Dead Presidents
By Anthony Bergen
E-Mail: bergen.anthony@gmail.com
Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan
Del Quentin Wilber
Trade Paperback. 305 pp.
March 27, 2012. Picador.
One of the most challenging aspects to writing about history is trying to find a way to retell a story about a well-known person or event that sheds new light or brings forth a different perspective on a very familiar subject. The very best history books are those that sharpen the knowledge that we already possess, augment it with new information or previously untold details, and package everything with first-rate reporting and compelling storytelling in order to create a work that is not merely noteworthy but definitive. And definitive was the word that never left my mind as I sped through Del Quentin Wilber’s Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan.
On the surface, the assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan just 70 days into his Presidency is a memorable event. On March 30, 1981, a deranged young man named John Hinckley, Jr., opened fire as President Reagan left the Washington Hilton Hotel after giving a speech. Hinckley was mentally ill and, after watching Taxi Driver, obsessed with actress Jodie Foster. After stalking Foster and finding that his love for her was not reciprocated, Hinckley had delusions that a dramatic act on his part might yet win the young actress’s attention. If killing the President didn’t lead Jodie Foster in his arms, Hinckley was certain that the other possibility of his action — being killed in a shootout with Secret Service agents — would satisfy his other obsession, suicide.
As Reagan left the Hilton for a short walk to his waiting limousine, Hinckley fired six shots. Two shots missed. One struck White House Press Secretary Jim Brady in the head. Another wounded Washington, D.C. Police Officer Thomas Delahanty. Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy literally took one of the bullets for the President; as soon as he heard gunshots, McCarthy spread his body into a wide stance directly in front of Reagan and was shot in the chest. The other bullet had ricocheted off the Presidential limousine and tore into the left side of President Reagan.
Secret Service agent Jerry Parr quickly shoved Reagan into the limousine and the motorcade hurriedly sped away from the chaotic scene of the shooting. As the Secret Service raced the President back to the safety of the White House, Reagan found himself in a lot of pain and short of breath. The President and his top Secret Service agent, Parr, saw no signs that Reagan had been shot but they both worried that Reagan’s ribs had been broken when Parr shoved the President into the limousine. Instead of going to the White House, Parr ordered the limo to take the President to George Washington University Medical Center for treatment.
In Rawhide Down, Del Quentin Wilber uses his top-notch reporting skills to give a moment-by-moment account of the major players in the assassination attempt and its aftermath, from the time they woke up on March 30, 1981 and through the chaos of the shooting and Reagan’s arrival at the hospital. Like Wilber’s legendary colleague at the Washington Post, Bob Woodward, this is journalistic history at its best — the always-riveting tick-tock format, but done in a way that seamlessly blends activities happening at the scene of the shooting, at the White House, at the hospital, and throughout the shaken country.
Yet, it’s not just the assassination attempt itself that gives Rawhide Down its color. The personalities at work throughout that day really tell the story thanks to Wilber’s meticulous research (research that makes Wilber’s footnotes a must-read, as well). There is the disturbingly calm would-be assassin, Hinckley; the brave and devoted members of Reagan’s Secret Service detail; Reagan’s “troika” of James Baker, Michael Deaver, and Edwin Meese; the Cabinet — trying to “mind the store” at the White House — and making a mess of things; the frightened but strong-willed First Lady, Nancy Reagan; the level-headed leadership of Vice President George H.W. Bush; the frantic media; the spectacular medical staff at George Washington University Medical Center; and, above everyone else, the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.
While everything up to the shooting is detailed and riveting, Rawhide Down becomes impossible to put down as President Reagan’s motorcade races to the hospital. Still unsure of what’s causing Reagan’s injury, the limousine pulls up to the emergency room entrance, but Reagan insists on walking into the hospital under his own power. Obviously weakened and shaky, hospital staff at first are worried that the 70-year-old President — the oldest man to ever hold the office — was in the midst of a serious heart attack. As soon as Reagan walked inside the hospital, he collapsed and was rushed to a trauma room. The frantic scene at the hospital is brought to life three decades later by Wilber’s vivid account. Hospital staff rushes to treat Reagan, yet many of the nurses and doctors don’t realize who their patient is until after they start treating him. Shockingly, it isn’t until several minutes after they begin examining Reagan that they realize that the President indeed had been shot.
The scene that Wilber depicts in Rawhide Down is far more serious than what most people realize. Because Ronald Reagan seemed to recover so quickly, enjoyed a full two terms as President, and lived until he was 93 years old, many have overlooked how serious his wounds were on March 30, 1981. When Reagan was first brought into the trauma room, many hospital staff worried that he was almost certainly going to die. Not only was Reagan’s gunshot wound serious, but it appeared that he was going into shock — a potentially lethal development for a 70-year-old man. As doctors searched for the bullet and the cause of massive bleeding inside Reagan’s chest, they were forced to pump the President full of pints of donated blood while ensuring that he was getting enough oxygen into his system to keep his organs functioning. By the time doctors finally stopped the bleeding in Reagan’s chest, the President had lost more than 50% of the blood in his body. Blessed with a rapid response, better technology, and top-notch medical treatment, the 70-year-old President survived a gunshot wound far more dangerous than the bullet wounds that killed 49-year-old President James Garfield in 1881 and 58-year-old President William McKinley in 1901.
Through it all, though, it is Ronald Reagan who stands amongst a cast of fascinating figures of history. Many Americans forget just what it was exactly that turned an elderly former movie actor into an icon for a political movement and one of the legendary Presidents of modern times. Reading Rawhide Down, we’re reminded of the aspects of Ronald Reagan’s character and personality that rose above politics and inspired confidence. There’s the unfailing good humor of a severely wounded man who happened to be the most powerful person in the world, yet tried his best to put his doctors and nurses at ease by joking, “I hope you’re all Republicans” or calming the worried nerves of his beloved wife by telling her, “Honey, I forgot to duck.” Most touching to me was how Reagan stayed up until 4:00 AM after his surgery and once his breathing tube was removed so that he could chat with the two nurses on special duty watching over him. Reagan basically felt bad that they were forced to stay by his side on his account, so he joked with them, asked them about their families, talked about his job, and regaled them with old stories from his days in Hollywood. Rawhide Down does what all great history books are somehow able to do — tell the story of a significant event through the eyes and words and actions of the people who lived it.
There have always been two books on Presidential assassinations that have stood heads-and-shoulders above the rest — William Manchester’s The Death of a President and Vincent Bugliosi’s Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Those two books, both about the JFK assassination, are so richly detailed and vivid that they have had no peers. I do not hesitate in placing Del Quentin Wilber’s Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan in the rarefied air of Manchester and Bugliosi. This book is a masterpiece.
Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan by Del Quentin Wilber will be released in trade paperback by Picador USA on March 27, 2012. It’s currently available in hardcover or on your Kindle. Mr. Wilber also has a website about the book at rawhidedown.com.
I picked up Del Quintin Wilber’s Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan earlier today and haven’t been able to stop reading it. I’ll be finished with the book in another hour — that’s how good it is. The story of the assassination attempt on President Reagan has been told in bits and pieces, but never as completely and definitely as Wilber tells it — moment-by-moment. It’s detailed and fascinating and just really damn good. The book’s already out in hardcover and Kindle, and the paperback edition will be released at the end of the month. I highly recommend it.
Here’s a tiny example of one of the little details that makes the book so good. In the panicked moments after Reagan arrived at George Washington University Medical Center, Presidential aide David Fischer and Deputy Chief of Staff Michael Deaver were in the Emergency Room trying to find out Reagan’s condition and open of a line of communication with the White House, when Deaver was stopped by a hospital worker, which shows how chaotic the scene must have been in the hospital:
After Fischer hurried back to the trauma bay, a hospital worker in green scrubs approached Deaver. “Do you know the name of the patient in the emergency room,” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Would you give me his name, please?”
“It’s Reagan. R-E-A-G-A-N.”
“First name?”
“Ron.”
The hospital employee kept scribbling.
“Address?”
“Sixteen hundred Pennsylvania.”
The man’s pencil stopped moving.
“You mean…?”
“Yes, you have the President of the United States in there.”
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
Since it’s President Reagan’s birthday, here’s one of my favorite of his speeches. I’ve mentioned before how great Reagan was when he reassured the nation following the explosion of the Space ShuttleChallenger.
This is an American President at his best — no politics, no fluff, no bullshit — just a touching tribute to some of our world’s greatest heroes. On June 6, 1984, President Reagan gathered with world leaders on the beaches of Normandy and honored “the boys of Pointe du Hoc” who landed their during the D-Day Invasion 40 years earlier.
As the grandson of someone who participated in the D-Day invasion, this is one of my favorite speeches by anybody, and it makes me proud. Not proud to be an American or proud to be of a certain political affiliation. It makes me proud that our grandfathers were giants and heroes. It just makes me proud, and Reagan speaks to that pride in timeless words in this speech.
It is the 101st birthday of Ronald Wilson Reagan, the 40th President of the United States, who was born on February 6, 1911 in the tiny town of Tampico, Illinois, near the Iowa border.
In a nation full of unlikely stories, Reagan’s is especially unique. The son of an alcoholic father, Reagan worked his way through an unremarkable college, earning money by washing dishes and spending summers as a lifeguard on the Rock River, where 76 swimmers were rescued from drowning by a future President. While other Presidents built careers in law, the military, or lesser political offices, Reagan started as a broadcaster and then moved on to Hollywood, where he signed a contract with Warner Brothers.
Reagan’s acting career was solid, even if he wasn’t winning Academy Awards left-and-right. In California, Reagan also started dabbling in politics. Interestingly enough, the man who is now an icon for Conservatives was a Democrat through his early life — a devoted supporter of FDR, the New Deal, and Harry Truman — and the leader of a labor union. After Truman’s Administration, Reagan began shifting to the right, and joined Democrats For Eisenhower clubs in 1952 and 1956. Still, the Republican hero was a registered Democrat until he change his party affiliation in 1962 — when he was 51 years old.
As Reagan’s acting career dried up, he was hired by General Electric to tour their factories throughout the United States and give speeches at GE plants. During this time, Reagan began to distrust big government and become supportive of business and industry. Traveling throughout the nation and learning more about businesses shaped Reagan’s Conservative thinking. In 1964, just a few days before the Presidential election, Reagan was asked to give a televised 30-minute speech in support of Republican nominee Barry Goldwater’s campaign. The speech was one of the only bright spots of the 1964 campaign for Republicans and it created a new national political star for the GOP.
In 1966, Reagan ran for Governor of California. Initially, the Democrat incumbent, Pat Brown, and his advisers dismissed Reagan as a lightweight and washed-up actor. Reagan trounced Brown on Election Day. As Governor of California from 1967-1975, Reagan continued to sharpen his Conservative credentials and left a major impact on California’s state politics. After eight years in Sacramento, Reagan shrunk the state government and the state’s budget deficit.
A year after leaving the Governor’s office, Reagan attempted the unthinkable — he challenged incumbent President Gerald Ford for the Republican nomination. In a long and brutal primary campaign, Reagan stayed close to Ford and was narrowly defeated at the 1976 Republican National Convention. Ford, who was just 60 votes away from becoming the only incumbent President of the 20th Century to lost his bid to be renominated, was badly wounded by the challenge and later attributed some of the blame for his loss to Jimmy Carter in the general election to Ronald Reagan.
After four years of an unpopular Carter Administration, Reagan was the front-runner for the 1980 Republican nomination and easily defeated Carter in November. Just a couple weeks shy of his 70th birthday on Inauguration Day 1981, Reagan was the oldest President in American History. On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot in the chest in an assassination attempt as he left the Washington Hilton. Reagan was severely wounded, with injuries far more dangerous than those that killed President Garfield in 1881 and President McKinley in 1901. The President walked into the hospital under his own power, but collapsed immediately upon getting inside. Reagan’s resilience and good humor in the days after the shooting helped his popularity skyrocket.
The events of the next eight years are too plentiful to record here, but Reagan established a legacy that is revered by Republicans and he has almost reached a level of political sainthood to the GOP. While Democrats disagree with Reagan’s greatness and politics, one thing is a fact: he truly was “the Great Communicator”. Reagan spoke to the American people as if he knew what they needed to hear and as if he had known them forever. With his soothing voice, his kind smile, and his ever-present sense of humor, Reagan was a comforting figure. His true talents came at times of national tragedy when his words — and the way he delivered them — helped calm a troubled people.
In November 1994, the 83-year-old former President released a handwritten letter to the American people that revealed that he was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and in his simple, yet elegant way of writing, told the nation, “I now begin the journey that will lead me into the sunset of my life.” Reagan was only seen in public on a handful of occasions following the announcement and never spoke to the American people again.
Cared for by his beloved wife, Nancy, Ronald Reagan’s sunset lasted another 10 years. Debilitated by Alzheimer’s, Americans caught one last glimpse of their former President — a photograph released of him on his 90th birthday, and still looking younger than his age (with barely any gray hair!). On June 5, 2004, the 40th President of the United States died at his home in Los Angeles, at the age of 93. After a state funeral in Washington, D.C. where thousands of mourners passed by his casket in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol, Air Force Onebrought Reagan back to California one last time. At his Presidential Library and Museum on a hill in Simi Valley, friends and family paid their last respects and he was buried as the sun set over Southern California.
I’m just going to kill two birds with one answer, if you don’t mind. (That’s how the saying goes, right?)
I believe that Ronald Reagan is overrated. I don’t think he was one of the worst Presidents that we’ve ever had. My personal political philosophy differs from President Reagan’s, but while I’m not in the business of deifying people, I’m also not going to sit here and write that I think he was an evil person. Because I don’t think that.
Ronald Reagan truly was the “Great Communicator”. Being President is not just about signing bills or sending troops into battle or formulating policy. Sometimes, we want our President to talk to us in a way that makes us feel better. I’ve written before that the nation sometimes turns to the President with a paternalistic need — to counsel us and guide us through things like 9/11, the Oklahoma City bombing, the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. When it came to that particular skill, I don’t think anyone was better than Ronald Reagan. There is value to that.
I don’t have a problem with political parties having an icon that they turn to and try to emulate or carry the standard for. If I were a Republican, I think I’d probably go with Lincoln, but I’m not a Republican, so that’s not my decision. Ronald Reagan wasn’t the greatest President, but he wasn’t the worst President, either. He’s not God and he’s not Hitler. None of our Presidents are. I don’t agree with many of Ronald Reagan’s political beliefs or many of the actions of his Administration, but I’ll say this: when I was a little kid and I watched the Space Shuttle blow up on live television, President Reagan made me feel better that night before I went to bed. And there’s something to that, too.
Anonymous Asks:
deadpresidents Said:
This question refers to Ronald Reagan’s first wife, actress Jane Wyman. Reagan and Wyman were married in 1940 and their divorce was finalized in 1949, about a year after they separated. Reagan was absolutely devastated by the divorce.
As for Jane Wyman, to my knowledge, she never spoke about Ronald Reagan during his political career as Governor of California and then President of the United States. When President Reagan died in 2004, Wyman did release a statement offering her condolences, and she was in attendance at the sunset burial ceremony which concluded Reagan’s funeral at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.
Anonymous Asks:
deadpresidents Said:
JFK’s vow to land a American astronauts on the Moon by the end of the 1960s is certainly an awesome moment, but the one that always gives me chills is President Reagan’s speech following the Challenger explosion in 1986.
We can debate President Reagan’s politics all day, but he wasn’t called “the Great Communicator” for nothing. When Americans needed their President to say something in a way that comforted or inspired them, very few of our chief executives have been better than Reagan.
Here’s President Reagan’s Oval Office speech after the Challenger explosion on January 28, 1986 (the full audio recording can be found at American Rhetoric):
“Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d planned to speak to you tonight to report on the State of the Union, but the events of earlier today have led me to change those plans. Today is a day for mourning and remembering. Nancy and I are pained to the core by the tragedy of the shuttle Challenger. We know we share this pain with all of the people of our country. This is truly a national loss.
Nineteen years ago, almost to the day, we lost three astronauts in a terrible accident on the ground. But we’ve never lost an astronaut in flight. We’ve never had a tragedy like this.
And perhaps we’ve forgotten the courage it took for the crew of the shuttle. But they, the Challenger Seven, were aware of the dangers, but overcame them and did their jobs brilliantly. We mourn seven heroes: Michael Smith, Dick Scobee, Judith Resnik, Ronald McNair, Ellison Onizuka, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe.
We mourn their loss as a nation together.
For the families of the seven, we cannot bear, as you do, the full impact of this tragedy. But we feel the loss, and we’re thinking about you so very much. Your loved ones were daring and brave, and they had that special grace, that special spirit that says, ‘Give me a challenge, and I’ll meet it with you.’ They had a hunger to explore the universe and discover its truths. They wished to serve, and they did. They served all of us.
We’ve grown used to wonders in this century. It’s hard to dazzle us. But for twenty-five years the United States space program has been doing just that. We’ve grown used to the idea of space, and, perhaps we forget that we’ve only just begun. We’re still pioneers. They, the members of the Challenger crew, were pioneers.
And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle’s take-off. I know it’s hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It’s all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It’s all part of taking a chance and expanding man’s horizons. The future doesn’t belong to the fainthearted: it belongs to the brave. The Challenger crew was pulling us into the future, and we’ll continue to follow them.
I’ve always had great faith in and respect for our space program. And what happened today does nothing to diminish it. We don’t hide our space program. We don’t keep secrets and cover things up. We do it all up front and in public. That’s the way freedom is, and we wouldn’t change it for a minute.
We’ll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue.
I want to add that I wish I could talk to every man and woman who works for NASA, or who worked on this mission and tell them: ‘Your dedication and professionalism have moved and impressed us for decades. And we know of your anguish. We share it.’
There’s a coincidence today. On this day three hundred and ninety years ago, the great explorer Sir Francis Drake died aboard ship off the coast of Panama. In his lifetime the great frontiers were the oceans, and a historian later said, ‘He lived by the sea, died on it, and was buried in it.’ Well, today, we can say of the Challenger crew: Their dedication was, like Drake’s, complete.
The crew of the space shuttle Challenger honored us by the manner in which they lived their lives. We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and ‘slipped the surly bonds of earth’ to ‘touch the face of God.’
Thank you.”
coffeeatmidnight asked: On presidential relationships, were any presidents and their wives particularly in love with each other, or known for being closer than others?
There are quite a few. Of course, the letters between John and Abigail Adams are legendary.
The really remarkable one that stood out for me was Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan. We can think what we want about Reagan’s politics, and Nancy certainly faced her share of criticisms, but very few things are more touching than reading Reagan’s love letters to Nancy from throughout their relationship. They are just so personal and loving that it’s impossible not to appreciate them. Plus, Reagan was a shockingly beautiful writer — most people don’t know that about him.
As for Nancy, think about how much she put into taking care of Reagan as he was ill. That last decade of Reagan’s life must have been so difficult, yet she was always there. I remember watching Reagan’s funeral in 2004 and Nancy was a rock throughout the ceremonies in California and Washington and back in California. She was so strong, and then, at the very end of the week when they had the sunset service at Simi Valley to bury President Reagan, it just all came out. After the military played “Taps” and the soldiers folded the flag and handed it to Nancy, there came a moment where she walked up to President Reagan’s casket to say goodbye. She touched it a couple of times, started saying something, and just broke down and hugged the casket. It was heartbreaking. It’s one of those moments that humanizes everyone who has ever held the office of President or been near someone who has held that office.
More importantly, it made me feel like I haven’t truly known what love is and that love must be really, really good if it can eventually make you feel so very empty and lonely. And, I don’t mean that in a negative way, either. To see how Nancy Reagan reacted in that moment, after everything she had been through, remains one of the most powerful things I’ve ever experienced.
coffeeatmidnight Asks:
deadpresidents Said:
There are quite a few. Of course, the letters between John and Abigail Adams are legendary.
The really remarkable one that stood out for me was Ronald Reagan and Nancy Reagan. We can think what we want about Reagan’s politics, and Nancy certainly faced her share of criticisms, but very few things are more touching than reading Reagan’s love letters to Nancy from throughout their relationship. They are just so personal and loving that it’s impossible not to appreciate them. Plus, Reagan was a shockingly beautiful writer — most people don’t know that about him.
As for Nancy, think about how much she put into taking care of Reagan as he was ill. That last decade of Reagan’s life must have been so difficult, yet she was always there. I remember watching Reagan’s funeral in 2004 and Nancy was a rock throughout the ceremonies in California and Washington and back in California. She was so strong, and then, at the very end of the week when they had the sunset service at Simi Valley to bury President Reagan, it just all came out. After the military played “Taps” and the soldiers folded the flag and handed it to Nancy, there came a moment where she walked up to President Reagan’s casket to say goodbye. She touched it a couple of times, started saying something, and just broke down and hugged the casket. It was heartbreaking. It’s one of those moments that humanizes everyone who has ever held the office of President or been near someone who has held that office. More importantly, it made me feel like I haven’t truly known what love is and that love must be really, really good if it can eventually make you feel so very empty and lonely. And, I don’t mean that in a negative way, either. To see how Nancy Reagan reacted in that moment, after everything she had been through, remains one of the most powerful things I’ve ever experienced.
•This is an Historically Accurate Transcription•
CLINTON: President Reagan, I’m glad we could finally meet. As you know, it’s been pretty busy since I took office, so…
REAGAN: MR. GORBACHEV, TEAR DOWN THIS…
CLINTON: No, no, Sir…I’m Bill Clinton. President of the United States. You know, I have your old job.
REAGAN: Are those jelly beans?
CLINTON: Yes, we know that you are a big fan, so here’s a gift from one President to another.
REAGAN: What is?
CLINTON:The jelly beans…it’s your gift.
REAGAN: Whose gift?
CLINTON: Your gift, President Reagan.
REAGAN: I don’t remember buying you a gift.
CLINTON: No, these jelly beans are from me to you.
REAGAN: I will not put up with your Evil Empire’s poison jelly beans, Colonel Qaddafi.
CLINTON: Mr. Reagan, Qaddafi ruled Libya. The Evil Empire was the Soviet Union. I’m the President.
REAGAN: No, I’m the President. MR. GORBACHEV, TEAR DOWN THIS…
CLINTON: Yes, you were the President, but you left the White House four years ago…
REAGAN: Where did I leave it? Somebody help us find the White House! NANCY?!?
CLINTON: I mean that you retired four years ago, and I’m the President now. I live in the White House now.
REAGAN: Well, congratulations, here are some jelly beans. I hear that the President enjoys them.
CLINTON: (sighs) No, Mr. Reagan, those jelly beans are for you to keep.
REAGAN: Thank you. Nice to meet you, my name is Charlton Heston.
CLINTON: No, actually, you’re Ronald Reagan.
REAGAN: That hack was a terrible actor! “Bedtime For Bonzo”? How many Oscars did that one win, Ronnie?
CLINTON: Mr. Reagan…
REAGAN: Where?
CLINTON: Maybe this was a bad time. I just wanted to bring you a gift and to pay my respects, Sir.
REAGAN: Thank you for the gift. In return, I’d like to give you these jelly beans.
CLINTON: But…
REAGAN: They are decorated in the colors of the flag.
CLINTON: Thank you, President Reagan.
REAGAN: The President is here? Why didn’t anybody tell me? I would have brought him some jelly beans.
CLINTON: Oh…look at the time. I have to get back to the White House.
REAGAN: Yes, you are a very busy man, Mr. President.
CLINTON: (laughs nervously) Yes, sir, you know that Presidents are very busy.
REAGAN: Can I ask you a favor, President-to-President?
CLINTON: Of course.
REAGAN: MR. GORBACHEV…TEAR DOWN THIS WALL!
CLINTON: (walks out)
REAGAN: YOU FORGOT YOUR JELLY BEANS!
REAGAN: (to his aides) Hahahaha…I think I fooled him. That crazy-old-President-losing-his-mind prank will never get old!
atlanticiste Asks:
deadpresidents Said:
President Reagan should have insisted that he would never negotiate or barter with terrorists and then get Iran to release the American hostages that they had taken by selling them weapons and then funneling the money from the arms sales to the Nicaraguan Contras who were fighting the Sandinistas that we opposed. Ideally, this would free American hostages (because trading arms for hostages totally wouldn’t encourage further hostage-taking) from Iran and get money (from the arms sales) into the hands of the Contras since Congress explicitly prohibited the U.S. from aiding the Contras. Plus, it would cause a major stalemate in the brutal, vicious, long-running Iran-Iraq War since providing arms to Iran (in exchange for hostages, remember?) would offset the arms that we provided to Iraq and their progressive, wonderful leader Saddam Hussein and, then, maybe that war would last forever!
Oh, and if anyone had a problem with that plan, I’d stonewall the investigation by saying, “I do not recall”, or insisting that I didn’t remember to illustrate that I was either:
(a.) forgetful
(b.) a senile, nearly 80-year-old man who barely survived a shooting and cancer during my Presidency and might be suffering (while still President of the United States) from the onset of the Alzheimer’s Disease which I would eventually be diagnosed with
or,
(c.) a WAY better actor than anyone realized
Sounds good, no?
It was thirty years ago today — March 30, 1981 — that President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley, Jr. as the President left the Washington Hilton following a speech.
The assassination attempt happened quickly and it shows the skill of the Secret Service, even though Reagan did end up taking a bullet. Hinckley had some mental issues and was obsessed with Jodie Foster’s character in Taxi Driver. He felt that assassinating the President would impress Foster and lead her to fall in love with him. He was not correct.
Hinckley fired six shots. The first shot hit Press Secretary James Brady in the head, paralyzing him for life. The second shot hit Washington, D.C. police officer Tom Delahanty. The third shot was aimed right at Reagan, but Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy did what he was trained to do and in one of the most amazing things I have ever seen, he turned his body towards the shooter, crouched down and took a bullet in the chest that was intended for the President of the United States. Like Brady and Delahanty, McCarthy also survived.
Secret Service agent Jerry Parr was closest to the President, grabbed Reagan at the first sound of gunfire and started to shoved him into the Presidential limousine. Hinckley’s fourth shot smashed into the bulletproof limousine’s door, but the fifth shot hit the frame of the limo, ricocheted off the car and hit Reagan underneath his left arm where it pierced the President’s lung and lodged an inch from his heart.
A sixth bullet crashed into the sidewalk without harming anybody as citizens, police officers, and Secret Service agents jumped on Hinckley and took possession of his weapon. After shoving Reagan into the car, the Secret Service started heading towards the White House with the President. Parr searched the President’s body for wounds, but didn’t see any blood on Reagan’s shirt. Reagan, however, complained that he felt Parr might have broken his rib when he pushed the President into the limo. Seconds later, Reagan began coughing up blood and the agents turned the limousine around and raced towards George Washington University Hospital. Reagan insisted on walking into the hospital under his own power, but collapsed once inside the doors.
Reagan was 70 years old when he was shot, and he very nearly died. The wounds that Reagan received in 1981 were far worse than the wounds that killed James Garfield in 1881 and William McKinley in 1901. Because of the quick response of the Secret Service, the efficiency of modern medicine, and, really, pure luck, Reagan recovered fully, served out two terms in office, and lived until 2004.
dheneendowner Asks:
deadpresidents Said:
Personally, I despise what the Fairness Doctrine was. To me, free speech means allowing people to say what they want, no matter what their belief system.
I may not be the right guy to ask about this, though. I have friends who worked in radio and I worked closely with them in radio for a time. I have a different opinion about free speech and the safe harbor limits than many people do. I subscribe to the George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Louis CK system of words being words, not words being weapons that should hurt and can be outlawed.
One of the arguments for reinstating the Fairness Doctrine today is that, for example, right-wing radio is far more prevalent than left-wing radio, due to better funding and a solid foothold in many stations and broadcast companies across the nation. I don’t listen to right-wing talk radio, I wouldn’t agree with right-wing talk radio, and it would probably anger me if I did give it a listen, but I’m sorry — Liberals need to work harder, not legislate the airwaves.
My problem with the Fairness Doctrine is that you can’t legislate fairness. Life isn’t fair, so don’t try to legally require fairness in order to make up for some person or some group’s inadequacy.
