Rawhide Down

by Del Quentin Wilber

  Kobrine told them: Dr. Michael Manganiello, an opthalmologist who assisted in the care of Brady and Reagan, vividly recalls this moment. Kobrine, who has a reputation for fiery language, said that he does not dispute Manganiello’s version of events.

  shaved the press secretary’s head: Interviews with Kobrine, Dr. Ed Engle, and Dr. Roderick Clemente.

  “Those fuckers,” Kobrine said: Interviews with Manganiello and Kobrine.

  At 5:25 p.m., a radiology technician: Anesthesia record.

  David Gens trailed the technician: Interview with Gens.

  Aaron studied the image: Interview with Aaron.

  Thinking about why: Interviews with Aaron and Cheyney; Aaron reflection.

  a No. 15 blade: Interview with Aaron.

  It was 5:40 p.m.: In a Secret Service report, an agent reported that Aaron retrieved the bullet at 5:40 p.m. and placed it in a cup. The cup was marked with the words, “Taken from President Reagan 3-30-1981 by Dr. (redacted) at 5:40 p.m.” The FBI reported that the bullet was removed “at approximately 5:39 p.m.”

  14: The Waiting Room

  While awaiting further: Nancy Reagan, My Turn, p. 7; interview with Opfer.

  Then all three major networks: I watched news coverage recorded by Bob Parker, a former CNN producer who provided me with a DVD of the broadcasts. There is also a wealth of the day’s news coverage on the Internet.

  He warned her: Interview with Opfer; Nancy Reagan, My Turn, p. 8.

  “That thing is out of control”: Deaver transcript; interview with Baker. Deaver later wrote in Behind the Scenes (pp. 29–30) that Haig’s performance “did not exactly inspire confidence” and that the secretary of state looked “like a man about to crack.” Deaver added that Haig’s assertion that he was in control “at that moment seemed inappropriate.”

  Nofziger turned back to the podium: Nofziger, Nofziger, p. 294; Nofziger notes. The political aide’s notes list all of Reagan’s lines and quips from the time he entered the ER until he was operated on. Nofziger died in 2006. In his autobiography, he described the importance of Reagan’s jokes and one-liners to the country (p. 295): “These lines assured the nation that the president was going to be all right. They also said that here was a most unusual man, what Americans like to think they’re all about, a swashbuckling people who laugh in the face of death and don’t shrink from the teeth of danger.… Here was a man who for years had talked the good fight to all Americans, but none of them knew how he would react to the blows—until now—and now his courage made all but the most bitter Reagan haters proud to be Americans.”

  remove the entire lower: Interview with Aaron.

  before six p.m.: OR circulating record. The precise time was 5:50 p.m.

  She and a colleague: Interview with Lula Gore.

  it had been a rough few hours: Discharge summary; Gens notes; anesthesia record. Reagan did not receive any whole blood during surgery. Blood banks typically break donated blood into its key components—red blood cells, plasma, and platelets. Reagan received about eight units of red blood cells. He received three units of plasma and one pack of platelets. Both of those components promote blood clotting.

  Still, the three-hour operation: The OR circulating record shows that Giordano began the belly tap at 3:26, and Aaron began closing up the chest incision at 5:50, and that surgery was concluded at 6:32 p.m. I derived other times from various medical files (the time of the X-ray in the operating room, for example, is noted in the anesthesia record), Gens notes, and the recollections of other participants. Giordano and Gens believe the belly tap took about thirty minutes, but Gens notes and the anesthesia record indicate the procedure lasted until about 4:30, an hour-long span that may also have included time waiting for lab results and other nonsurgical matters. The anesthesia record, Gens notes, and interviews with Gens and Aaron indicate that chest surgery started at approximately 4:45 p.m.

  For several minutes: Allen tapes.

  Richard Allen was only half listening: Interview with Allen.

  Baker appeared no worse: Allen tapes; interview with Allen; photos of men in Situation Room, RRPL.

  At 6:45: OR circulating record.

  made only a brief stop: Colombani notes. Tim McCarthy’s surgery went quickly and smoothly. Colombani, the doctor who initially treated him, and Dr. Neofytos Tsangaris opened up the agent’s abdomen, removed collecting blood, and repaired damaged tissue. The bullet had entered just below McCarthy’s right pectoral muscle, then ripped through his lung and diaphragm, pierced the liver, and lodged in his right flank. After stitching up the damaged tissue and cauterized bleeding vessels, Colombani was about to sew up the hole in the diaphragm when he announced that the surgery was nearly over.

  “What?” said a Secret Service agent standing behind him. “We need the bullet.”

  “Why do you need the bullet?” Colombani asked.

  “We need it for ballistics.”

  “But you have the guy who shot them.”

  The agent explained that Brady’s bullet had fragmented and that Reagan’s appeared to be distorted. Colombani shrugged, probed McCarthy’s flank muscles, retrieved the bullet, and dropped it with a clink into a metal specimen pan.

  before being transferred: Tim McCarthy spent the night in the intensive care unit. When McCarthy came out of anesthesia, his friend Trainor, the agent who won the coin flip contest and thus avoided duty at the Hilton, was at his bedside.

  “That’s the last time I’ll ever flip with you again,” McCarthy said.

  “Yeah, Timmy,” Trainor said, “but you’re a hero.”

  Reagan was parked feetfirst: Interview with Denise Sullivan.

  At about 7:15, as he began: Interview with Sullivan; progress notes from the recovery room.

  “Mr. Reagan,” she said: Interview with Cathy Edmondson.

  As Reagan slowly began: Interview with Edmondson and Sullivan.

  decided to treat Reagan: Interview with Sullivan.

  “I’m going to ask you”: Interview with Sullivan.

  He and his wife were eating: Interview with Ron Reagan; “President’s Son May Perform,” AP, March 31, 1981.

  “I’m so frightened,” she said: Nancy Reagan, My Turn, p. 9.

  “Don’t worry, Mom”: Interview with Ron Reagan.

  slipped between the portable screens: Dr. Jack Zimmerman reflection.

  “I love you,” she said: Nancy Reagan, My Turn, p. 9.

  “I can’t breathe … at all”: Interview with Parr. Jerry Parr put this note in the pocket of his surgical scrubs and found it years later in his attic. He mailed the note to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, but it does not appear to have the note. Nancy Reagan also described the note in My Turn (p. 9).

  “He can’t breathe!”: Nancy Reagan, My Turn, p. 8.

  Ron tried to reassure: Interview with Ron Reagan.

  “photography of Soviet”: CIA memorandum, March 30, 1981.

  The FBI agents leading: Government psychiatric report; interviews with Colo and George Chmiel. FBI agent Henry Ragle told government psychiatrists that Hinckley was “probably the politest fellow I have ever arrested,” according to the government psychiatric report. Colo and Chmiel agreed with that assessment. Descriptions of Chmiel and Ragle came from former agents in the Washington field office, including Richard Qulia, who also spent time with Hinckley that day. Ragle died in 2003.

  The first agent: Interview with Chmiel. Chmiel did not put this exchange in any report. Agents were so worried about accomplices that they succeeded in getting his court-appointed attorney, Stuart Johnson, to ask Hinckley if he really was a loner. Johnson was appointed by a federal judge to represent Hinckley and finally made it to the FBI’s Washington field office at 7:30. He received a briefing from top law enforcement officials about what Hinckley had told agents, and they then asked Johnson for permission to keep questioning his client. Johnson refused. However, he did grant one request. “Can you do us a favor?” an agent asked Johnson and his cocounsel, Edgar Wil
hite. “It’s a big favor. Can you find out if there is anyone else out there wanting to hurt the president?”

  Inside a small interview room, the attorneys spoke with Hinckley for about an hour. After the lawyers had finished, Johnson found the agent. “You have nothing to worry about,” the attorney said—in a way that he felt did not violate attorney-client privilege.

  it was Agent Henry Ragle’s turn: Interview with Colo; Ragle testimony at pretrial evidence suppression hearing.

  string of terse queries: Interview with Colo; Colo was impressed with Ragle’s open-mindedness, saying it was a sign that the FBI agent was a good investigator.

  brought a fast-food hamburger: Ragle FBI report; FBI arrest log.

  Colo used a personal history: In re-creating the interview of Hinckley, I relied on interviews with Colo and Chmiel, a memo authored by Colo detailing the session with Hinckley, and a transcript of tape-recorded notes that Colo made shortly after the interrogation. I also utilized FBI reports filed by Chmiel and Ragle, and testimony elicited during a pretrial suppression hearing from Colo and Ragle.

  He ran to find Ragle: Despite their success in getting Hinckley to open up, the suspect’s statements were blocked from trial by a federal judge. U.S. District Judge Barrington D. Parker ruled that the federal agents had violated the suspect’s rights by questioning him after he had asked to see an attorney while in custody at D.C. police headquarters. Shortly after FBI agents took custody of Hinckley, Myers, the homicide detective, told them that the suspect had asked to see an attorney before saying anything. That should have ended questioning until the attorney arrived. But the FBI agents read him his rights again and pressed ahead with the interrogation, violating Hinckley’s constitutional protection against self-incrimination, according to Parker’s ruling, which was upheld on appeal. The suppression of those statements likely did not affect the outcome of the trial—the information Hinckley provided the agents was introduced through other witnesses anyway. Most outside observers agree that the verdict largely hinged on testimony from psychiatrists. For those interested in the trial, I recommend Lincoln Caplan’s The Insanity Defense and the Trial of John W. Hinckley, Jr.

  15: “What Does the Future Hold?”

  When the president seemed uncomfortable: Interviews with Edmondson and Sullivan; anesthesia record; Zimmerman reflection.

  doctors increased his pain: Anesthesia record.

  Doctors who had examined: Zimmerman reflection; interview with Aaron.

  Ben Aaron, who was keeping: Interview with Aaron.

  assistants sterilized the bronchoscope: Zimmerman reflection.

  Aaron lubricated the: Interviews with Aaron, Zimmerman, Edmondson, and Sullivan; Zimmerman reflection; anesthesia record.

  more conservative procedure: Interview with Zimmerman; Zimmerman reflection.

  “Don’t pull at it now”: The Saving of the President; interview with Edmondson.

  blood tests steadily improved: Zimmerman reflection.

  “All in all, I’d rather be in Phil.”: Copy of notes provided by Joanne Drake, chief of staff of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation. Secret Service agents confiscated the notes as they were passed to nurses by the president. Eventually, they were given to Mrs. Reagan. Agents jotted times on some of the notes but not on all of them. I was able to triangulate the sequence of notes by using those times and by interviewing nurses and doctors.

  Sullivan thought hard: Interview with Sullivan.

  After Lyn Nofziger’s: Nofziger, Nofziger, p. 294; interview with Dr. Dennis O’Leary.

  O’Leary sketched out his opening: Interview with O’Leary.

  “The president is”: Transcript of press conference, RRPL; network news coverage of press conference.

  If Jerry Parr hadn’t: If Parr had gone to the White House, Reagan would have most likely died, according to Gens, Giordano, and Aaron. Nancy Reagan also credited Parr with saving the president’s life. In a 1998 interview with CNN’s Larry King, the former first lady said: “If Jerry hadn’t made the change from driving to the White House to the hospital, I wouldn’t have a husband.”

  in O’Leary’s defense: Interview with O’Leary; doctors—including Aaron and Giordano—felt that O’Leary did a good job at the press conference.

  understated the amount of blood: O’Leary said Reagan received five units of blood in the emergency room, and none in the operating room. In fact, Reagan received three units of packed red blood cells in the emergency room and just over five units in the operating room.

  “This guy is good”: Allen tapes.

  adjourned at eight p.m.: Allen tapes and notes.

  Baker, Meese, and the others: Photographs, GBPL.

  Frazzled, he couldn’t: Interview with Khachigian.

  “I am deeply”: Transcript of statement, RRPL.

  Before heading home: Interview with Giordano.

  sat down next to Reagan: Interview with Gens; Gens diary.

  But Reagan had long: Reagan, Where’s the Rest of Me?, pp. 194–95.

  “Don’t fight it”: Interviews with Edmondson and Sullivan.

  Jerry Parr left the hospital: Interview with Parr.

  George Opfer sat: Interview with Opfer.

  Nancy Reagan was curled: Noonan, When Character Was King, p. 185.

  GW’s doctors gave Jim: Interview with Kobrine.

  stayed at her husband’s side: Interview with Sarah Brady.

  Allen, whose wife: Interview with Allen.

  While Bell monitored: Interviews with Joanne Bell and Marisa Mize.

  “I’m going to hold”: Interview with Mize.

  Aaron told Zimmerman: Zimmerman essay.

  Oscar-winning film: The 1945 film starred his first wife, Jayne Wyman. Reagan and Wyman’s divorce was finalized four years later.

  “You are in the GW recovery”: Interview with Mize; Mize notes.

  “How long in the hospital?”: Interview with Mize. Just after asking that question, Reagan was reminded of his allergies. “I left something out. I do have something of an allergy to tape and moleskin,” he wrote. In the 1940s, Reagan broke his leg in six places during a charity softball game. His leg was wrapped in adhesive tape and moleskin. A day later, he learned he was allergic to moleskin and tape when his eyes were swelled shut and he began itching all over.

  As the hour passed four a.m.: Interviews with Bell, Mize, Price, Pett, and Zimmerman; Zimmerman reflection; The Saving of the President.

  Epilogue

  After a fitful: Interviews with numerous doctors and nurses.

  stood at attention: Interview with Bell.

  conducted a basic: Interviews with Maureen McCann and Carolyn Ramos.

  “slapping a side of beef”: Nancy Reagan, My Turn, p. 11.

  ice chips: Interview with McCann.

  “I should have known”: Tom Matthews, “Reagan’s Close Call,” Newsweek, April 13, 1981.

  “I had hoped it was”: Interview with McCann.

  “Oh, damn”: Transcript of Baker press conference, March 31, 1981, RRPL.

  The first several: Interviews with doctors; review of doctors’ notes; Aaron reflection.

  Not until April 6: DDPRR; Max Friedersdorf, oral history at Miller Center (October 2002).

  temporary setback: Interviews with doctors and nurses; Aaron reflection; discharge summary.

  returned to the Oval Office: DDPRR, April 24, 1981.

  On April 28: Text of speech, RRPL; multiple news accounts of speech, as well as a video of address downloaded from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Library website; “Reagan Returns to Public with Plea on the Economy,” AP, April 28, 1981.

  On April 11, 1981: Reagan Diaries, pp. 30–31.

  the president prayed: Reagan Diaries, p. 30; Ronald Reagan, An American Life, p. 261.

  Soon after his discharge: Ronald Reagan, Reagan: A Life in Letters, pp. 737–41; Ronald Reagan, An American Life, pp. 269–73.

  “He was a performer”: Interview with Ron Reagan.

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p; “Somebody ought to entertain”: Interview of President Reagan by author Mollie Dickenson in May 1985 that was tape-recorded by WHCA, RRPL.

  in mid-March to 73 percent: Barry Sussman, “Shooting Gives Reagan Boost in Popularity,” WP, April 2, 1981, p. A1; “Public Approves of President Far More Than of His Policies,” WP, June 4, 1981, p. A12.

  “what happened to Reagan”: David Broder, “End of a Dream,” WP, April 1, 1981, p. A21.

  “politically untouchable”: Interview with David Broder.

  “cemented a bond”: Interview with Lou Cannon.

  By the time he left office: “Final Job Approval Rating for Recent Presidents,” Gallup website, www.gallup.com.