# What if Reagan hadn't been shot? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 31, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674 "2011-03-31T19:52:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/1 "2011-03-31T19:52:05Z")
Or, conversely, if he had been shot dead? Yesterday was the 30th anniversary of Hinkley’s assassination attempt. Listening to the retrospective on NPR (or was it BBC NewsHour on my NPR station?) about how Reagan joked with the surgeons, etc., to gain sympathy and goodwill that he probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. How did this change his presidency and chances of re-election? Or, what if GHW Bush had become president in '81, not '89? ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/2 "2011-03-31T20:14:44Z")
Had this incident not occurred, Sarah Brady might not have embarked on her campaign to outlaw handguns all together, and a significant portion of the gun control legislation enacted since then would have maybe taken a different direction. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/3 "2011-03-31T20:29:04Z")
Reagan was shot two months and 10 days into his first term. At that time he was still riding on a crest of popularity from his election and the release of the Iranian hostages, and hadn’t done anything big yet. Sandra Day O"Connor would still have been nominated in July, Reagan still would have fired the air traffic controllers in August, announced his “New Federalism” program in early 1982, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/4 "2011-03-31T20:37:33Z")
> [@Great\_Dave](#): > > Or, what if GHW Bush had become president in '81, not '89? I predict there would have been huge conspiracy theories as a result. Bigger than the JFK conspiracy field. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/5 "2011-03-31T20:55:03Z")
In March 1981 many Americans, especially those who came to be called “Reagan Democrats,” thought the United States had gone down hill since the Kennedy assassination. Surviving his own assassination attempt gave Ronald Reagan a super human aurora that made it possible for him to push through the tax cuts that tripled the national debt. ---
**Author:** ![Marquez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Marquez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marquez)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/6 "2011-03-31T20:58:51Z")
> [@](#): > > Or, conversely, if he had been shot dead? The US and the world would be a much better place to live. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/7 "2011-03-31T22:23:39Z")
You might have had a Newt Gingrich, or a Ross Perot, presidency in the '90s. > [@Great\_Dave](#): > > Or, conversely, if he had been shot dead? He would have passed very little legislation. > [@](#): > > …about how Reagan joked with the surgeons, etc., to gain sympathy and goodwill that he probably wouldn’t have had otherwise. He faked courage in order to curry sympathy ? What a trouper ! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/8 "2011-03-31T22:36:39Z")
> [@Claverhouse](#): > > He faked courage in order to curry sympathy ? What a trouper ! If his courage was real, he’d be a trooper. But if he was just faking it, he’s a trouper. ---
**Author:** ![New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9d8465/32.png) [@New\_Deal\_Democrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/New_Deal_Democrat)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/9 "2011-03-31T23:12:57Z")
> [@Marquez](#): > > The US and the world would be a much better place to live. I do not want to appear to endorse a political assassination. I will say this. If George H. W. Bush had been elected president in 1980 he would have honored his insight that expecting tax cuts to generate more tax revenue than tax increases was “voodoo economics.” There would not have been a tripling of the national debt. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/10 "2011-04-01T07:44:28Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > Had this incident not occurred, Sarah Brady **might not** have embarked on her campaign to outlaw handguns all together, and a significant portion of the gun control legislation enacted since then would have maybe taken a different direction. Emphasis mine. Might not? Is there any evidence that she was a gun grabber before any of this happened? This is an honestly legit question as I don’t know. Also, IIRC, it took quite a while for Jim to get on board with her unconstitutional new position. Speaking of “new positions” (;)) seeing that James Brady is, essentially, dead from the waist down, I think Sarah is a very, VERY frustrated woman. Guns, being a phallic symbol, just embolden her frustration. Had Jim been paralyzed by a car wreck she probably wouldn’t be an anti-car zealot. Just saying. ---
**Author:** ![Khaki\_Campbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de053/32.png) [@Khaki\_Campbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khaki_Campbell)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/11 "2011-04-01T10:53:06Z")
> [@Marquez](#): > > The US and the **world** would be a much better place to live. Oooh yes, with the Stasi bringing you breakfast every morning 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/12 "2011-04-01T14:14:33Z")
> [@pkbites](#): > > Speaking of “new positions” (;)) seeing that James Brady is, essentially, dead from the waist down, I think Sarah is a very, VERY frustrated woman. Guns, being a phallic symbol, just embolden her frustration. Had Jim been paralyzed by a car wreck she probably wouldn’t be an anti-car zealot. > > Just saying. So guns can be a phallic symbol - but only to the people that don’t like them? Because I’m assuming you’d vehemently deny that a gun is a surrogate penis for anyone that owns one. ---
**Author:** ![Marquez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Marquez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marquez)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-if-reagan-hadnt-been-shot/576674/13 "2011-04-01T17:47:01Z")
> [@](#): > > Quote: > Originally Posted by Marquez > The US and the world would be a much better place to live. > > Oooh yes, with the Stasi bringing you breakfast every morning Yes you’re right Ronald Regan single handedly defeated the Soviet Union.