I saw bits of it while my GF was on the phone, but it looked like a hoot. Made the white House look like Faulty Towers. I was thinking this HAD to be fictionalized (and made by us liberals). The site I found for it says it’s reasonably accurate. I find that a little hard to believe.
Anybody seen it all the way through? What was your take on it?
Dreyfuss gives a 1st rate performance as Haig, though.
I was 20 at the time. And John Hinckley didn’t “miss”; he put an explosive bullet in the President’s chest. Fortunately it didn’t explode.
Crappy as the Reagan administration was (although it seems like a happy dream now by comparison with the current simpering buffoon and his cutthroat gang of criminals), I have to admit Reagan showed real class that day.
Yes, but because of Hinkley, Law-Abiding Americans who own Fire-Arms have to deal with James Brady and his Wife, who want to Outlaw Guns, because some Nut-Case tried to Shoot and Kill Reagan - but didn’t get the Job Done, and unfortunately Shot Brady, which made him Brain Damaged, and ruined his Life.
Junior year in college, I was in the ABC soap opera lounge in the student union, ready to watch the nuptials between Luke and Laura. When they were pre-empted by this!
Not to diminish the significnce of the event, but that was a high water mark in the annals of newsmaking in terms of We have absolutely nothing new to tell you, so we will just reshow the same film clip over-and-over, interspersed with a talking head looking somber and endlessly rephrasing the same 5-10 sentences.
Oh, for those who might have missed. When it showed the next day, Laura looked lovely, and - gasp - Scotty showed up to catch the bouquet!
Didn’t see the movie but I remember the day vividly – all of us sneaking away from out desks one by one so we could find a TV.
It’s hard to imagine the amount of chaos that was going on. The President had been shot and wasn’t supposed to be badly hurt – oh wait, they’re saying he’s dead. There were bystanders lying on the street, the Vice President was out of contact, etc. etc.
I was shooting Deathtrap that day—Sidney Lumet called us all over and made an announcement. Reagan had just made some cuts to the arts, among other bone-headed moves, so there were not many tears shed on the set. We all got right back to work.
My biggest impression from that day was that a Secret Service agent had been shot throwing himself between Hinckley & Reagan. I was only 10, but I was awed by the commitment of someone whose job was to take a bullet, no questions asked.
So, how’s the weather in the Eighteenth Century? I kid, I kid.
Let’s see, if Reagan had died that day, GHW Bush would have been sworn in as President, and would have appointed somebody VP. He undoubtably would have run in 1984, but if he won, he would have been ineligible to run in 1988. So we probably wouldn’t have invaded Panama… well, who knows?
Let’s see - didn’t vote for Kennedy, so I won’t waste any sympathy on him getting shot. Same for his brother.
McKinley and Lincoln were both Republicans, so I guess I should feel sorry for them.
Is this just politicians, or people in general? Because if it is people in general, I wasted a lot of my time being sorry for John Lennon and Matthew Shepard. Guess I should have just shrugged my shoulders and got back to work.
I had the same thoughts! It amazed me that someone could agree to take a bullet for another person who wasn’t a loved one or family member. I remember being just astounded that their job was to protect (with their own life if neccessary) any president, regardless of whether they loved or hated him.
I was at the mall with my family when it happened. We were buying some clothing (I can’t even remember who for) and the cashier had a little radio which reported the news. When we got to the car, we learned that James Brady was dead. Then, when we got home, we found out he was alive.