emerara
Vol. 82, No. 122
Eugene, Oregon 97403
Tuesday, March 31, 1981
Reagan called ‘stable’
Press aide Brady
in critical condition
WASHINGTON (AP) - Pres.
Ronald Reagan is in "good and
stable” condition today after
being shot Monday in the left
side of the chest. The pre
sident’s press secretary James
Brady was shot in the head and
remained in ‘‘critical'' condition
early this morning.
A Secret Service agent and a
Washington policeman were al
so shot.
Brady, 40, was shot in the left
forehead. The bullet passed
completely through his brain,
and doctors at George Wa
shington University Medical
Center said he has suffered
"extensive brain damage.”
John Hinckley Jr., 25, of Ever
green, Colo., was arrainged
Monday night in Washington on
federal charges of attempting to
assassinate a president and a
local assault-with-intent-to-kill
charge
Secret Service agent Jack
Warner said Hinckley fired a
.38 caliber revolver. It was also
reported that Hinckley had been
arrested last fall in Nashville
with three guns and 50 rounds
of ammunition at the same time
then-Pres. Jimmy Carter was
campaigning in Nashville.
Hinckley’s family also said the
man was in the care of a private
psychiatrist.
Vice Pres. George Bush, who
was in Texas for an address to
the Texas Legislature, rushed
back to Washington aboard Air
Force Two after the shooting.
Reagan underwent surgery to
explore his abdomen and
remove the bullet Monday
evening. Doctors proclaimed
the surgery a success and said
Reagan was "never in any
danger.”
The president reportedly
walked from his limousine to the
hospital, and was said to have
been joking on the way to the
operating room and following
surgery.
The bullet entered Reagan’s
left side just under the armpit,
ricocheted off the seventh rib
and lodged in his left lung. The
lung reportedly collapsed.
The bullet passed one inch
from the president's heart.
Six shots — within two
seconds — were fired at the
president as he emerged from
the Washington Hilton Hotel
after delivering a speech to a
union convention. The burst of
gunfire sounded as he walked
smiling to his limousine and
turned to acknowledge the
shouts of “Mr. President” from
the press corps.
Reagan appeared momen
tarily stunned as Secret Service
agents drew their weapons and
hustled Reagan into the limou
sine. One shot apparently hit the
auto before Reagan got in,
blasting a hole in the rear
window.
Initial reports issued by depu
ty press secretary Larry
Speakes said “there was some
pushing and shoving when the
president went into the car, but
the president was not seriously
hurt.”
After the shots were fired,
Emerald photo
Pres. Ronald Reagan, who visted the University last spring during his campaign, is reported in "good
and stable" condition after being wounded by an assassin.
there was a scream and then
agents shouted “back up, back
up, get back, get back!" Brady
was lying on the sidewalk
several feet from the entrance to
the hotel.
ABC TV cameraman Hank
Brown, who was near the al
leged assailant, said the gun
man "just opened up and start
ed firing,” about 10 feet from
Reagan.
“He just opened up and con
tinued squeezing the trigger,”
Brown said. He said the as
sailant did not say anything.
Brown said the man appeared to
have “penetrated the press
corps.”
Hospital representative Den
nis O’Leary said the president's
operation was "a relatively sim
ple procedure,” aided by the
president’s excellent health. He
said the president had come
through "with flying colors."
O'Leary said “prospects for a
complete recovery are excel
lent.”
He said the president is likely
to be hospitalized two weeks,
and it may be three months
before the president is back to
100 percent physical health
Brady was reported "fighting
for his life.” Spokespersons
said the damage to his brain
was “extensive."
Secret Service agent Timothy
McCarthy, 31, was listed in ser
ious but stable condition. Wa
shington D.C. patrolman
Thomas Delacanty was report
ed in serious but stable condi
tion.
Secretary of State Alexander
Haig showed up unannounced
at an afternoon press confer
ence to pronounce himself in
charge until the vice president
returned from Texas.
Later, after arriving from
Texas, Bush assured the Amer
ican people and a watching
world that the “American
government was operating fully
and effectively.”
Bush was given extra security
in an effort to guarantee his
safety.
Assassin fits into ‘pattern, ’ prof says
By GABRIEL BOEHMER
Of the Emerald
When University history Prof. Richard Brown
learned early Monday afternoon that Pres. Ronald
Reagan was a would-be assassin’s target, he went to
his Eugene home and waited for the phone to ring.
That was understandable.
Brown, chairer of the University’s history depart
ment, is one of the nation’s leading experts on Amer
ican vigilantism and violence. He is a frequent target
himself — for hungry scholars and writers on the
subject. And in the aftermath of the attempted assas
sination of the president, he was the target of the media
Brown began studying violence in the late 1950’s at
Harvard University. He went on to publish several
scholarly essays and books on the subject. And during
1968-69 he served as a consultant to two task forces of
the Eisenhower Commission on violence.
‘‘In one sense I’m not suprised by this (assassina
tion attempt),” he said late Monday afternoon. "This fits
into an historical pattern.
"If I was forced to make a guess, not only does this
fit the prototype of presidential assassination attempts,
it reminds me of the successful assassination attempt of
John Lennon," he says. "There was no reason the
person should have done this.
“I’ve had a historical perspective on assassina
tions. The pattern continues.”
Presidents have been frequent targets of would-be
assassins. Andrew Jackson was the first in the 1830’s.
Nine other attempts followed, four were successful —
only one in the 20th century.
The key to that pattern, Brown says, is the would-be
assassin has had some degree of mental instability and
a superficial political motivation.
‘It’s like a tree drawing lightning.
The biggest target you can find in
the United States is the president. ’
"I would be suprised if Hinckley (the 25-year-old
gunman who allegedly wounded Reagan) was part of a
political movement.”
Why have presidents been such frequent targets of
assailants?
“It’s like a tree drawing lightning," Brown explains
“The biggest target you can find in the United States is
the president
“Our presidents are vulnerable targets After the
chief executive of the nation, the rate (of attempted
assassinations) falls off sharply."
Only one Supreme Court justice has ever been an
assassin’s target, Brown says. Two Senators have been
victims of assassination: Huey Long in the 1930’s, and
Robert Kennedy in 1968. And Brown says Kennedy was
more vulnerable because he was a presidential can
didate
Although Brown says there is a historical pattern in
presidental assassination attempts, "by and large,
political assassination has not become part of our
political system."
He suggests comparing the United States to some
Third World countries where assassinations and coups
are part of the nuts and bolts of government.
Another perspective on Monday’s presidential
ambush was provided by Republican National Commit
teeman and Eugene businessman Peter Murphy, a
friend of Reagan
"When you're a person of that stature in the politcal
arena, it’s a liability — there's no safe place,” Murphy
says. "I’ve been around President Reagan enough to
know his concern about working with the public at any
cost.”
And this incident should not change the president's
visibility to the public, Murphy says.
"It’s there when you’re president," Murphy says.
"Vet you can't run a government from a fishbowl."