The Shot That Nearly Killed a President

President Ronald Reagan exited the Washington Hilton Hotel on March 30, 1981, shortly after 2:27 p.m., having just addressed 5,000 AFL-CIO members inside. As he walked toward his limousine, a young man stepped forward from a roped-off press area and fired six shots in rapid succession.

The shooter was John Hinckley Jr., a 25-year-old with an obsession that would define one of the most significant moments of Reagan's presidency. Hinckley had left a letter in his hotel room explaining his motive: he was attempting to assassinate the president to impress actress Jodie Foster, whom he had become fixated on. The room also contained a map, Reagan's schedule clipped from newspapers, and a typed statement proclaiming what he called a "historic act."

The first shot struck Press Secretary James Brady in the head. The second hit D.C. Police Officer Thomas Delahanty. A third round found its mark in Secret Service Agent Timothy McCarthy, piercing his lower chest and traversing his right lung, diaphragm, and right lobe of his liver. The fifth shot struck the limousine's window glass. The sixth bullet ricocheted off the armored side of the presidential limousine.

It was that final ricochet that nearly killed the president. The bullet struck Reagan under his left armpit, grazed his rib, and lodged deep in his left lung, causing a partial collapse. Medical analysis would later reveal the bullet came within less than an inch of his heart—a margin that meant the difference between Reagan's survival and a national tragedy.

Secret Service Agent Jerry Parr made a critical decision in those seconds. He pushed Reagan into the limousine and assessed the president's condition as they raced toward George Washington University Hospital. Initially, Reagan believed the impact had simply cracked a rib from being shoved into the vehicle. Then he coughed—and the blood came up bright and frothy, a sign of severe lung damage.