Horrible Memories Of The Attempted Reagan Assassination

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Attempted Reagan Assassination: On March 30, 1981, six bullets were fired toward President Ronald Reagan at the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. He was just a few feet from the presidential limousine at the time and had just finished addressing a labor meeting at the Washington Hilton Hotel and was walking with his entourage to his limousine.

In the Attempted Reagan Assassination, Reagan’s press secretary Jim Brady, Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, and DCPD officer Thomas Delahanty were all critically wounded by three gunshots. All three were members of Reagan’s protection team and entourage. Reagan and the Secret Service were unaware at the time that one of the bullets had ricocheted off the limo’s door, puncturing the president’s lung before becoming embedded close to his heart.

It wasn’t until President Reagan started coughing up blood that his wounds were discovered. Immediately after the Attempted Reagan Assassination, President was rushed to The George Washington University Hospital and was then visited by him.

The president returned to some of his executive responsibilities the following day, and from his hospital bed, he signed a piece of legislation. He was able to leave the hospital after twelve days and return to the White House with a renewed resolve to improve ties between the US and the USSR.

After the Attempted Reagan Assassination, Reagan’s popularity soared, and at the end of April, Congress greeted him with a hero’s greeting. This same Congress approved Reagan’s divisive economic program in August, with several Democrats breaking ranks to support his proposal. Reagan claimed to have completely recovered from the assassination attempt (Attempted Reagan Assassination) by this point. However, he would still suffer from the wound from the nearly fatal gunshot for years in secret.

Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy and D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty ultimately made a full recovery among the Attempted Reagan Assassination victims. James Brady, who was shot in the eye and almost perished, had permanent brain damage. Later, he turned into a proponent of gun control, and in 1993, the “Brady Bill,” which mandated a five-day waiting time and background checks for potential gun purchasers, was passed by Congress. The legislation was ratified by Bill Clinton as president.

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John Hinckley, 25, was detained on March 30, 1981, and was later charged with trying to assassinate the president on government grounds. He had earlier been detained in Tennessee on suspicion of having a weapon. He was declared not guilty due to lunacy in June 1982.

Hinckley’s defense team claimed during the trial that their client had a narcissistic personality disorder and a pathological fixation with the 1976 movie Taxi Driver, whose lead actress Jodie Foster tries to assassinate a fictional senator. They claimed that the events of March 30, 1981, were actually planned by the movie and not Hinckley.

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For the role he played in the Attempted Reagan Assassination, He was sentenced to 35 years in a mental health facility. In 2020, only 40 years after the killing, Hinckley asked for “unconditional release” from judicial oversight after being moved out in 2016.

The verdict of “not guilty by reason of insanity” drew harsh condemnation from the public, and many people expressed shock that a would-be presidential assassin could escape punishment for his crime. He was nonetheless admitted to the mental hospital St. Elizabeth’s Hospital due to his clear danger to society. Hinckley’s lawyer started making the case in the late 1990s that the man had a right to resume living a regular life because his mental illness was in remission.

Beginning in August 1999, he was permitted to take supervised day excursions outside of the hospital, and subsequently, once a week unsupervised visits to his parents. During these outings, the Secret Service willingly kept an eye on him. He received conditional parole in 2016 so that he could live with his mother in Williamsburg, Virginia. In 2018, a judge issued a ruling allowing him to reside within 75 miles of Williamsburg, subject to a number of requirements, including frequent meetings with his psychiatrist and social worker.