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This photo taken by presidential photographer Mike Evens on March 30, 1981 shows President Ronald Reagan waving to the crowd just before the assassination attempt on him, after a conference outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.. Reagan was hit by one of six shots fired by John Hinckley, who also seriously injured press secretary James Brady (just behind the car). Reagan was hit in the chest and was hospitalized for 12 days. Hinckley was aquitted 21 June 1982 after a jury found him mentally unstable. (Photo credit should read MIKE EVENS/AFP via Getty Images)
23374 06: Chaos surrounds shooting victims immediately after the assassination attempt on President Reagan, March 30, 1981, by John Hinkley Jr. outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. Injured in the shooting are Press Secretary James Brady and Agent Timothy McCarthy. (Photo by Dirck Halstead/Liaison)
23374 10: Chaos surrounds shooting victims immediately after the assassination attempt on President Reagan, March 30, 1981, by John Hinkley Jr. outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. Injured in the shooting are Press Secretary James Brady and Agent Timothy McCarthy. (Photo by Dirck Halstead/Liaison)
23374 13: Chaos surrounds shooting victims immediately after the assassination attempt on President Reagan, March 30, 1981, by John Hinkley Jr. outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. Injured in the shooting are Press Secretary James Brady and Agent Timothy McCarthy. (Photo by Dirck Halstead/Liaison)
23374 26: Press Secretary James Brady is placed into an ambulance on March 30, 1981 shortly after John Hinkley's attempt to assassinate President Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington, DC. Also injured in the shooting are Agent Timothy McCarthy and a DC police officer. (Photo by Dirck Halstead/Liaison)
(Original Caption) Washington, D.C.: White House press secretary Jim Brady lies wounded on sidewalk after a gunman fired several shots at President Ronald Reagan and his party after he delivered a speech at a Washington hotel.
Self-portrait of John Hinckley Jr as he poses with a handgun held to his head, late 1970s, early 1980s. (Original Caption) 10/28/1982-Washington, DC-The FBI released this self-portrait of John Hinckley, who attempted to assassinate President Reagan in March, 1981. The picture was made with a polaroid camera. It was part of the evidence used in Hinckley's trial.
(Original Caption) 4/10/81-Washington, DC: John Hinckley, Jr. (center), the man charged with the attempted murder of President Reagan, now finds himself the center of Federal protection, March 30th, as he is driven away from U.S. District Court. Hinckley was seated in the center seat of a nine-seat section station with agents assigned to protect him, seated in front, alongside, and behind him. Ph: John Full
Six shots were fired 41 years ago today. Six shots from a revolver that could've assassinated the President of the United States, not even 20 years since the three that took the life of President John F. Kennedy. Only this time more cameras were rolling, the Secret Service was ready, and the suspected killer lived to see his day in court.
President Ronald Reagan, an actor turned politician, was just a little over 60 days in office when he left the Washington Hilton on Monday, March 30, 1981 following a speech to the AFL-CIO luncheon. As he made his way out to the presidential limousine, John Hinkley, Jr. pulled the trigger of his Röhm RG 14.
At first, the President and his handlers thought he escaped without injury, but the Commander-in-Chief began coughing blood and was rushed to the George Washington University Hospital. Reagan underwent thoracotomy surgery because the internal bleeding would not stop. He left the hospital two weeks later.
During Reagan's hospital stay and recovery, the 25th amendment was enacted making then-Vice President George H.W. Bush acting president.
Hinkley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Details that have withstood time are his admiration of suspected Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald and his obsession with actress Jodie Foster. He was released to the care of his mother in 2016, and will have his unconditional release this June.
Baltimore Sun Hinkley 31 Mar 1981, Tue The Baltimore Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) Newspapers.com
Post-Dispatch Hinkley 31 Mar 1981, Tue St. Louis Post-Dispatch (St. Louis, Missouri) Newspapers.com
Pitts Press Hinkley 31 Mar 1981, Tue The Pittsburgh Press (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com
