How did you feel when Reagan was shot?

[lojasmo]

I was 12. I was in art class, and I rejoiced, and hoped he'd die. How sick is that?

Thinking back on it, Bush I would have then been in charge, officially, making the world that much worse for all of us. I guess I'm lucky he pulled through.

[Stew225]

1. I have no idea where I was, what I was

doing, or to whom I was doing it. Hence, methinks I didn't feel. Therefore, apparently, I aren't.

[bluestateguy]

2. I was in pre-school

Nobody told me, or I must of missed it during naptime.

[fortyfeetunder]

3. I was in college, Wash DC

months away from graduation, trying to get the hell away from there. Sorry the man got shot, but that was the least of my worries.

[linazelle]

4. He wasn't shot was he?

I felt that it wasn't that important--of course his guards were shot and injured seriously.

[jsw_81]

7. He was shot

The bullet stopped only an inch from his heart.

[lojasmo]

13. Yup, took one in the chest

potentially VERY lethal. He only sustained a pneumothorax, IIRC Though he had to go to surgery, so, upon some thought, he must have had some vascular damage as well (perhaps pulmonary artery)

[Cooley Hurd]

44. Nicked the Aorta...

...a fraction of an inch and it would've killed him.

[RapidCreek]

41. You are kidding right? Yes he was shot....and so was James Brady

Brady sustained brain damage.

RC

[NewYorkerfromMass]

5. When he was still in the hospital a few days later

we'd greet friends and say: "Did you hear? Reagan DIED!"
and then... "April Fools!"

[devilgrrl]

6. I was in High School....

and I remember being more shocked if anything, not happy but nervous. The news replayed the assassination attempt over and over and over. SNL did a parody with Eddie Murphy's 'Buckwheat' getting shot and replayed it throughout the show. They kind of had to, with the exception of Murphy, SNL sucked ass back then.

Flash forward 20+ years, we finally find out that the Bush Crime Family and the Hinckley's are chums. hmmmm....

[salin]

37. Similar reaction...

and when there had been an assassination attempt on the Pope as well.. found the whole thing creepy. Probably spent more time talking about how spooky the two (very short succession between the events, IIRC) than about Reagan getting shot.

[vetwife]

8. Mad because I had just had surgery and again I had to hear day in and day

out about the shooting of Reagan...I didn't get much time off from work and here I was laid up and nothing was on TV. VCR's were not invented yet. Or at least I didn't know they were. Nothing on TV but Hinkley, Reagan, and Foster. A perfectly good operation that put me out of work for weeks and this is all I had to watch on the tube.

[No2W2004]

9. I felt ok...I had a cold coming on, but I felt fine.

:P

[leftofthedial]

10. hopeful

[bermudat]

11. How old are most of the people in this Forum?

I remember watching him when he was on the Death Valley Days (something about a 20 mule team). When he was governor, Patty Hearst was kidnapped and one of the conditions of the Symbionese Liberation Army was a truckful of food to be given to the poor. Governor Reagan's comment was that he wished the food was poisoned. When he was shot, just wished Hinkley had used hollow points.

[devilgrrl]

14. I was 17 when it happened...

I'm the big 40 now. :o

[PurityOfEssence]

12. I was actually very concerned

I was still in college at a very lefty school, and it seemed very suspicious to me. I wondered if the extreme right was playing for power, and since it was so early after the election, things were all very rubbed raw.

Very few people, even in the highly-charged area where I lived, were gloating; we were all curious, disoriented and worried.

Those were very strange times.

[LittleApple81]

15. Said "Don't worry. A bad weed never dies" when a colleague

came all aflutter and worried to tell me. You should have seen the expression on his face! But at that time they still didn't call you unpatriotic or treasonous for expressing your opinion.

[kcwayne]

16. My first thought was, Shit, I hope they don't cancel the NCAA championship

The final game (basketball) was that night. I didn't think anything would change in the government if he died, he was a empty suit and a frontman for the evil empire that really ran things.

[UTUSN]

17. I Was Relieved the Shooter Wasn't a Minority n/t

[Straight Shooter]

18. I thought his so-called hokey statements about "ducking" were ridiculous

Remember that line? "Honey, I forgot to duck."

Yeah, right. If you had ducked, your head would have caught the bullet, you senile fart.

But to answer the question, I don't remember where I was or what I was doing and have never given it a second thought, except to wonder if perhaps Poppy Bush was trying just a bit too hard and too soon to put himself at the top of the White House heap.

[Bjornsdotter]

19. I was Pissed!!

Hi,

I was pissed....not only was the shooter a lousy shot but they had the NERVE to pre-empt General Hospital.....I called ABC to complain about missing General Hospital...it was far more important; after all it was at the height of the Luke and Laura story line.

Ya gotta have priorities!

Cheers,
Kim

[AnnitaR]

22. LMAO!!

I was pissed about missing Days of Our Lives! Ahh to be a teenager again when you really had your priorities straight! LOL!

That was pretty much how I felt about Iran-Contra at the time too. Pre-empted my soaps forever it seemed!

[Bjornsdotter]

33. Great Minds!

Hi,

Nice to find someone who understands!

Cheers,
Kim :toast:

[leesa]

20. Nothing. Clearly he wasn't in charge.

It was like he was a giant posterboard man.

[pansypoo53219]

21. my 8th, or was it 7th?

grade class cheered. the teacher was quite upset at us as it was a lutheran parochial school.

[Solly Mack]

23. the only thing that bothered me about it was...

Brady taking a bullet meant for Reagan...
Poppy being President by default...and possibly helping that default along...

gawds but Poppy eventually becoming president caused to question the sanity of america even more...

I thought it was bad enough to elect Reagan the first time..and surely a sign of sickness to re-elect him...but downright suicidal to elect a Bush.

[napi21]

24. My first thought was, Oh No, Kennedy shooting again!

I don't remember how old I was, but I saw both incidents on TV! I remember listening very intently, and I was glad this time a President didn't die.

I didn't agree with Reagan on his policies, but I didn't hate him either. Like it or nt, likfe in the Carter admin. was pretty bad. Interest rates were 22%, and unemployment was very high. I don't think Reagan did the right thing, but at least the interest rates came down and employment did finally improve.

I disagree with having a "State" funeral for him. As far as I can tell, almost all of those were done for assinated Presidents, not the ones who just died.....at the age of 93!

I don't hate Reagan like I hate the Shrub. I'm not sure why. I just can't stand to listen, wath, or hear Shrub.

[gauguin57]

25. oscar night and a small-town reporter

Reagan was shot on the day that was supposed to be Oscar night. They postponed the awards, obviously.

I had gotten the night off work at my former newspaper (because for me, Oscar night should be a national holiday). I called the boss and offered to work that night -- and to do the "reaction story" for the paper -- if they'd give me the rescheduled Oscar night off. But they took the deal, laughing at me all the way.

So, I hit the streets in a small Eastern PA town -- the mall, bars with TVs, etc. -- getting John Q. Public's opinion of the shooting. I think I found just one anti-Reaganite, who said something like, "Well, I don't agree with the guy, but I didn't want to see him DEAD or anything!" I just about peed myself.

So, basically, I didn't "process" the event for a couple of days. I was too focused on getting the local citizenry to say something interesting and put the story together.

[RobinA]

74. My Reaction Too

I was in my parent's driving to the garage to see why they weren't finished with my car yet. I thought, "Oh no, here we go again." I was glad he didn't die, because we don't need the President getting shot, I don't care who it is.

I also thought, "OK, it finally happened." Ever since Kennedy, every time a "Special Bulletin" came on TV or radio I thought, "The President has been shot again." I don't think this anymore, because they do a Special Bulletin every time there's a fender bender on the highway.

[brook]

26. Indifferent.

Felt really badly for Brady though. Was neither happy nor sad that RR survived. Felt he wasn't particulary good for the country- it took some time to realize what harm he had really done. Yet, he was afrigging saint compared to the ghoul we have in the WH now, imo.

[Kod478]

27. Devastated

I crapped my pants and cried. I was 2.

[kcwayne]

34. That's funny!

[Zomby Woof]

28. aw shit! Just like JFK!

"Going to be built-up beyond his accomplishments and deified!"

I was 23 years early, but I was right.

[TankLV]

29. "Great, now we are goint to have that fucking asshole be a martyr."

The repukes are always mad at the genuine adulation that Kennedy had and got, and same for Clinton.

So they manufacture this "mourning" crap.

Just cremate the bastard and flush him down the toilet where he belongs - that's all he deserves.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

30. As I recall, I laughed and made jokes, and so did my coworkers

We were watching on a monitor at work. The age range was from 28 (me) to around 40. Our boss got really pissed and snapped at us to show some respect, that whether we liked Reagan or not he was still the President; but as soon as he left the room we started up again.

If he had died, Bush would have been put in charge (or would Al Haig have beat him to it?;); but Bush wouldn't have held on to the Presidency for a second term. That vision thing, you know.

[Lorien]

31. It was my 15th birthday

and if I'm to be honest about how I felt...well, I don't want the FBI at my door, now, do I?:evilgrin:

[gauguin57]

32. Musical interlude ...

This beautiful ballad, sung to the objects of their affection by John Hinckley and Squeaky Fromme, is from Stephen Sondheim's "Assassins,"
now in revival at Studio 54 in NYC.


As the lights fade, we see John Hinckley with his guitar singing to a picture of Jodie Foster, while on the other side of the stage Squeaky Fromme sings to Charles Manson.

UNWORTHY OF YOUR LOVE

Hinckley- I am nothing, you are wind and water and sky, Jodie.
Tell me, Jodie, how I can earn your love.
I would swim oceans, I would move mountains, I would do anything for you. What do you want me to do?
I am unworthy of your love, Jodie, Jodie.
Let me prove worthy of your love.
Tell me how I can earn your love, set me free.
How can I turn your love to me?

Fromme- I am nothing. You are wind and devil and God, Charlie.
Take my blood and my body for your love. Let me feel fire, let me drink poison, tell me to tear my heart in two.
If that's what you want me to do...
I am unworthy of your love, Charlie darlin'. I have done nothing for your love. Let me be worthy of your love, set me free-

Hinckley- I would come take you from your life...
Fromme- I would come take you from your cell!
Hinckley- You would be queen to me, not wife-
Fromme- I would crawl belly deep through hell!

Hinckley- Baby I'd die for you!
Fromme- Baby I'd die for you!
Hinckley- Even though-
Fromme- Even though-

Both- I will always know!
I am unworthy of your love,
Jodie/Charlie darlin'.

Let me be worthy of your love. I'll find a way to earn your love, wait and see.
Then you will turn your love to me.
Your love to me...

[Cheswick2.0]

35. sad

I thought it was very sad that the president was shot by some lunatic. It didn't mean I like him. But being glad about an assasination attempt is sick.

[lojasmo]

62. that's what I said!

"how sick is that?"

[Don_G]

36. I Was Pissed

Hinkley should have practiced on the firing range first instead of hitting an innocent bystander.

[RapidCreek]

38. I thought it sort of ironic.

Mr. NRA and his NRA buddy, Brady got shot. Ah well...it wasn't the gun that shot them....it was the lunatic idiot who was able to go out and buy one! After both got an injection of hot lead...the 2nd ammendment didn't seem to apply so broadly anymore.

Funny...just like Alzheimer's research...gun control was an evil thing in the eyes of Rompin Ronny....until the consequences of both visited him at his door. Odd how rethuglicans happily throw shit all over those they think they stand above....until a bit of it lands on them....then they cry and whine like babies.

RC

[Bluzmann57]

39. I was distressed

because murder is never an answer. Hoping a man will die because one disagrees with him is just sick.

[Cooley Hurd]

40. I was 15 and on my way to my girlfriend's house...

...when the news broke over the car radio. I remember the fascination I felt, from a historical perspective. On a personal level, I was indifferent since I was still stinging from the defeat of President Carter a few months previous. And I was still numb after losing John Lennon in December...

[Jose Diablo]

42. Don't care either way

I thought, thats interesting, whats for dinner?

Kennedy's, MLK, Malcome X, Ford: all these were targets, some were successful. Why should Reagan have been any different.

Think back now though, did anybody try to shoot Poppy?

[Cooley Hurd]

43. Saddam did...

...but it was after the evil patriarch had left office.

[Null Pointer]

45. I think I was 5 at the time

I probably felt like eating a popsicle or watching "The Electric Company" or something.

[Skittles]

46. I remember Alexander Haig saying he was in charge

THAT was f***ing scary.

[Voltaire]

47. I was in Okinawa

getting married that day. Getting married as a U.S. service person in Japan is a long and drawn out process, so I did not hear about it until late in the day. Other than that, I can't remember how I felt at all, so I guess that means I didn't feel much about him one way or the other. And I guess that is why I don't care that he is dead. He certainly doomed enough folks to their deaths with his policies.

We have all dreaded this happening. Let's be thankful it happened when it did.

[noonwitch]

48. I was pissed off at ABC for interrupting General Hospital

It was really good back then. Frank Reynolds also falsly reported that Reagan was dead, a major mistake.

[LeftHander]

49. Shock, then glad GHWB didn't become president....

Think if GHW Bush was President for those years....

[NoPasaran]

50. "Here we go again"

By then I had lived through the Kennedys, Martin Luther King, Malcolm X, George Wallace, John Lennon, a couple of potshots at Gerry Ford... I don't remember being all that shocked.

A few hours later though when AL Haig made that "I am in control" remark, I was worried that we were actually watching a military coup.

[peekaloo]

51. damn that Jodie Foster!

:eyes:

[DaveSZ]

55. HW Bush was not as far right as Reagan though

HW BUsh knew supply side economics was bullshit.

[blindpig]

52. I'm taking the 5th. n/t

[dryan]

53. Twice in a lifetime

I was working as a temp in a legal clinic and one of the clients came in and said that they just heard on the radio that the President had been shot. We turned on the TV in the breakroom and it was true. I remember thinking that I couldn't believe that two presidents would be murdered in my lifetime. All my girlhood memories of Kennedy being killed and that horrible weekend came flooding back.

[Bridget Burke]

54. Unhappy--because that's not the way to get rid of Presidents.

Not that I liked the old fool, but JFK's assassination left a feeling of general disapproval when politicians are shot down. And hearing about Hinkley's brother having to cancel lunch with Neil Bush reinforced my opinion that elections are the way to go. Results could be unfortunate even if the one who dies is not a favorite.

This morning on my local CBS affiliate, their reporter stood outside the Capitol. He compared Reagan's funeral with JFK's. Jackie/Nancy. John-John saluting/no Reagan children (grandchildren?). And the fact that JFK was murdered in the prime of life, when Reagan's death was probably a blessing for him & those who watched him deteriorate. I thought it was an interesting way to handle the story--not a bit of Reagan worship.

[WI_DEM]

56. I was 16 in school

when the announcement came and went home and watched the coverage of it. At the time I thought it was pretty exciting and got caught up in the coverage. I wasn't shattered over Reagan being shot--I liked Carter and Reagan had only been president for a couple of months--but I didn't hope he would die.

[MaineDem]

57. My first thought - what about the NCAA game?

Seriously, I figured it would be all-Reagan-all-the-time (sorta like now) and the tournament final was that night, if I remember correctly.

[kodi]

58. i felt that the gop would then get thru congress anything they wanted

as with lbj calling on congress to accede to the wishes of a marytered jfk, reagan's programs would be enacted the same way.

and they did.

[charlie]

59. I thought, fuck, not again

JFK, RFK, MLK, Malcolm X, George Wallace. Ford, shot at twice by Squeaky Fromme and Sarah Jane Moore. John Lennon. I wasn't especially distressed when I heard about Reagan, but I was in a funk over the dark violence endemic in the country.

[Zolok]

60. Scared...

but not panicking or anything...we still worked the rest of the day.

I was in "prep" school at the time and walking to my afternoon job at a local law firm when it happened.

I have vague memories of Bobby Kennedy's assassination and it brought a lot of that back.
Then Al Haig started up with that "I'm in charge here" guff and misquoted the Presidential succession act of 1947 as well.
Which is when EVERYONE else got scared.

Frankly if you read anything about that day...the authenticator card that went missing, the nuclear football going back and forth...Haig's fugue...poor communications with the Vice President's plane...you have to wonder HOW DOES THIS COUNTRY SURVIVE?????
We spent billions on maintaining the "continuity of government" in a terminal crisis and billions more on "command and control" and the whole thing flies to pieces when one dipshit with a pistol tries to blow the President away.


www.chimesatmidnight.blogspot.com

[amish_enforcer]

61. I was in fourth or fifth grade

and remember just feeling "Holy shit, the PRESIDENT was shot?!" not sad or scared, just "Holy Shit!" and watching the news after school

[Kid_A]

63. I thought about how nice and warm it was in my mother's womb.

I thought "I've only got a month left in this thing, so I better make the best of it." Then she ate some spicy food and I got my first case of heartburn.

[ramapo]

64. Maybe he'd go for gun control now

That was my first thought. How silly of me.

[cmf]

65. I remember the assasination attempt on Pope John Paul better

Even though it was the same year. I was only 5. I actually don't have any recollection of the attempt on Reagan. The attempt on the pope probably made more of an impact on me because my family were Catholic Democrats and much more concerned about him than Reagan.

[Bucky]

66. I'm generally opposed to people getting shot

I was glad he wasn't killed, but I felt bad for all the shooting victims.

[BlackVelvetElvis]

67. I was at the bank with my dad

That's when the news broke and all the tellers were talking about it.
I was shocked more than anything. Later, we went to a jewelry store and told the owner, who responded with glee.
Personally, John Lennon's death 4 months earlier had a much greater impact on me.

[THUNDER HANDS]

68. I was 3

I spent most of the day napping, I believe.

[Lindacooks]

69. My first reaction was

that maybe he'd change his opposition to gun control.

[WoodrowFan]

70. i was a college senior

I wa sin my frat house and heard some of my repuk brothers listening to the radio. I ALMOST said (in a cheery, happy voice) "Somebody shoot raygun?!" Glad I didn't cause these guys were MAD and ready to lynch the shooter.

I was torn between hoping he'd die and feeling AWFUL that I wished something like that.

[Carolina]

71. I was 9 months into my internship

rotating ironically through the emergency room at Howard University Hospital in DC which is as close, if not closer, to the Washington Hilton Hotel than George Washington Hospital. 'Course we knew they'd never bring him to a Black Hospital, but we were ready anyway :evilgrin:

All kidding aside, we had a lot of experience treating GSWs so we were prepared.

On another aside having lived throught the JFK assassination, I thought here goes Tecumseh and his curse, again!

[Corgigal]

72. feeling very fat

I was sitting at the bowling alley snack bar on a Syracuse Air Force base eating fries.

I delivered my first child, a baby girl that next day.

[stavka]

73. I feel guilty about how I felt.........

I was thirteen and in Track practice

[genius]

75. Really mixed. I'm opposed to anyone getting killed and I found myself

hoping he'd live - not because of who he was - but because some person had been shot and that is a bad thing. If Bush Sr was behind the shooting, I'm glad he didn't win. But if Reagon hadn't survived, my mom wouldn't have lost her Social Security.

[skippysmom]

76. Initially rejoiced

till my mother came and told me that I shouldn't be happy when someone gets hurt.

I was 9.

[catzies]

77. I was 19 and home with my baby daughter. My first thought

was "Oh, no, that asshole VP Bush who was head of the CIA will be president!"

I wish I was as ignorant now as I was when I was 19. I'd be sleeping better.

[Roaming]

78. I was about 14; I vaguely remember feeling scared, kind of like

the feeling I had when I found out about 911, but not quite as intense. It's never a good thing for a president to be assassinated, no matter what.

[stavka]

79. I thought , " I'll bet Jodie Foster would be impressed!"

[livinginphotographs]

80. I probably needed my diaper changed...

I was all of about 1.

[Piperay]

81. I hate to say because

I will probably go straight to hell for my thoughts on that day. :shrug:

[VolcanoJen]

82. The next day, I remember my High School History Teacher saying...

...in a very serious tone, as class started: "Well, I'm sure you're all aware of what happened yesterday."

One of the smart-ass jocks in my class shouted, "Yeh... Indiana WON!!!" The entire class erupted in hoots and hollers, while our history teacher looked entirely disgusted.

The NCAA Championship game was played on the same day Reagan was shot, with the Hoosiers kicking the stuffing out of the Tar Heels!! And for some reason, that's what I always think about, when pondering that day. :D