1981: President Reagan is shot

BBC News ^ | March, 30, 2005 (1981)

[lizol]

1981: President Reagan is shot President Ronald Reagan has been shot and wounded after a lone gunman opened fire in Washington. He is currently undergoing emergency surgery at George Washington University Hospital but there are unconfirmed reports he walked in unaided.

Initial reports claim he may have a punctured lung.

Five to six shots were fired as he left the Washington Hilton Hotel where he had been addressing a union convention, about one mile from the White House.

A man, firing at close range, also wounded White House Press Secretary James Brady in the head.

A Secret Service official and a Washington policeman were also injured before the gunman was pushed to the ground by police.

The president had appeared from the hotel smiling and walked towards his limousine turning momentarily to acknowledge calls from the waiting press.

A burst of gunfire was then heard before the president was bundled into a bullet proof limousine and whisked away.

First Lady Nancy Reagan is understood to be on her way to the hospital to visit her 70-year-old husband.

The attacker is described as being in his twenties and blonde.

He was pinned to the wall by secret service agents and he has now been arrested.

The assassination attempt has sent shock waves around the country where memories of the murder of president John F Kennedy remain vivid.

President Reagan has only been in office for 69 days and the attack leaves the running of the country in some confusion as his vice-president George Bush is currently on his way back from Texas.

Until the arrival of Vice-President Bush it is unclear who is in charge.

The American Stock Exchange has stopped trading and the Academy Awards have been postponed until tomorrow night in the wake of the attacks.

Secret Service agents wrestled the assailant, John Hinckley, to the ground

[RushCrush]

[Sybeck1]

I was on the baseball field skipping study hall in Jr High when I heard about this happening. Remember it just like yesterday.

[baseballmom]

and the attack leaves the running of the country in some confusion as his vice-president George Bush is currently on his way back from Texas.

The BBC displayed incredible ignorance in this story. Things haven't changed much.

[Battle Hymn of the Republic]

I pray this never happens to GWB. We should all pray for President Bush's safety..

There are so many nuts out there that despise him.

[jwalburg]

All I can remember is the excitement of the media. They'd give ten minute updates on his condition, down to the tenth of a degree in temperature rise almost, just hoping he would die.

[Kokojmudd]

I was at a spring training game in Tucson, the Oakland A's were playing Cleveland. Some drunk in front of me was cursing at Billy Martin, then they announced it over the PA system.

[RushCrush]

I pray this never happens to GWB. We should all pray for President Bush's safety.. There are so many nuts out there that despise him.

Now so more than ever.

[Bahbah]

We should all pray for President Bush's safety.

Do it all the time. If you were on the Inauguration Parade thread, you could feel a cyber breath holding when the President and Mrs. Bush got out of the car.

[slowhand520]

I'll remember that day for the rest of my life. I was celebrating my 7th birthday party at Mcdonald's.

[cvq3842]

Wow! That's right - it was today. Thanks for reminder.

[armymarinemom]

I remember that I was still quite liberal when this happened and I was horrified. Liberal or not having a President shot shook me to the core. It's one of those events that causes you to remember exactly what you were doing when you heard the news.

[lizol]

Twenty years ago, on the afternoon of May 13, 1981, Pope John Paul II was struck by three bullets while being driven in a slow-moving convertible through St. Peter's Square, where 20,000 people had gathered to see the pontiff. Rushed to a hospital, the pope barely survived a six-hour operation. Two bystanders were also injured in the attack.

You see, two great people, the two, who crushed communism were supposed to die within 2 months.
And they both survived - to bring freedom to us (the Poles) and to the whole world.

A coincidence?

[dead]

I was just starting high school track practice when the news came in.

It was a public school, and the track coach (who was also the football coach) announced the news, then said "I'm going to get down on my knees now and pray for him. Anybody who wants to can join me." And everybody did.

"Crazy Ray" wasn't the type to worry about the technicalities.

[Beth528]

[dead]

and the attack leaves the running of the country in some confusion as his vice-president George Bush is currently on his way back from Texas.

The BBC displayed incredible ignorance in this story.

This is not an inaccurate statement. The bumbling statements by Al Haig did create some confusion within the media and the uninformed public, though in reality there was never any question over who was running the country.

[lizol]

Ping

[lizol]

Ronald Reagan Speeches

Address to the British Parliament (June 8, 1982)

(...)And a few hundred kilometers behind the Berlin Wall, there is another symbol. In the center of Warsaw, there is a sign that notes the distances to two capitals. In one direction it points toward Moscow. In the other it points toward Brussels, headquarters of Western Europe's tangible unity. The marker says that the distances from Warsaw to Moscow and Warsaw to Brussels are equal. The sign makes this point: Poland is not East or West. Poland is at the center of European civilization. It has contributed mightily to that civilization. It is doing so today by being magnificently unreconciled to oppression.(...)

http://millercenter.virginia.edu/scripps/diglibrary/prezspeeches/reagan/rwr_1982_0608.html

[Beth528]