Rawhide Down

by Del Quentin Wilber

  “When life gives you lemons”: Sue Anne Pressley, “When History, Destiny Converged,” WP, March 30, 2006, p. B1.

  Before leaving GW: Interview with Tim McCarthy.

  In 1985, after twenty-three years: Interview with Parr.

  The Secret Service tried to deflect blame: Testimony of Secret Service director H. Stuart Knight before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, and General Government, April 2, 1981. “What would we have done about it if notified? At a minimum, interview the gentleman,” Knight testified. Whether that would have stopped Hinckley is unclear. Colo, an experienced investigator, said that Hinckley would not have caused him much concern if he had interviewed him before the attack.

  The Secret Service also repeatedly pointed out that the area behind the rope line had not been designated a press area by the White House. Such a decision would have required an agent to check identification of reporters and limit that area to cameramen and journalists, and Hinckley would never have been permitted to get so close. There is often a tug-of-war between the White House and the Secret Service over presidential security and access to the president.

  the Secret Service did change: After the shooting, the service rarely let a president enter or exit a limousine in public view. Instead, agents pulled the president’s limousine into garages or into tents, preventing potential assassins from getting a shot at the president during such vulnerable moments. The Washington Hilton also changed—it constructed a concrete bunker–like garage outside of the VIP entrance to shield presidents and other dignitaries during their arrivals and departures.

  In 2010, it had 3,500: Information provided by the Secret Service; Secret Service budget for salaries and expenses, Department of Homeland Security.

  A few days later: Interview with Sullivan; copy of the letter Reagan sent to Sullivan.

  occasional notes from Reagan: Interview with Giordano; copy of the note provided by Giordano.

  Dr. Benjamin Aaron, Dr. David Gens: The Saving of the President; White House photo of meeting, RRPL.

  $96 million: Monte Reel, “90 Feet and a World Away,” WP, August 21, 2002, p. B1.

  In 1981, there were: Testimony before the House Subcommittee on Health and the Environment, Committee on Energy and Commerce, April 7, 1981.

  Today, there are more: Interview with Harry Teter.

  Though his boyish looks: Author observation of Hinckley during 2008 court hearings.

  One of his first acts: Interview with Ryan.

  BIBLIOGRAPHY

  Books

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  Excerpts from the History of the United States Secret Service, 1865–1975. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1978.

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  Hinckley, Jack, and Jo Ann Hinckley, with Elizabeth Sherrill. Breaking Points. New York: Berkley, 1986.

  Kengor, Paul. God and Ronald Reagan: A Spiritual Life. New York: ReganBooks, HarperCollins, 2004.

  Kessler, Ronald. In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect. New York: Crown, 2009.

  Kuhn, Jim. Ronald Reagan in Private: A Memoir of My Years in the White House. New York: Sentinel, 2004.

  Laxalt, Paul. Nevada’s Paul Laxalt: A Memoir. Reno, Nev.: Jack Bacon & Co., 2000.

  MacEachin, Douglas J. U.S. Intelligence and the Confrontation in Poland, 1980–1981. University Park: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2002.

  Manchester, William. The Death of a President. New York: Harper & Row, 1967.

  Mann, James. The Rebellion of Ronald Reagan: A History of the End of the Cold War. New York: Viking Penguin, 2009.

  Mayer, Jane, and Doyle McManus. Landslide: The Unmaking of the President, 1984–1988. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1989.

  McCarthy, Dennis V. N., with Philip W. Smith. Protecting the President: The Inside Story of a Secret Service Agent. New York: Dell, 1987.

  McGrath, Jim, ed. Heartbeat: George Bush in His Own Words. New York: Scribner, 2001.

  Meese, Edwin III. With Reagan: The Inside Story. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, 1992.

  Melanson,
Phillip H. The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency. New York: Carroll & Graf, 2005.

  Nofziger, Lyn. Nofziger. Washington, D.C.: Regnery Gateway, 1992.

  Noonan, Peggy. When Character Was King: A Story of Ronald Reagan. New York: Penguin Books, 2002.

  O’Neill, Thomas P., Jr., with William Novak. Man of the House: The Life and Political Memoirs of Speaker Tip O’Neill. New York: Random House, 1987.

  Petro, Joseph, with Jeffrey Robinson. Standing Next to History: An Agent’s Life Inside the Secret Service. New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2005.

  Platzgraff, Robert L., and Jacquelyn K. Davis. National Security Decisions: The Participants Speak. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, 1990.

  Randall, Bob. The Fan. New York: Random House, 1977.

  Ratnesar, Romesh. Tear Down This Wall: A City, a President, and the Speech That Ended the Cold War. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2009.

  Reagan, Michael, with Joe Hyams. Michael Reagan: On the Outside Looking In. New York: Zebra Books, 1988.

  Reagan, Nancy. I Love You, Ronnie: The Letters of Ronald Reagan to Nancy Reagan. New York: Random House, 2000.

  Reagan, Nancy, with William Novak. My Turn: The Memoirs of Nancy Reagan. New York: Random House, 1989.

  Reagan, Ronald. An American Life. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1990.

  Reagan, Ronald. Speaking My Mind: Selected Speeches. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1989.

  Reagan, Ronald, with Douglas Brinkley, ed. The Reagan Diaries, January 1981–October 1985. Volume 1. The Reagan Diaries, November 1985–January 1989. Volume 2. New York: Harper, 2009.

  Reagan, Ronald, with Jim Denney. The Common Sense of an Uncommon Man: The Wit, Wisdom, and Eternal Optimism of Ronald Reagan. Compiled by Michael Reagan. Nashville, Tenn.: Thomas Nelson, 1998.

  Reagan, Ronald, with Richard G. Hubler. Where’s the Rest of Me? New York: Karz Publishers, 1981.

  Reagan, Ronald, with Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson, and Martin Anderson, eds. Reagan: A Life in Letters. New York: Free Press, 2004.

  Reagan, Ronald, with Kiron K. Skinner, Annelise Anderson, and Martin Anderson, eds. Reagan, in His Own Hand: The Writings of Ronald Reagan That Reveal His Revolutionary Vision for America. New York: Free Press, 2001.

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  Robinson, Peter. How Ronald Reagan Changed My Life. New York: ReganBooks, 2004.

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  Schweizer, Peter. Reagan’s War: The Epic Story of His Forty-Year Struggle and Final Triumph over Communism. New York: Doubleday, 2002.

  Shirley, Craig. Rendezvous with Destiny: Ronald Reagan and the Campaign That Changed America. Wilmington, Del.: ISI Books, 2009.

  Smith, I. C. Inside: A Top G-Man Exposes Spies, Lies, and Bureaucratic Bungling Inside the FBI. Nashville, Tenn.: Nelson Current, 2004.

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  Stockman, David A. The Triumph of Politics. New York: Avon Books, 1987.

  Thomas, Tony. The Films of Ronald Reagan. Secaucus, N.J.: Citadel Press, 1980.

  Von Damm, Helene. At Reagan’s Side. New York: Doubleday, 1989.

  Walker, Martin. The Cold War: A History. New York: Holt Paperbacks, 1993.

  Weinberger, Caspar W. Fighting for Peace: Seven Critical Years in the Pentagon. New York: Warner Books, 1990.

  Wilentz, Sean. The Age of Reagan: A History, 1974–2008. New York: Harper Perennial, 2009.

  Wills, Garry. Reagan’s America. New York: Penguin Books, 2000.

  Wirthlin, Dick, with Wynton C. Hall. The Greatest Communicator: What Ronald Reagan Taught Me About Politics, Leadership, and Life. Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, 2004.

  Journal Articles, General Articles, and Chapters in Books

  Aaron, Benjamin L., and S. David Rockoff. “The Attempted Assassination of President Reagan: Medical Implications and Historical Perspective.” Journal of the American Medical Association 272, no. 21 (December 7, 1994): 1689–93.

  Aaron, Benjamin L., and S. David Rockoff. “The Shooting of President Reagan: A Radiologic Chronology of His Medical Care.” Radiographics 15, no. 2 (March 1995): 407–18.

  Beahrs, Oliver H. “The Medical History of President Ronald Reagan.” Journal of the American College of Surgeons 178, no. 1 (January 1994): 86–96.

  Blatt, Alan J., Charles C. Branas, Marie C. Flanigan, Ellen J. MacKenzie, Charles S. ReVelle, C. William Schwab, Harry M. Teter, and Justin C. Williams. “Access to Trauma Centers in the United States.” Journal of the American Medical Association 293, no. 21 (June 1, 2005): 2626–33.

  Bloom, Mark. “All the President’s Doctors.” Medical World News (April 27, 1981): 9–10, 13, 17–18, 20.

  Boyd, D. R. “Trauma—A Controllable Disease in the 1980s (Fourth Annual Stone Lecture, American Trauma Society).” Journal of Trauma 20, no. 1 (January 1980): 14–24.

  Boyd, David R. “Chapter 1. The History of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Systems in the United States of America.” Systems Approach to Emergency Medical Care (June 1983): 1–40.

  Boyd, David R., Richard Crampton, Richard F. Edlich, Carl Jelenko III, Ronald L. Krome, and Frank Poliafico. “Emergency Medical Support Plan for the President of the United States and VIPs.” Journal of the American College of Emergency Physicians 6, no. 10 (October 1977): 462–64.

  Donahoe, Jeffrey. “Head for George Washington.” GW Medicine (Spring 1991): 8–14.

  Farjah, Farhood, and Donald Trunkey. “Medical and Surgical Care of Our Four Assassinated Presidents.” Journal of the American College of Surgeons 201, no. 6 (December 2005): 976–89.

  Frangou, Christina. “The American Trauma System: Gaps Riddle a Strong Structure.” General Surgery News 36, no. 11 (November 2009): 1, 24.

  “GWU Nurses Who Cared for President Say It Was (Almost) in a Day’s Work.” American Journal of Nursing 81, no. 6 (June 1981): 1090, 1108, 1129–30.

  Marsh, Fran. “12 Days at GW Hospital.” GW Times 10, no. 4 (July–August 1981): 1–3.

  Pekkanen, John. “The Saving of the President.” Washingtonian, August 1981.

  Trunkey, Donald D. “The Development of Trauma Systems.” In Juan A. Asensio and Donald D. Trunkey, eds., Current Therapy of Trauma and Surgical Clinical Care, pp. 1–13. Philadelphia, Pa.: Mosby Elsevier, 2008.

  Trunkey, Donald D. “The Emerging Crisis in Trauma Care: A History and Definition of the Problem.” Clinical Neurosurgery 54 (2007): 200–205.

  Government Reports, Records, and Transcripts

  “Accidental Death and Disability: The Neglected Disease of Modern Society.” National Academy of Sciences (September 1966).

  Chase Untermeyer interview of Vice President George H. W. Bush aboard Air Force Two, March 30, 1981. Handwritten notes of Vice President Bush. Both records retrieved by Untermeyer from George Bush Presidential Library.

  FBI reports obtained under Freedom of Information Act, 2010. These include newly released bureau interviews of President Reagan, Dr. Benjamin Aaron, Dr. Daniel Ruge, Thomas K. Delahanty, and paramedics.

  Memos and notes written by administration officials describing their actions on March 30, 1981, RRPL. These include memos from Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger, Treasury Secretary Don Regan, and handwritten notes of Ken Khachigian, among others.

  “Michael Deaver Testimony,” March 31, 1981, transcript of interview of Michael Deaver by Richard Darman, provided by Amanda Deaver and Jeff Surrell.

  Secret Service reports (387 pages obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, 2010).

  Transcripts of trial of Arthur H. Bremmer, 1972.

  Transcripts of trial of John W. Hinckley Jr., 1982.

  Ronald Reagan Medical Records

  Anesthesia Record

  Operating Room Circulating Record

  Hospital Physical Examination Form

  Discharge Summary of Ronald Reagan, April 11, 1981

&
nbsp; Miscellaneous Records, Notes, First-Person Accounts, and Unpublished Records

  Notes: Kathy Paul, Marisa Mize, Maureen McCann, Dr. Paul Colombani, and Dr. David Gens.

  Dr. Benjamin Aaron, sixteen-page personal reflection, 1981.

  Dr. David Gens, “Diary of Presidential Stay at G.W.U.H.,” ten pages, 1981.

  Dr. David Gens, tape-recorded personal narrative, 1981.