (Reagan), attempted homicide (Tim McCarthy and Delahanty), shooting
- Ronald Reagan
- Tim McCarthy
- Thomas Delahanty
Attempt to gain the attention of Jodie Foster; mental illness
13 counts[b]
Reagan was seriously wounded by a revolver bullet that ricocheted off the side of the presidential limousine and hit him in the left underarm, breaking a rib, puncturing a lung, and causing serious internal bleeding. He was close to death upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital but was stabilized in the emergency room; he then underwent emergency exploratory surgery. He recovered and was released from the hospital on April 11. No formal invocation of sections 3 or 4 of the Constitution's 25th amendment (concerning the vice president assuming the president's powers and duties) took place, though Secretary of State Alexander Haig stated that he was "in control here" at the White House until Vice President George H. W. Bush returned to Washington from Fort Worth, Texas. Haig was fourth in the line of succession after Bush, Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill, and president pro tempore of the Senate Strom Thurmond.
White House press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty were also wounded. All three survived, but Brady had brain damage and was permanently disabled. His death in 2014 was considered a homicide because it was ultimately caused by his injury.[2][5]
Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity on charges of attempting to assassinate the president. He remained confined to St. Elizabeth's Hospital, a D.C. psychiatric facility. In January 2015, federal prosecutors announced that they would not charge Hinckley with Brady's death, despite the medical examiner's classification of his death as a homicide.[6] Hinckley was released from institutional psychiatric care on September 10, 2016.
Public reaction[edit]
The assassination attempt was captured on ENG videotape by several cameras, including those belonging to the Big Three television networks; ABC began airing footage at 2:42 p.m. All three networks erroneously reported that Brady had died.[66] When ABC News anchorman Frank Reynolds, a friend of Brady, was later forced to retract the report, he angrily said on-air to his staff, "C'mon, let's get it nailed down!",[67][68] as a result of the miscommunication. ABC News also initially reported that President Reagan had not been injured. A network erroneously reported that he was undergoing open-heart surgery.[13]: 133, 185
While CNN did not have a camera of its own at the shooting it was able to use NBC's pool feed,[69] and by staying on the story for 48 hours, the network, less than a year old, built a reputation for thoroughness.[70] Shocked Americans gathered around television sets in homes and shopping centers.[71] Some cited the alleged Curse of Tippecanoe, and others recalled the assassinations of Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr.[72] Newspapers printed extra editions[73] and used gigantic headlines;[74] the United States Senate adjourned, interrupting debate of Reagan's economic proposals; and churches held prayer services.[71]
Hinckley asked the arresting officers whether that night's Academy Awards ceremony would be postponed because of the shooting, and it was; the ceremony—for which former actor Reagan had taped a message—occurred the next evening.[9][75] The president survived surgery with a good prognosis, and the NCAA championship basketball game that evening between Indiana and North Carolina was not postponed, although the audience of 18,000 in Philadelphia held a moment of silence before the game, which Indiana would go on to win.[76] In the immediate aftermath of the shooting, the Dow Jones Industrial Average declined before the New York Stock Exchange closed early, but the index rose the next day as Reagan recovered.[77] Beyond having to postpone its Academy Awards broadcast, ABC temporarily renamed the lead character of The Greatest American Hero (which had debuted in March) from "Ralph Hinkley" to "Hanley",[78] and NBC postponed a forthcoming episode of Walking Tall titled "Hit Man".[10]