That’s pretty much it. Was he just trying to get his name in the news. Or maybe he was trying to impress someone, much as John Hinckley would do years later. What was the deal???
Believe it or not, my daughter just picked up a book titled “The Book of Assassins” with biographical information on hundreds of assassins, would-be assassins and pathetic losers. Here’s a snippet from the biography of Arthur Bremer, the man who shot George Wallace.
“He claimed that one factor in his decision to attempt to kill an important figure was that he had lost the love of his life, 15-year old Joan Pembroke. But Pembroke claimed that she barely knew Bremer, as they had dated only a couple of times before Bremer’s behavior caused her to end the relationship. Bremer’s first intended target was the incumbent president, Richard Nixon, whom he stalked during Nixon’s official visit to Canada in early spring, 1972.”
The book adds that Bremer’s story was the inspiration for the movie Taxi Driver, which, of course, was the inspiration for John Hinckley to attack Ronald Reagan, in an effort to impress Jodie Foster.
How was assassinating Reagan supposed to impress Jodie Foster? (I know that Hinkley was a nutcase). Was she outspokenly anti-Reagan, thus causing Hinkley, in his warped mind, to think that killing him would impress her?
Thats it, no other reason needed.