The Ronald Reagan Assassination Attempt — Letter Sent to Teacher in 1981

By William Ford (SMHS ‘21)

In my summer school US History class, I learned about the 1981 attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. I specifically learned that:

• On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot and wounded by John Hinckley Jr. in Washington D.C.
• Reagan was shot as he was returning to his presidential limousine following a speaking egnagement at the Washington Hilton Hotel.
• Although “close to death” upon arrival at George Washington University Hospital, Reagan recovered and was released from the hospital almost two weeks after having been shot.
• Reagan was the first serving U.S. president to survive being shot in an assassination attempt.
• Hinckley’s motivation for the attack was “to impress actress Jodie Foster, who had played the role of a child prostitute in the 1976 film Taxi Driver. After seeing the film, Hinckley had developed ann obsession with Foster.”

When done with this learning, my teacher encourage me to write a 750–1000 word Historical Fiction Letter, with this letter to be written from the perspective of someone who had witnessed the assassination attempt and who was between the age of 18–25 at the time. He also encourged me to address my letter to a Mr. Joe Titan, a fictional US History teacher at my school.

In the Historical Fiction Letter appearing below, I assume that I was a 25-year-old Ford Motor Company Marketing Manager writing on Monday, March 30, 1981, the day that John Hinckley Jr. sought to assassinate President Reagan.

I also assume that I was writing my letter from my Washington D.C. Hilton Hotel Room at 9:27 PM, seven hours after having personally witnessed the assassination attempt.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Dear Mr. Titan:

This is William Ford. Remember me? I was a student in your 1973 US History class and though I haven’t talked to you since graduating in 1974, I just had to reach out to you today.

I’m writing from my Washington Hilton Hotel Room on March 30, 1981 and on the very same day that John Hinckley, Jr. tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. I’m also writing from the very same hotel that the President was walking out of when he got shot.

It’s 10:00 PM and I’m about to call it a night, but first I want to tell you about my day. It all started with me getting to the hotel just before 9:00 AM after having taken a “red-eye flight” from my home in Los Angeles.

I came to the hotel to attend a week-long Ford Motor Company sponsored marketing managers conference and from 9:00 until 12:00 I was learning a lot at the conference and meeting some wonderful people.

For lunch, I went with some of these wonderful people to something called the District Line Restaurant. It’s a contemporary, elegant, yet also relaxed American restaurant located inside the Hilton.

After lunch, we all went back to the conference room and just as we were starting to do some serious work, around 2:15PM, I decided to leave leave the conference room for a few minutes to go outside with a couple of my friends to see if we could catch a glimpse of the president leaving the hotel.

The President was there that day to give a speech and we had heard at lunch that he would be leaving the hotel and getting into his limo around 2:23.

I just had to see him up close — I am such a big fan of his work in “Bedtime for Bonzo”, one of my all-time favorite movies.

Sure enough, the president exited the hotel right at 2:23 and just as he was about to step into the presidential limo, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a man with a gun. He held the gun up quickly and shot it six times before he was pinned to the ground and up against a stone brick wall next to President Reagan’s limo.

I completely froze, frantically trying to take in everything that was happening around me.

After the cops had taken the man away and the president had been hurried off in his limo, we found out that the president and three other men had been shot.

Shaken up badly, I automatically assumed the worst — that in less than twenty years from the time of President John F. Kennedy assasination, we had just lost another president.

I was only seven years old at the time of JFK’s assassination and had actually witnessed it on TV. And now I was feel as anxious and scared as I had felt that day. My conscience filled my head with worried thoughts, fretting over the dangerous consequences the United States may face if something serious were to happen to President Reagan.

To distract myself from the whole incident, I decided to dine at Buca di Beppo for dinner. The restaurant was crowded with people, all cramming to catch up on the latest as it was presented on a television screen overlooking the restaurant bar.

It was on that television screen that I found out that the bullet that had hit President Reagan in the chest only punctured his right lung. In the words, the president, thankfully, was going to make a full recovery, lifting a weight off my chest.

Secret Service officers were shot as well, as you well know already. James Brady was shot in the head right above his left eye, Tim McCarthy in the abdomen, and Thomas Delahanty in the neck. All, at the time of this writing, are expected to make full recoveries. As the news came in, everyone around let out sighs of relief; no one had died.

I could still feel the adrenaline running through my veins, so I decided to take a walk around the Washington Hilton Hotel Plaza. CSI had finally finished finding evidence at around 9:00 PM, and we were allowed to enter the building again. Of course, I couldn’t help but go around asking the question on everyone’s minds: who shot the gun? So before everyone left, I asked around to find out. The instigator turned out to be John Hinkly Jr., who had done it to impress actress Jodie Foster, we’ve all been told.

I failed to fully comprehend the motive and reasoning behind his actions, so I decided to write to you. What are your thoughts on this? In addition, I know you would want a first account story of this historical event, especially knowing your passion for history.

Looking forward to hearing back,

William Ford

SOURCES

Adams, Cydney. “March 30, 1981: President Ronald Reagan Shot by John Hinckley.” CBS News, CBS Interactive, 30 Mar. 2016,

“Attempted Assassination of President Ronald Reagan.” FBI, FBI, 5 Apr. 2012,

Kiner, Deb. “Must-See Photos of the Attempted Assassination of President

Ronald Reagan in 1981.” Pennlive.com, Pennlive.com, 30 Mar. 2019,

“Memories of the Attempted Reagan Assassination.” Miller Center, 12 Apr. 2017,

“President Reagan Shot.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 24 Nov. 2009,

Raines, Howell. “Reagan Wounded In Chest By Gunman; Outlook ‘Good’ After 2-Hour Surgery; Aide And 2 Guards Shot; Suspect Held.” The New York Times, The New York Times,

UK, Discovery. “Reagan Assassination Attempt.” YouTube, YouTube, 13 Dec. 2010

“USSS Personnel Involved in the Assassination Attempt on President Reagan — March 30, 1981.” Assassination Attempt on President Reagan | Ronald Reagan Presidential Library — National Archives and Records Administration.

SMHS HONESTY POLICY DECLARATION

I declare that this work is my own work and that I have correctly acknowledged the work of others. I furthermore declare that this work is in accordance with SMHS Academic Honesty Policy and its guidance on good academic conduct and how to avoid plagiarism and other assessment irregularities.

• William Ford