Rawhide Down_ The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan - Del Quentin Wilber [153]
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
DEL QUENTIN WILBER is an award-winning reporter for The Washington Post. He has spent most of his career covering law enforcement and sensitive security issues, and his work has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two sons.
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Copyright © 2011 by Del Quentin Wilber
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Photograph here courtesy of U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilber, Del Quentin.
Rawhide down : the near assassination of Ronald Reagan / Del Quentin Wilber. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8050-9346-9
1. Reagan, Ronald—Assassination attempt, 1981. I. Title.
E877.3.W55 2011
973.927092—dc22 2010049808
First Edition 2011
eISBN 978-1-4299-1931-9
First Henry Holt eBook Edition: March 2011
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech to a branch of the AFL-CIO at the Washington Hilton hotel. The president, a former union leader in Hollywood, thought the address was important enough to rewrite the beginning by hand. Reagan began his twenty-minute speech just after two p.m.
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
At 2:27 p.m., just seconds before a would-be assassin opened fire on Reagan and his entourage, the president waved to spectators across the street. Walking on the president’s right, wearing a light-colored raincoat, was Secret Service agent Jerry Parr, head of Reagan’s protective detail.
James K. W. Atherton/The Washington Post
Hoping to get to know Reagan better, Jerry Parr had switched shifts so he could accompany the president to the speech. Parr saved the president’s life that day—twice.
Alexander Fury/Courtesy U.S. Attorney’s Office
That morning, John W. Hinckley Jr. spotted Reagan’s schedule in a local newspaper and at the last minute decided to go to the Hilton and attempt to kill the president. Clearly visible in back of several journalists and onlookers, Hinckley was inadvertently captured in this photograph by a hotel security official concerned about a noisy heckler.
Courtesy Eddie Myers
Federal agents and D.C. police detectives were confounded by Hinckley’s calm demeanor as they pressed him for information in the hours after the shooting. In this photograph taken by an FBI agent at the bureau’s Washington field office, D.C. police detective Eddie Myers is keeping a close eye on his suspect.
Author’s collection
Hinckley bought this R.G. Industries model RG 14 for about forty-five dollars at a Texas pawnshop in the fall of 1980, soon after three other handguns were taken from him at the Nashville airport following his stalking of then president Jimmy Carter. Before leaving for the Hilton, Hinckley loaded the revolver with explosive bullets.
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library
Secret Service agents and D.C. police officers rushed at Hinckley as he unleashed a fusillade of bullets, but they were too late. Hinckley got off six shots in just 1.7 seconds; his bullets struck four people, including the president.
AP Images
Respected by reporters and White House staff members alike, press secretary James Brady made a last-second decision to attend Reagan’s speech at the Washington Hilton hotel. He was the first person wounded by one of Hinckley’s bullets and suffered a devastating head wound.
AP Images
That morning, D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty had this official photograph taken in case anything bad should ever happen to him. Stationed at the rope line, he had just turned to orient himself to the president when he heard gunshots. He was struck in the back by Hinckley’s second shot.
AP Images
Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy had hoped to avoid duty at the