Rawhide Down_ The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan - Del Quentin Wilber [113]
St. John’s Church: History provided by Hayden Bryan, executive director of operations for St. John’s Church, and the church’s website.
the Reverend Harper delivered: John C. Harper, “The Son of the Man,” sermon delivered at St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, March 29, 1981.
They ate lunch: Reagan Diaries, p. 30; DDPRR, March 29, 1981.
The only event of note: “The President’s Schedule, March 30, 1981,” RRPL.
By mid-March: “Reagan Approval Rating Trails Earlier Presidents,” WP, March 18, 1981, p. A3.
White House officials and pollsters: There were numerous press accounts detailing this, including a column that ran on March 30, 1981, in newspapers across the country. It was by the influential Robert Novak and Rowland Evans. “The Reagan honeymoon is truly over,” they declared in discussing the anticipated fight ahead over the administration’s plans to slash federal spending.
The news of the shooting stunned the country: Many newspapers and wire services published stories describing local reaction to the assassination attempt. Among those I relied on were articles in: Des Moines Register, Chicago Tribune, Quad-City Times, Baltimore Sun, Boston Globe, State Journal-Register (Springfield, Illinois), Peoria Journal Star, WP, Kansas City Star, AP, and UPI.
never broke protocol: Secret Service agents, who reviewed the audiotapes of their radio broadcasts of that day, assured me that they never uttered Reagan’s name on the air, nor used the word “president” to describe him. I requested a copy of this tape from the Secret Service. As this book went to print, I had not yet been granted access to it. However, the Secret Service did provide me with a transcript of the radio calls, which confirms that agents never violated procedure.
Every modern president: Former president George W. Bush was Trailblazer; President Obama is Renegade.
It was first given: Interview with Pete Peterson. Peterson and Pete Hannaford, a close Reagan advisor in the 1970s, told me that the Secret Service bestowed the code name in 1976. In a copy of a long-defunct magazine, I found a reference to Rawhide being his code name during that year’s campaign (Richard Reeves, “Brown, Reagan, and Self-Destruction,” New West, June 7, 1976, p. 12).
By all accounts: Several friends, advisors, and Secret Service agents reported this. “The Reagans were amused by and rather liked Rawhide and Rainbow,” Hannaford said. In 1984, while on a break at his ranch, Reagan was rooting around at the base of trees. This greatly concerned Secret Service agent Robert DeProspero, then head of Reagan’s detail, because venomous rattlesnakes were a common sight on the ranch. “Mr. President, you make me really nervous,” DeProspero said. “I really don’t want you getting bitten by a rattlesnake.” Reagan looked up with a big smile. “Well,” he said, “you can’t be afraid with a name like ‘Rawhide.’”
years later, describing: Ronald Reagan, An American Life, p. 104.
Reagan viewed the presidency: Many biographers have made this point, none better than Lou Cannon in President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime.
1: Rendezvous with Destiny
When President Ronald Reagan awoke: Several people, including agents and White House staffers, remembered the dreary weather this day, but I also relied on an aviation meteorological report from www.weatherunderground.com to chart the weather hour by hour. In describing Reagan’s attire, I utilized FBI inventories of what he wore that day; I also relied on official photographs, RRPL, and an interview with Gary Walters to depict the White House residence and grounds. Michael K. Deaver described Reagan using Brylcreem in A Different Drummer, p. 14; the president