After being shot, Reagan was immediately shoved into a limousine and rushed to the George Washing University Hospital. Despite being in a critical situation, Reagan remained jovial, famously telling his surgeons: "Please tell me you're Republicans." His condition became stable after a two-hour operation, and he was even able to sign a bill from his hospital bed. Reagan's popularity skyrocketed after the incident, as he remained calm and poised under fire and earned the sympathy of many Americans. This boost in support enabled him to push his economic policies through a Democratic-controlled Congress, and his much-advertised "Reaganomics" soon came into effect.
Ronald Reagan was the eighth American President to be an assassin's target and the fourth to survive such an endeavor. Presidents Lincoln, Garfield, McKinley, and Kennedy had all been killed, whereas Jackson, Truman, Ford, and now Reagan were survivors.
Sources:
https://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/president-reagan-shot-march-30-1981-236656
https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/0330.html?mcubz=0
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/03/30/avlon.reagan.shooting/index.html
Good job on the post Cody. It was interesting to read in detail about how the assassination attempt on Reagan went down. As you mentioned, the incident boosted his popularity and even enabled him to push his economic policies. Although an assassination attempt is undoubtedly a negative thing, do you think that it was actually helpful for Reagan?
ReplyDeleteThis was a very informative article. Something that I began to wonder while I was reading was whether Reagan's opinions on gun control changed after being shot. Surprisingly, even after the nearly fatal blow, he still supported the NRA and even tried to abolish federal agencies that fought for gun safety. Interestingly enough, however, he changed his mind after leaving office. Reagan supported laws that required background checks before buying a gun and that called for bans on assault weapons, supposedly inspired by his sadness over what happened to James Brady. https://takingnote.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/10/08/republicans-didnt-always-march-to-the-national-rifle-associations-drum/?mtrref=www.google.com&assetType=opinion
ReplyDeleteThis was an insightful post about Reagan's assassination attempt. It is interesting to note that several of these assassins (or would-be assassins) were motivated by the pursuit of attention. Hinckley shot Reagan because he apparently wanted to get the attention of actress Jodie Foster. Collazo and Torresola shot Truman because they wanted to garner attention for their Puerto Rican nationalist movement. Do you think these apparent motives are their true motives? If not, what might be their real thinking?
ReplyDeletehttps://www.trumanlibrary.org/trivia/assassin.htm
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/obsessed-jodie-foster-fan-john-hinckley-jr-shoots-president-reagan
What a great post about the assassination attempt on Reagan! More on John Hinckley Jr., apparently his drive to kill began after watching the movie "Taxi Driver". Obviously, he was mentally unstable as he constantly changed his plans, from stalking President Carter, wanting to kill Senator Ted Kennedy and finally he decided on his new obsession: assassinate Reagan. However, Hinckley was later not found not guilty as a result of insanity.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/ronald-reagan-is-shot-by-john-hinckley-jr