Not so my advisor and his staff. One of them, a Jewish woman whose family had survived the Holocaust, said, "Are you kidding? I'm sorry the gunman missed! Just look at what Reagan will do to the budget, to the environment."
All the other faculty members in that gathering just nodded. None of them said, "Now, now, you don't really mean that." They were all august members of an Ivy League faculty, wearing their tweed jackets with patches on the sleeves and knit ties. None of them displayed the essential humanity and decency which one might have expected of them.
That was the moment when my eyes opened. That was the moment I realized that Democrats are not nicer or more moral than Republicans. It took another year, but I registered as a Republican the following year and have never voted for a Democrat again.
Was stationed in Germany. We went on alert. News was very sketchy. Didn’t actually know at the time. The alert was at night time, which was odd. Only found out later about the President being shot.
I do have a vivd memeory of Lennon being shot as I was in PNOC listening to the radio at 4 am buffing the bedroom floor and getting ready for the day. Monday night football was on and it was announced then. heard later he died. Had SSGT Rock (his real name) saying it was good they got the bastard. I thought it must be pretty bad in the states of they are going around shooting musicans.
Here in Texas, far from progressive strongholds, there was thankfully none that I encountered?
Of course for the media it was a so over the top of a ratings grab that SNL mocked them with its “Buckwheat has been shot ... have you seen the footage?” skit.
I was in junior high. The news was announced in band class. One student expressed joy and the band instructor sternly rebuked him.
. This one girl came in and said, "Oh, my God, are they STILL talking about that?"
Effing witch.
At the time, I lived in an apartment building in Washington, DC Southwest. I was shocked that the nice Black lady at the receptionist desk who was always friendly to everyone could not control her glee that day.
All I can say is Alexander Haig did great that day
I was living in Virginia Beach at the time and do not recall anyone celebrating. I worked with a couple of Black guys who seemed a bit happy but they did not wish him to die.
I do remember in 1963, I was a sophomore in high school. When news that Kennedy had been shot, just about everyone was happy. After maybe ten minutes or so the mood changed. Students were saying they did not want him to die tho they seemed perfectly happy for him to have been shot.
Kennedy was very unpopular at that time in the Florida Panhandle. When the principal came on the intercom to tell us he had died, the mood definitively changed. Everyone seemed sad.
I was getting the oil changed in my car. Nobody laughed, except for when they heard on TV that Reagan joked that he hoped the surgeon was a republican.
I remember how the left and the media (but I repeat myself) hated Reagan.
I was in Macy’s store on 34th street in NYC when the announcement was made over the PA system. There were a bunch who cheered.
I remember leftist idiots celebrating someone trying to “cancel the ballot with a bullet”.
I had a college professor neighbor who was a self-described radical. Radical because he didn’t identify with squishy liberals. Occasionally he’d borrow my copies of The American Spectator, probably to keep an eye on what the wiseguy enemy camp was up to.
Anyway the day that Reagan was shot he made a point of seeking me out to tell me that he was very sorry to hear of the shooting, and I am sure that he was. Unlike so many of today’s Leftists he wasn’t a hater.
things happened and I've become a life long anti democrat since....
I was just leaving campus at University of New Orleans when I heard about it. I don’t remember anyone rejoicing. I remember things were pretty subdued. I went back to my apartment and watched the news on my black and white TV.
Slightly off-topic but I remember cheers (and tears) at my high school when it was announced that JFK was shot (about 11AM PST). But as the day wore on things got much more sombre. But this was just high school kids.
We sat there stunned. It was Good Friday and I prayed that he wouldn't die.
Don't believe me? Go to one of those magazine archive sites and pull a few leftist political magazines from the early 1980's. They portrayed Reagan as an insane, reckless cowboy who was too stupid for the job, who the rest of world hated and was probably going to start World War III (sound familiar).
The only difference is that back in the 1980's you had to seek them out to hear the liberals utter hatred, now because of the Internet and 24 hour news it's all over the place instantly.
In those days, I was a far Leftist. I won’t share what went on within the group I was associated with. It wasn’t gleeful, though.
I didn’t see anything like this - but I don’t doubt that it occurred. I do remember When JFK was assassinated my grandmother saying, “Good. I never liked that SOB”.
I remember walking through a grocery store; kind of a superstore precursor to Walmart. Anyway, the TVs in the music/ electronics area toward the front of the store were on and there was a crowd gathered around. No cheering, very somber.