Okla-homey
3/30/2006, 07:20 AM
March 30, 1981 Ronald Reagan is shot by John Hinckley Jr.
25 years ago on this day, John Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. just after the President had addressed the Building and Construction Workers Union of the AFL-CIO.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4893/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz23.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Seconds before the shots
Hinckley was armed with a .22 revolver with exploding bullets and was only ten feet away from Reagan when he began shooting. Fortunately, he was a poor shot and most of the bullets did not explode as they were designed.
Hinckley's first shot hit press secretary James Brady and other shots wounded a police officer and a Secret Service agent. The final shot hit Reagan's limo and then ricocheted into the President's chest.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4048/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzreaganassass.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The immediate aftermath.
John Warnock Hinckley, Jr., was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on May 29, 1955 in the same hospital in which your correspondent was born almost five years later.
The youngest of three children, Hinkley's home life seemed picture perfect. His father, John W. Hinkley, Sr., was a successful and wealthy Chairman and President of the Vanderbilt Energy Corporation while JoAnn Moore Hinckley, John’s mother, was a homemaker who doted on her children, especially John, whom she felt was more introverted than his older siblings.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3585/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz13.png (http://imageshack.us)
John W. Hinckley Jr.
John’s brother, Scott Hinckley, graduated from Vanderbilt University and became Vice-President of his father’s oil and gas business. John’s older sister, Diane, was popular and outgoing, a straight "A" student in high school and a graduate of SMU.
In the early years of Hinckley’s life, it seemed as though John would follow the path to popularity and success that his elder siblings had established. When John was four years old, the Hinckley family moved to Dallas.
During his elementary school years, John was the quarterback of the school football team and also played basketball, earning the title "best basketball player" for his elementary school basketball team.
When John was in the sixth grade, his family moved to the exclusive suburb of Highland Park. During junior high, John was elected President of his seventh grade and ninth grade classes, managed his school’s football team, and took up the guitar. Shortly thereafter his mind started to spin out of control.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2606/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz36.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hinckley's parents. They have repeatedly and publicly argued for his release as they were doing here with Larry King.
Hinckley's path toward the assassination attempt began in 1976 when he saw the movie Taxi Driver while an undergrad at Texas Tech. In the film, Robert DeNiro's Travis Bickle stalks a Presidential candidate in the hopes that he will somehow impress and rescue a young prostitute played by Jodie Foster.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/7488/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz22.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hinckley saw the film at least 15 times in Lubbock the summer it premiered.
Hinckley, who spent seven years at Texas Tech without earning a degree or making a friend, added Foster to his list of obsessions, which also included Nazis, the Beatles and assassins.
In May 1980, Hinckley wrote to Foster while she attended Yale University, traveled there to stalk her and talked to her on the phone a couple of times. Soon after, he began following President Jimmy Carter. In October, he was arrested at airport near a Carter campaign stop for carrying guns. However, the Secret Service was not notified. Hinkley simply went to a pawnshop in Dallas and bought more guns.
For the next several months, Hinckley's plans changed daily. He pondered kidnapping Foster, considered killing Senator Edward Kennedy and began stalking newly elected President Reagan. Finally, he wrote a letter to Foster explaining that his attempt on Reagan's life was for her. He kept abreast of the President's schedule by reading the newspaper.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/1069/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz20.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
As we all know, Reagan survived, Brady was permanently crippled and became the namesake for anti-gun legislation popularly called the "Brady Bill" and Hinckley was later not found not guilty by reason of insanity. He lives today in a mental institution in Washington DC.
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/8055/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz27.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hinckley in a recent photo
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/1889/insane7zo3wg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
25 years ago on this day, John Hinckley shot President Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington D.C. just after the President had addressed the Building and Construction Workers Union of the AFL-CIO.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/4893/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz23.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Seconds before the shots
Hinckley was armed with a .22 revolver with exploding bullets and was only ten feet away from Reagan when he began shooting. Fortunately, he was a poor shot and most of the bullets did not explode as they were designed.
Hinckley's first shot hit press secretary James Brady and other shots wounded a police officer and a Secret Service agent. The final shot hit Reagan's limo and then ricocheted into the President's chest.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/4048/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzreaganassass.gif (http://imageshack.us)
The immediate aftermath.
John Warnock Hinckley, Jr., was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma, on May 29, 1955 in the same hospital in which your correspondent was born almost five years later.
The youngest of three children, Hinkley's home life seemed picture perfect. His father, John W. Hinkley, Sr., was a successful and wealthy Chairman and President of the Vanderbilt Energy Corporation while JoAnn Moore Hinckley, John’s mother, was a homemaker who doted on her children, especially John, whom she felt was more introverted than his older siblings.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/3585/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz13.png (http://imageshack.us)
John W. Hinckley Jr.
John’s brother, Scott Hinckley, graduated from Vanderbilt University and became Vice-President of his father’s oil and gas business. John’s older sister, Diane, was popular and outgoing, a straight "A" student in high school and a graduate of SMU.
In the early years of Hinckley’s life, it seemed as though John would follow the path to popularity and success that his elder siblings had established. When John was four years old, the Hinckley family moved to Dallas.
During his elementary school years, John was the quarterback of the school football team and also played basketball, earning the title "best basketball player" for his elementary school basketball team.
When John was in the sixth grade, his family moved to the exclusive suburb of Highland Park. During junior high, John was elected President of his seventh grade and ninth grade classes, managed his school’s football team, and took up the guitar. Shortly thereafter his mind started to spin out of control.
http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/2606/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz36.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hinckley's parents. They have repeatedly and publicly argued for his release as they were doing here with Larry King.
Hinckley's path toward the assassination attempt began in 1976 when he saw the movie Taxi Driver while an undergrad at Texas Tech. In the film, Robert DeNiro's Travis Bickle stalks a Presidential candidate in the hopes that he will somehow impress and rescue a young prostitute played by Jodie Foster.
http://img70.imageshack.us/img70/7488/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz22.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hinckley saw the film at least 15 times in Lubbock the summer it premiered.
Hinckley, who spent seven years at Texas Tech without earning a degree or making a friend, added Foster to his list of obsessions, which also included Nazis, the Beatles and assassins.
In May 1980, Hinckley wrote to Foster while she attended Yale University, traveled there to stalk her and talked to her on the phone a couple of times. Soon after, he began following President Jimmy Carter. In October, he was arrested at airport near a Carter campaign stop for carrying guns. However, the Secret Service was not notified. Hinkley simply went to a pawnshop in Dallas and bought more guns.
For the next several months, Hinckley's plans changed daily. He pondered kidnapping Foster, considered killing Senator Edward Kennedy and began stalking newly elected President Reagan. Finally, he wrote a letter to Foster explaining that his attempt on Reagan's life was for her. He kept abreast of the President's schedule by reading the newspaper.
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/1069/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz20.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
As we all know, Reagan survived, Brady was permanently crippled and became the namesake for anti-gun legislation popularly called the "Brady Bill" and Hinckley was later not found not guilty by reason of insanity. He lives today in a mental institution in Washington DC.
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/8055/zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz27.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hinckley in a recent photo
http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/1889/insane7zo3wg.jpg (http://imageshack.us)