John Hinckley, Jr.’s attempt to kill Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, was the most recent nearly-successful assassination attempt. Hinckley fired six shots at Reagan in Washington, D.C. One bullet ruptured Reagan’s lung and lodged close to his heart. Another bullet hit the head of press secretary James Brady, permanently disabling him. A policeman and a Secret Service agent were also critically wounded. Reagan recovered, becoming the only sitting president to survive the shot of an assassin’s bullet. During the ordeal, Reagan never lost his trademark sense of humor. When his wife arrived at the hospital, he quipped, “Honey, I forgot to duck.” Then, when he was about to go into surgery to remove the bullet, he said to the surgeons, “Please tell me you’re all Republicans.” The head surgeon, in fact, was a liberal Democrat, but in classy fashion he responded, “Mr. President, today we are all Republicans.” Hinckley, who was later declared “not guilty by reason of insanity,” was apparently motivated because he was obsessed with actress Jodie Foster. He had followed her all around the country hoping to get her attention, and when other attempts failed, he thought that a grand gesture like, say, killing the president, would impress her. He initially planned to kill President Carter but did not have the opportunity before Carter left office, so Reagan became his target. Hinckley is currently at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, D.C.

Ronald Reagan is buried in a beautiful spot on the grounds of his presidential library overlooking Simi Valley, California (a city perhaps better known for being my first home…it’s where my parents lived when I was born). Technically, I have not yet visited his gravesite when he was actually buried there, as my two visits to the site both occurred before his death (though the second visit was only 13 days before he died). However, his gravesite was designed and then approved by him and his wife shortly after he left the presidency, and it was built years before he died. In my opinion, his gravesite is one of the best to strike that balance of the uniquely-American need to have our leader be both revered and commonplace. The site is tastefully honorable for the office of the presidency (not small and forgotten like Coolidge or Cleveland) but yet not overdone (like the huge memorials of Grant, Garfield, and Harding). Don’t get me wrong, I like those other gravesites, but Reagan’s strikes me as the most “fitting” gravesite for a US President.

this is really cool. I live in Simi Valley and have never been to the Ronald Reagan Libary. I think i will need to go up there very soon.