Rawhide Down_ The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan - Del Quentin Wilber [111]
In describing the response by the Secret Service and the FBI to the assassination attempt, I relied heavily on interviews with former agents, as well as a review of trial testimony and extensive—and, until recently, confidential—Secret Service and FBI reports that I obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. I also benefited from a lengthy Treasury Department report that provided a detailed description of the actions of Secret Service agents during the attack and in the days leading up to it.
To provide an account of the medical care given to Ronald Reagan and the other wounded men, I relied on interviews with more than thirty doctors and nurses, medical records that I obtained from various sources, and extensive unpublished recollections and journal entries written by several participants. Further, I read many news stories about Reagan’s treatment in the hospital, including articles in both medical journals and the popular press. One of the most comprehensive reports—an article by journalist John Pekkanen—appeared in the August 1981 issue of Washingtonian magazine.
Fortunately, I also obtained a copy of a thirty-minute documentary produced by George Washington University Hospital about the events of that day. Called The Saving of the President, it featured all of the principal doctors and nurses reenacting their own roles, thus providing an accurate record of what occurred in the hours following the president’s arrival in GW’s emergency room. This documentary—which aired once on national television and once on Washington-area television in 1982—was particularly helpful when describing locations in the hospital, which was torn down in 2003.
In telling John Hinckley’s story, I relied extensively on transcripts from his eight-week trial, which are housed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. I obtained a 638-page confidential psychiatric assessment of Hinckley that was produced by prosecution psychiatrists. This document—which has never been made public—delved into every aspect of Hinckley’s life, from birth until his arrest, and featured interviews with the suspect, his family, his associates, and police and federal agents who confronted him on the day of the shooting. I also benefited from Secret Service and FBI reports that were attached to an appeals court filing and apparently forgotten. Hinckley did not respond to several letters seeking an interview; his attorney, Barry Wm. Levine, said Hinckley and his family members declined to comment for this book.
In writing about Ronald Reagan and his White House, I was fortunate to interview James A. Baker III, Edwin Meese III, and others who worked for the president in that time period. Richard V. Allen was especially helpful; besides providing extensive notes and making himself available for many interviews, he gave me access to the audiotapes he recorded in the Situation Room during that day’s most difficult hours. Unless noted otherwise, every line of dialogue used in the scenes set in the Situation Room comes from Allen’s tapes. I also benefited from a transcript of an interview conducted with Michael Deaver by another White House official the day after the shooting. This transcript provides the most detailed and illuminating account of the assassination attempt from any White House official who followed Reagan to the hospital. In telling the story of Air Force Two, I relied on Chase Untermeyer’s recollection and his diary entry for the day, as well as a transcript of an interview he conducted with Vice President Bush as they flew back to Washington.
The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library has a trove of records—documents, photographs,