Assassination!: The Brick Chronicle of Attempts on the Lives of Twelve US Presidents (33 page)

Though not completely recovered until some six months later, Reagan returned to the White House just twelve days after the shooting. Erring on the side of caution that day, under his sweater he wore a bulletproof vest. Reagan had become the first sitting president to survive being shot by an assassin.

During Hinckley’s trial, Jodie Foster was subpoenaed to testify. At a videotaped session that was later shown to the jury, she calmly answered lawyers’ questions about being stalked. When asked to describe her relationship with John Hinckley, she stated, “I have no relationship with John Hinckley.” At this, Hinckley threw a pen at her and screamed, “I’ll get you, Foster!” as he was restrained by marshals.

Hinckley’s father spared no expense on the legal team defending his son, and they summoned a team of psychologists to argue their case that Hinckley was not guilty by reason of insanity. The defense concluded with an airing of the movie Taxi Driver for the jury in its entirety.

In a decision that outraged many, Hinckley was acquitted of all charges. He was then committed to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in Washington, DC, where he described a typical day as including playing his guitar, shooting pool, and listening to music. Looking back, he described the Reagan shooting as “the greatest love offering in the history of the world,” and noted, “God does indeed work in mysterious ways.”

Officer Delahanty recovered from his neck wound but suffered permanent nerve damage. In 1986, he sued the manufacturer of the gun used by Hinckley, hoping to spur the court into imposing a ban on all small, cheap handguns of the type favored by criminals. The court rejected his case.

In 1987, Hinckley’s requests for more privileges at St. Elizabeths were denied when it was discovered that he had exchanged letters with serial killer Ted Bundy. After receiving a letter from would-be Gerald Ford assassin Lynette Fromme, Hinckley had also sought a mailing address for Charles Manson. In addition, a cache of photo clippings of Jodie Foster was found in his room.

James Brady’s wounds left him with partial paralysis and slurred speech. He became a strong advocate of handgun control and assault weapon restrictions. In 1993, despite a massive lobbying campaign by the NRA, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Brady Bill, instituting mandatory background checks on most gun sales.

Over the past two decades, Hinckley has been allowed unsupervised visits of various lengths to see his mother at her home in Virginia. He has dated multiple women, and in 2009, he recorded “Ballad of an Outlaw,” a song he wrote before the Reagan shooting. Its lyrics have been described as “reflecting suicide and lawlessness.”

Finding himself late for a meeting with a senior member of the Philippine government, Clinton instructed his motorcade to get him to his meeting in a hurry.

But while en route, a Secret Service agent received a crackly message through his earpiece: intelligence operators had intercepted and partially decoded a radio transmission referencing a bridge and an assassination. Despite Clinton’s strenuous protest, the motorcade was rerouted.

A US intelligence team was sent to investigate and discovered an extremely powerful bomb had been placed underneath a bridge in a busy area of downtown Manila.