Dr. Joseph Giordano, six-page narrative of Reagan’s care, 1981.
Jerry Parr, “A Spiritual Autobiography.”
Dr. Jack Zimmerman, twenty-eight-page personal reflection, 1981.
Interviews, Other Than by the Author
Dr. David Gens: Tape-recorded interview by reporter John Pekkanen in 1981. Tape provided by Gens.
Ronald Reagan: Interview by Laurence Barrett on December 29, 1981, and taped by WHCA, RRPL.
Ronald Reagan: Interview by Helen Thomas and Jim Gerstenzang, wire service reporters, on April 22, 1981, and taped by WHCA, RRPL.
Ronald Reagan: Interview by Mollie Dickenson on May 23, 1984, and taped by WHCA, RRPL.
First-Person Published Accounts
Giordano, Joseph. “Doctor’s Story: A Delay Could Have Been Fatal.” Los Angeles Times, April 4, 1981, p. 1.
Parr, Jerry. “One Moment in Time.” Guideposts, March 1992.
Price, G. Wesley. “An Eyewitness Account by the First Doctor to Get to the President.” Washingtonian, August 1981.
Sermon
Harper, John C. “The Son of the Man.” Sermon delivered at St. John’s Church, Lafayette Square, Washington, D.C., March 29, 1981. Provided by St. John’s Church.
Collections
The papers of James A. Baker III at Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library at Princeton University.
Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Various files, including those containing papers on the assassination attempt, speech writing, schedules, the National Security Council, and a number of former White House staffers.
Miller Center of Public Affairs, University of Virginia. Oral history transcripts of Richard Allen, Lyn Nofziger, Martin Anderson, Michael Deaver, and Max Friedersdorf.
The papers of Lyn Nofziger at the Hoover Institution Archives, Stanford University.
Periodicals and Wire Services
Associated Press
Baltimore Sun
Boston Globe
Chicago Tribune
Copley News Service
Des Moines Register
Kansas City Star
Kansas City Times
Los Angeles Times
Miami Herald
Newsweek
New York Times
Peoria Journal Star
Philadelphia Inquirer
Quad-City Times (Davenport, Iowa)
Southtown Star (Chicago)
State Journal-Register (Springfield, Illinois)
Time
United Press International
U.S. News & World Report
Washingtonian
Washington Post
Selected Interviews
I have grouped interviews by general topic area. Subjects are listed in alphabetical order with their relevant titles in March 1981. I have identified people here and in the text of the book by the names they used in 1981. However, if a person has a different surname today (such as a woman who has since married), I have noted that in parenthesis.
MEDICAL CARE
Dr. Benjamin Aaron, GW’s chief of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery.
Dr. David Adelberg, GW surgical intern.
Joanne Bell, GW recovery room nurse.
Dr. Bradley Bennett, GW surgical resident.
Dr. Howard Champion, head of Washington Hospital Center.
Dr. Kathleen Cheyney, GW thoracic surgical fellow.
Dr. May Chin, GW anesthesiology resident.
Dr. Roderick Clemente, GW neurosurgical resident.
Dr. Paul Colombani, GW chief surgical resident.
Craig DeAtley, GW physician’s assistant.
Dr. Michael W. Dennis, WHC neurosurgeon.
Dr. Sol Edelstein, GW director of division of emergency medicine.
Cathy Edmondson, GW recovery room nurse.
Dr. Ed Engle, GW neurosurgical resident.
Dr. David Gens, GW chief surgical resident.
Dr. Joseph Giordano, GW head of trauma teams.
Lula Gore (Bauer), GW operating room nurse.
Robert Hernandez, D.C. paramedic.
Cyndi Hines, GW emergency room technician.
Dr. Jeff Jacobson, GW neurosurgical resident.
Dr. Judith Johnson, GW anesthesiology resident.
Dr. Arthur Kobrine, GW neurosurgeon.
Wendy Koenig, GW emergency room nurse.
Dr. Manfred Lichtman, GW anesthesiologist.
Dr. Michael Manganiello, GW ophthalmology resident.
Maureen McCann (O’Bryan), GW nurse in intensive care unit.
Dr. Joyce Mitchell, GW emergency room physician.
Marisa Mize, GW nurse in recovery room.
Dr. Dennis O’Leary, dean of clinical affairs for the George Washington University Medical Center.
Dr. William O’Neill, GW surgical intern.
Kathy Paul (Stevens), GW nurse in emergency room.
Dr. Stephen Pett, GW thoracic surgical resident.
Dr. G. Wesley Price, GW surgical resident.
Carolyn Ramos (Francis), GW nurse in intensive care unit.
Dr. David Rockoff, GW chief of radiology.
Dr. Drew Scheele, GW surgical intern.
Denise Sullivan, GW nurse in recovery room.
Dr. Theodore Tsangaris, son of Dr. Neofytos Tsangaris (deceased), GW’s acting chief of surgery.
Judith Whinerey (Goss), GW assistant nurse in charge of the emergency room.
Dr. Jack Zimmerman, GW director of intensive care unit.
REAGAN WHITE HOUSE, U.S. GOVERNMENT, AND MILITARY
Rick Ahearn, advance representative.
Richard V. Allen, national security advisor.
Martin Anderson, domestic policy advisor.
James A. Baker III, chief of staff.
Darryl Borgquist, researcher in White House speech-writing office.
James Brady, press secretary.
Sarah Brady, wife of press secretary.
Kenneth Cribb, assistant to the president for domestic affairs.
Catherine Donovan, wife of Labor Secretary Raymond Donovan.
Raymond Donovan, labor secretary.
Fred Fielding, White House counsel.
David Fischer, presidential assistant.
David Gergen, White House staff director.
Woody Goldberg, executive assistant to secretary of state.
Peter Hannaford, 1980 Reagan campaign advisor.
Bobby Inman, deputy director of CIA.
Richard Kerr, director of CIA office of current operations.
Ken Khachigian, chief White House speechwriter.
Mari Maseng (Will), White House speechwriter.
John Matheny, major, U.S. Air Force, military aide to Vice President Bush.
Peter McCoy, chief of staff to Nancy Reagan.
Edwin Meese III, counselor to the president.
Jose Muratti, lieutenant colonel, U.S. Army, military aide to the president.
Theodore Olson, assistant attorney general for the office of legal counsel.
Stetson Orchard, major, U.S. Air Force, pilot of Air Force Two.
Sheila Patton (Tate), spokeswoman for Nancy Reagan.
Pete Peterson, master sergeant, U.S. Army, WHCA.
David Prosperi, assistant press secretary.
Michael Reagan, son of Ronald Reagan.
Ron Reagan, son of Ronald Reagan.
Tom Ruge, son of Dr. Daniel Ruge, White House physician.
Frederick Ryan, chief of staff for President Reagan in retirement.
Kenneth W. Starr, counselor to Attorney General William French Smith.
Margaret Tutwiler, assistant to Chief of Staff James Baker.
Chase Untermeyer, executive assistant to Vice President Bush.
Frank Ursomarso, director of the White House office of communications.
Danny Villanueva, friend of Ronald Reagan.
Gary Walters, assistant White House usher.
Richard Williamson, assistant to the president for intergovernmental affairs.
Jim Wr
ight, congressman, House majority leader.
SECRET SERVICE, LAW ENFORCEMENT, HOTEL SECURITY, AND HINCKLEY
George Chmiel, FBI agent.
Stephen T. Colo, Secret Service agent.
Robert DeProspero, Secret Service agent, deputy special agent in charge of presidential protective detail.
Larry Dominguez, Secret Service agent.
Dennis Fabel, Secret Service agent.
Alexander Fury, Washington Hilton hotel chief of security.
Ted Gardner, FBI agent, head of Washington field office.
Mary Ann Gordon, Secret Service agent.
Herbert Granger, D.C. police sergeant.
Bill Green, Secret Service agent.
Johnny Guy, Secret Service agent, assistant special agent in charge of presidential protective detail.
Richard Hardesty, D.C. police officer.
Stuart Johnson, first court-appointed defense attorney for John W. Hinckley.
Paul Kelly, Secret Service agent.
Ernest Kun, Secret Service agent.
James Le Gette, Secret Service agent.
John Magaw, Secret Service agent.
Timothy McCarthy, Secret Service agent.
Russell Miller, Secret Service agent.
Eddie Myers, D.C. police homicide detective.
George Opfer, Secret Service agent.
Jerry Parr, Secret Service agent, special agent in charge of the presidential protective detail.
Ed Pollard, Secret Service agent.
Robert Powis, special agent in charge of the Washington field office of the Secret Service.
Richard Qulia, FBI agent.
Ray Shaddick, Secret Service agent, a shift leader on the presidential protective detail.
John Simpson, Secret Service agent, assistant director for protective operations.
Danny Spriggs, Secret Service agent.
Joe Trainor, Secret Service agent.
Drew Unrue, Secret Service agent.
Fran Uteg, Secret Service agent.
Jim Varey, Secret Service agent.
Frederick White, assistant director of administration, Secret Service.
MEDIA
Sam Donaldson, White House correspondent, ABC News.
Ron Edmonds, White House photographer, AP (winner of the Pulitzer Prize for photos he took of Reagan being pushed into the car. One is on this book’s front jacket).
Bill Plante, CBS News.
Dan Rather, anchor, CBS News.
Lesley Stahl, White House correspondent, CBS News.
EXPERTS
Michael Bohn, former director of the Situation Room.
Dr. David Boyd, former director of Emergency Medical Services Systems, a division of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
John D. Feerick, professor of law, Fordham University Law School.
John Finor, president of the Association of Firearm and Tool Mark Examiners.
Harry Teter, executive director of the American Trauma Society.
Dr. Donald Trunkey, professor of surgery, Oregon Health & Science University.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I came to this book quite unexpectedly. One day in July 2008, I attended a hearing at which doctors and lawyers for John W. Hinckley Jr. were urging a federal judge to grant the would-be assassin more freedom from St. Elizabeths Hospital. I had just started covering the D.C. federal court beat for my newspaper, the Washington Post, and when I took a seat in the front row of courtroom 29A, I didn’t know much about Hinckley or his attempt to kill President Ronald Reagan in March 1981. About all I remembered was that Hinckley had wounded Reagan and three other men, including press secretary Jim Brady, outside of the “Hinckley Hilton,” the moniker given to the sprawling hotel by many Washingtonians, and that later Hinckley had been found not guilty by reason of insanity. But there I was—just fifteen feet from a man who nearly assassinated a president—as his lawyers and the court’s prosecutors argued over the scope of potential privileges, and Hinckley’s siblings testified about his life in recent years.
As the hearing wore on, I found myself closely studying the psychiatric patient sitting at the defense table. Dressed in a dark blazer and gray slacks, Hinckley spent much of the hearing resting his chin on his hand while wearing a blank expression on his face. He neither frowned nor smiled, even when testimony delved into his sex life and the meaning of his music. It was as if a costume maker had cast an impression from Hinckley’s face while he was sleeping, and he was now wearing that emotionless mask for the world to see.
When that long day of testimony ended—the hearings would stretch over four more days—I went back to my office and filed a rather perfunctory story that described how Hinckley’s brother and sister did not view him as a danger to the community and thought he would benefit from getting a driver’s license and having more unsupervised time at their mother’s home. After finishing the article, I gave Hinckley no further thought.
A few days later, however, I was summoned to the FBI’s Washington field office by its top agent, Joseph Persichini Jr., who wanted to discuss an undercover investigation that he knew I had recently stumbled upon. A press aide joined us, and while we were sitting at the large conference table in Persichini’s office, Persichini abruptly stood up, walked over to his desk, and opened a drawer. A moment later, he slapped something heavy into my hand. I looked down: it was a revolver. “That’s Hinckley’s gun,” Persichini said, smiling.
I was stunned. Why was the gun that had nearly killed a president of the United States being stored in an FBI agent’s desk drawer instead of a museum?
Intrigued by these two chance encounters with a dramatic day in American history, I soon paid a visit to the D.C. public library, looking for books about the assassination attempt and its aftermath. I found exactly two—one that focused on the Twenty-fifth Amendment and another about Hinckley’s trial and the insanity defense. This greatly surprised me, especially since numerous books had been written about our fortieth president; later, I decided that most scholars were probably not interested in the events of that day because Reagan had survived his wound, gone on to serve two terms, and ultimately become one of the most significant presidents of the twentieth century. By now, though, I was curious to learn more about what happened that day and I began reading everything I could find about the assassination attempt—in newspaper and magazine archives, in government publications, and in medical journals. Then I began calling former federal agents, former White House aides, and a number of doctors who had treated Reagan after he was shot, all of whom provided me with their recollections.
Looking back, I now realize it was those interviews that opened my eyes to the possibility of writing a book about the shooting and its aftermath, and for that I owe a great debt to those who took the time to talk with someone who at that early stage had a limited understanding of how to research and write a book. First, I must thank former Secret Service agent Jerry Parr, who spent countless hours answering my questions (even while on vacation in Europe), helping me track down other agents and then answering even more questions. Other Secret Service and FBI agents were also extremely helpful, and without their assistance I could never have told the full story of the assassination attempt. In particular, I thank John Simpson, Ray Shaddick, Mary Ann Gordon, Drew Unrue, Bill Green, Russell Miller, Stephen T. Colo, and George Chmiel. I was also aided by former Secret Service agents Ernest Kun, Paul Kelly, and Larry Dominguez, who do not appear by name in the narrative of this book but without whom I could not have achieved a comprehensive understanding of the history of the Secret Service.
This endeavor also owes much to the many doctors and nurses who took so much time to explain Reagan’s care, describe his medical procedures, and translate emergency and operating room jargon into English. For this, I must first thank several former nurses at George Washington University Hospital who spent a great deal of time with me and are too often not given sufficient credit for their extraordinary work that day. They include Kath
y Paul (Stevens), Judith Whinerey (Goss), Wendy Koenig, Marisa Mize, Denise Sullivan, and Cathy Edmondson. I am also grateful to a number of GW’s doctors: David Gens, Benjamin Aaron, Joseph Giordano, and Jack Zimmerman, among many others, spoke to me for hours in person and by telephone.
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