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Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan Paperback – Bargain Price, March 27, 2012
A Janet Maslin (New York Times) Top 10 Pick for 2011
A Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book for 2011
A Richmond Times Dispatch Top Book for 2011
A minute-by-minute account of the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, to coincide with the thirtieth anniversary
On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan was just seventy days into his first term of office when John Hinckley Jr. opened fire outside the Washington Hilton Hotel, wounding the president, press secretary James Brady, a Secret Service agent, and a D.C. police officer. For years, few people knew the truth about how close the president came to dying, and no one has ever written a detailed narrative of that harrowing day. Now, drawing on exclusive new interviews and never-before-seen documents, photos, and videos, Del Quentin Wilber tells the electrifying story of a moment when the nation faced a terrifying crisis that it had experienced less than twenty years before, the assassination of President John F. Kennedy.
With cinematic clarity, we see Secret Service agent Jerry Parr, whose fast reflexes saved the president's life; the brilliant surgeons who operated on Reagan as he was losing half his blood; and the small group of White House officials frantically trying to determine whether the country was under attack. Most especially, we encounter the man code-named "Rawhide," a leader of uncommon grace who inspired affection and awe in everyone who worked with him.
Ronald Reagan was the only serving U.S. president to survive being shot in an assassination attempt.* Rawhide Down is the first true record of the day and events that literally shaped Reagan's presidency and sealed his image in the modern American political firmament.
*There have been many assassination attempts on U.S. presidents, four of which were successful: Abraham Lincoln, James A. Garfield, William McKinley, and John F. Kennedy. President Theodore Roosevelt was injured in an assassination attempt after leaving office.
- Print length320 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherPicador
- Publication dateMarch 27, 2012
- Dimensions6.13 x 0.88 x 9.27 inches
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Newly revealing… Mr. Wilber reconstructs an episode much more serious and dire than it has been made to seem. The courage of the president, the delicacy of the situation faced by his doctors and the sloppiness of security measures are all given new attention… A fast-paced book that captures many points of view."—The New York Times (one of Janet Maslin’s Recommended Books for 2011)
"The chapters that detail the assassination attempt and its immediate aftermath read like a thriller. In clear prose, we learn that Reagan was far closer to death than was previously thought."—David Baldacci, The Washington Post
"A page-turner from beginning to end… You will learn a lot about an event that came razor-close to changing America forever."—Bill O’Reilly, author of the forthcoming Killing Lincoln: The Assassination that Changed America Forever
"A harrowing story, more so than it seemed at the time, and Wilber, a reporter for the Washington Post, has tracked down virtually everyone who had anything to do with protecting the President or with saving his life at the hospital."—The New Yorker
"In this eye-opening book of solid journalism, we learn just how close Ronald Reagan, code-named 'Rawhide' by the Secret Service, came to being the president with the second shortest time in office."—Bob Hoover, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"With a reporter's eye for detail and a screenwriter's talent for the cinematic, he invests such immediacy in Rawhide Down that the reader is thrust back 30 years in time."—Richmond Times-Dispatch
"A tense, riveting account of that day."—Dallas Morning News
"Detailed and dramatic… Mr. Wilber, a Washington Post crime reporter who writes clear, crisp prose, fleshes out his gripping narrative with a number of well-told side stories."—The Washington Times
"A riveting minute-by-minute account of the shooting and reveals that Reagan came closer to death than the public knew."—New York Post
"This intensely researched account yields an almost moment-by-moment account of the crisis."—New York Daily News
"A fast-paced read that draws well-crafted characters and gives a vivid sense of the history that brought the story’s heroes and Hinckley together that day."—The Washingtonian
"Gripping … A fascinating glimpse of a pivotal moment in history."—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
"This mesmerizing rendition of the event can be read in one sitting, as Wilber’s accuracy and craft provoke rapt interest."—Booklist
"Del Quentin Wilber has written a compelling and multi-layered examination of the near-assassination of President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981. As a biographer of Reagan who was at the Washington Hilton Hotel that fateful day, I was fascinated by Wilber’s meticulous reconstruction. He properly credits the valor and judgment of the Secret Service agents who saved Reagan’s life but also analyzes the security deficiencies that made the assassination attempt possible. Wilber reminds us of how close we were to losing Reagan little more than two months into his presidency. His detailed and readable accounts of the surgeries performed on Reagan and Press Secretary James Brady are of particular historical value."—Lou Cannon, author of President Reagan: The Role of a Lifetime
"Rawhide Down is full of spectacular, original reporting."—Bob Woodward
"The 96 months of Ronald Reagan’s presidency changed the nation and the world. Del Quentin Wilber’s gripping account of the ‘near assassination’ of the 40th president shows how close the country—and the world—came to missing more than 93 of those months."—George F. Will
"Rawhide Down is a stunning work. Del Quentin Wilber, with the world-class reporting skills he honed on the police beat and a fine sense of narrative, has taken a story we thought we knew and rendered it wholly fresh, vibrant, and revealing."—David Maraniss, author of When Pride Still Mattered
About the Author
Del Quentin Wilber is an award-winning reporter for The Washington Post. He has spent most of his career covering law enforcement and sensitive security issues, and his work has been a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. He lives in Washington, D.C., with his wife and two sons. Visit the Website for Rawhide Down at www.RawhideDown.com.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
PROLOGUE
A day before the course of his presidency was forever changed, Ronald Reagan walked to church with his wife, Nancy. Sunday, March 29, 1981, was bright and warm, and as the Reagans strolled through the White House gates and across Pennsylvania Avenue, the president held the first lady's hand. Trailed by Secret Service agents and a few journalists, the couple waved at onlookers and smiled for camera-toting tourists. As they walked through Lafayette Square, a woman pushed her young child through the security perimeter. Grinning, the president bent over to say hello.
Lately Reagan had not been able to attend church as often as he would have liked. During the previous year's campaign it had been hard enough; since the inauguration, it had been almost impossible. For obvious reasons, security requirements for any trip outside the White House were cumbersome. He also didn't want to impose on parishioners, who had to be screened by Secret Service agents and were often distracted by the presence of the president and his wife.
But that spring morning, the Reagans had chosen to attend the eleven o'clock service at St. John's Church, a place of worship as intimately connected to American history as any in the nation. The Episcopal church, just off the north side of Lafayette Square, was designed by the same architect who rebuilt the White House and the Capitol after they were damaged in the War of 1812. Its half-ton steeple bell had been cast by Paul Revere's son; a piece of stained glass donated by President Chester A. Arthur in memory of his wife hung in its south transept. Nicknamed the Church of the Presidents, St. John's now welcomed the nation's fortieth president, a man who revered both God and country.
The rector, the Reverend John C. Harper, had preached to every president since Lyndon B. Johnson. On this Sunday, the Reverend Harper delivered a sermon about faith and about finding God's handiwork in ordinary things. He told a story about a sculptor who hammered and chiseled a large block of marble into a statue of Christ. When the sculptor was done, a young boy who had watched him at work asked, "Sir, tell me, how did you know there was a man in the marble?"
Then Harper made the message of his parable plain. "People have often asked that question of Christians who have seen God in Jesus Christ, in a stone statue, in a stained-glass window, in some human life," he said. " 'How did you know He was there?' "
The answer, Harper said, was faith.
Before and after Harper's sermon, the Naval Academy choir sang several hymns, which the president found inspiring. Later, writing in his diary, Reagan commented that the midshipmen "looked & sounded so right that you have to feel good about our country."
Just before noon, the Reagans returned to the White House, this time traveling in an armored limousine. They ate lunch, spent a bit of time rearranging the furniture in the Oval Office, and then retired to the residence.
Only two months into his tenure, Reagan—like every president— had an ambitious political and legislative agenda. But the next day, according to his schedule, would not be especially arduous. The only event of note was a trip to a downtown hotel for a twenty- minute speech to a trade union.
***The broad outlines of what happened the following day are well known. The president had just finished giving his speech when he was shot by a deranged gunman. He was rushed to a hospital and underwent surgery; by that evening, it was almost certain that he would live. In the hours and days after the shooting, Reagan's aides worked assiduously to assure the country that the president's life was never in real danger and that he would soon recover. Indeed, Reagan returned to the White House just twelve days after the assassination attempt and gave a stirring speech to Congress less than a month after leaving the hospital.
But much of what happened on March 30, 1981, was not revealed; most especially, the White House kept secret the fact that the president came very close to dying. Over the years, a number of details about that terrifying day have emerged, but only now—after many new interviews with participants and an extensive review of unreleased reports, closely held tape recordings, and private diaries—can the full story be told.
What is also clearer in retrospect is how crucial this moment was to Reagan's ultimate success. Before that day in 1981, the country had suffered through two difficult decades. No president since Eisenhower had served two full terms: Kennedy was slain; Johnson declined to seek a second full term after the debacle in Vietnam; Nixon was forced to resign in the wake of Watergate; Carter served just four years after becoming identified with the country's malaise. During the 1980 election, the nation was haunted by the Iranian hostage crisis, which spoke to deep-seated fears that the United States might be ungovernable or perhaps in irrecoverable decline. Partly out of frustration with politics as usual, voters turned to a former movie star who seemed to promise a fresh approach, even if he was sixty- nine years old when he took the oath of office.
Reagan had not gotten off to a strong start. In the two months following his inauguration, he was relentlessly criticized by Democrats for not caring about the poor, for proposing steep cuts in federal programs, and for sending military advisors to El Salvador, which, some felt, might become another Vietnam. By mid-March, he had the lowest approval rating of any modern president at a similar point in his term: during what should have been his postinauguration honeymoon, only 59 percent of Americans thought he was doing a good job. His commanding victory the previous November seemed all but forgotten, and White House officials and pollsters were preparing for more difficult days ahead.
All that changed on March 30. The news of the shooting stunned the country: teachers wheeled televisions into classrooms, praying citizens filled churches and synagogues, lawmakers darted into back rooms for updates on the president's condition. Only eighteen years after the assassination of President Kennedy, the United States once again teetered on the brink of tragedy. Instead, the nation witnessed triumph. A team of Secret Service agents saved Reagan's life at the scene of the shooting; in the hours that followed, a team of surgeons and nurses saved the president's life a second time.
The real hero of the day, though, was Reagan himself. In the most unscripted moment of his eight highly choreographed years in office, he gave the American people an indelible image of his character. In severe pain, he insisted on walking into the hospital under his own power. Throughout the medical ordeal that followed, he never lost his courage or his humor. The attempt on his life occurred just seventy days into his term, but more than any other incident during his years in the White House, it revealed Reagan's superb temperament, his extraordinary ability to project the qualities of a true leader, and his remarkable grace under pressure.
As the presidential limousine raced to the hospital on that terrible Monday in March, the Secret Service agents attending Reagan remained calm and methodical. Even in all the chaos, they never broke protocol by using the president's name when speaking over their radios. Instead, they referred to him by his code name, Rawhide. They used other code names as well: the limousine was Stagecoach; the command post at the White House was Horsepower; Nancy Reagan was Rainbow. At a time when radio traffic wasn't scrambled and anyone with a police scanner could eavesdrop on the movements of the president, the codes were an essential precaution.
Every modern president has been given a code name by the Secret Service. Some code names have been apt; some have not. John F. Kennedy was Lancer, a clear effort to evoke Camelot, the legend often associated with Kennedy. Reagan's predecessor, Jimmy Carter, was Deacon, an appropriate code name for a former Sunday school teacher and devout Christian. But neither Timberwolf (George H. W. Bush) nor Eagle (Bill Clinton) had any particular resonance.
Reagan's code name fit him well. It was first given to him in 1976, when the former California governor was assigned Secret Service protection during his unsuccessful attempt to win the Republican nomination. Because the military—which manages communications for the White House—is responsible for drawing up a list of potential code names, a
U.S. Army master sergeant was charged with the task of reviewing an inventory of available military call signs that could be used for Reagan. He thought Rawhide was suitable because the former actor had appeared in several westerns and was known to be a rancher. The sergeant chose a few other potential names and passed the list to the Secret Service, which made the final selection.
By all accounts, Reagan adored the moniker. For one thing, he saw himself as an outdoorsman; he spent much of his free time riding horses, cutting brush, and chopping wood on his picturesque California ranch. For another, he loved westerns. To his regret, he had rarely been given an opportunity to carry a six-shooter in a motion picture; years later, describing his conversations with the powerful head of the Warner Bros. studio, Reagan wrote, "I did wish Jack Warner would think of me on the back of a horse wearing a cowboy hat. . . . But when I'd ask Jack to put me in a western, he'd cast me in another movie in which I'd wear a gray- flannel suit."
Over time, Reagan's code name seemed to become ever more appropriate. As conjured by Hollywood—and there can be no discussion of Reagan's presidency without reference to the movies—the ideal cowboy is a tough but good- hearted loner who fights only when he has to and always for the right reasons. More than two decades after his time in office, Reagan fits that description remarkably well. Exuding rugged individualism, he helped spark the mode...
Product details
- ASIN : B00AK3M7BM
- Publisher : Picador; Reprint edition (March 27, 2012)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 320 pages
- Item Weight : 13.6 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.13 x 0.88 x 9.27 inches
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Soon after Del Quentin Wilber got his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism in 1997, he stumbled on his first big story: a massive fish kill in the waterways of Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Living out of a suitcase and writing in drab motel rooms for days on end, Wilber tromped along muddy shorelines, reeked of dead fish, watched fellow reporters become sick with inexplicable illnesses—and immediately knew that there was no other job he’d rather be doing.
A recovering former collegiate baseball player, Wilber joined the staff of The Baltimore Sun after landing one of the Sun’s prestigious two-year internships. Before long, he was given a full-time position covering crime in a suburban bureau, and in 2001 the paper’s editors tapped him to cover crime in the city. His reporting on wrongdoing by Baltimore’s police chief led to the chief’s conviction on corruption charges and a stint in federal prison. In 2002, Wilber led the paper’s coverage of the D.C. sniper shootings, which later was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Wilber’s work as a police reporter received national recognition when he won the Al Nakkula Award for Police Reporting in 2004
Wilber joined the staff of the Washington Post in 2004 as the D.C. police reporter. He soon gained the trust of the police department’s top officers as well as numerous cops on the street, which ultimately allowed him to gain unusual access to the inner workings of the department. In numerous stories for the Post, Wilber explored the life of police officers and detectives as they investigated homicides and tried to solve cold cases, car thefts and burglaries.
In 2006, he became the paper’s national aviation writer. Long fascinated by airplanes and aviation, Wilber covered plane crashes, flight delays, and aviation safety and security issues. To better understand the industry, he also became a licensed private pilot. After being promoted by the paper to cover the federal courts, he chronicled the trial of former Senator Ted Stevens and wrote about the complicated issues surrounding the detainees at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He got the idea to write Rawhide Down shortly after attending a hearing for John W. Hinckley Jr. and being handed the would-be assassin’s gun by an FBI agent who kept it in his drawer.
As a boy in Massachusetts, Wilber became obsessed with the Boston Red Sox, in part because his grandfather, Del Wilber, played for the Red Sox as a back-up catcher in the 1950s. He later moved with his family to Northern Virginia and attended Georgetown Preparatory School. He now lives in the Washington area with his wife, NPR correspondent Laura Sullivan, and their two sons, Quentin and Ryan.
Wilber is often asked why he uses his middle name in his byline, and the simple answer is that he’s proud of it. The name goes back four generations to his great-grandfather’s decision to give his son that middle name in honor of President Theodore Roosevelt’s youngest child, who died in World War I while serving as a fighter pilot. Wilber, a history buff who often watches documentaries while simultaneously reading a nonfiction book, couldn’t resist carrying on the tradition with his own son.
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The narrative is both gripping and informative, reconstructing the sequence of events leading up to the assassination attempt, the immediate aftermath, and the subsequent investigation.
One of the book's greatest strengths is its ability to capture the human side of the story. Wilber delves into the personal experiences of the individuals involved, from the Secret Service agents who protected Reagan to the medical personnel who fought to save his life. Through their accounts, the book highlights the extraordinary bravery, quick thinking, dedication, and professionalism of those who worked to save Reagan's life (and the other men shot) that day.
The book also explores the impact of the assassination attempt on Reagan's presidency and his subsequent rise in popularity, shaping the trajectory of American politics in the years that followed.
The writing style is engaging and accessible, making it easy for both history enthusiasts and casual readers to immerse themselves in the story. The book strikes a balance between providing factual accuracy and keeping the narrative compelling, ensuring that readers remain captivated from start to finish.
The author did those topics justice, but what I found most interesting and unusual about this book was the way he explained every medical procedure so clearly. I hope he will write more books where he describes important medical procedures in such clear and understandable detail because he did such a good job with it.
Another fascinating part of this book was the author's access to and use of tapes made by Richard Allen in the (real) Situation Room at the White House on the day Pres. Reagan was shot. We all remember Alexander Haig's public statement about being "in charge", but to read word for word the back story and learn that Haig's colleagues in the cabinet were rolling their eyes at him, much like the world was, lets us all be flies on the wall.
One small suggestion for future editions: As i was reading the Situation Room stuff, I realized that the author was using real quotes (which seemed curious and made me wonder if the room was bugged); it wasn't until pages later [and then again at the end of the book] that he explained that Allen had taped the events of that day. I suggest that in the next edition the taping be explained when the first quotes appear.
It also annoyed me (& perhaps this is generational) that the author tried to make the identity of the girl in the photos in Hinckley's wallet a mystery when we all know, or at least i think we all know, that they were of Jodie Foster. So I found that literary device kind of insulting to my intelligence.
That said, this book amazes because in just over 200 pages of easy reading, the author packed in so many facts, many of which were previously unknown to me (like the many funny things Reagan said at the hospital, beyond the "Honey, I forgot to duck" which we all heard about at the time) and, again, because of his vivid depiction of the palace intrigue going on back at the White House while Reagan lay in the hospital.
So, my two very minor complaints (both of which could be cured in future editions, hint, hint) should not detract from my complete endorsement of this tome as a terrific accomplishment and a great read.
I knew only the most basic of outlines of this incident; mostly only from what I remember seeing in the video of it and that Reagan was eventually fine. This book goes into great detail
I like the way the writer structures the story. He moves along the timeline and tells the story from the point of view of several different types of people - the Secret Service, Reagan and his aides, the vice president (Bush), the first lady, etc. It provided a nice view of the inner workings. The logistics that go into carting the president around are rather shocking. I don't know how people don't burn out.
In any event, it reads as a thriller and my apprehension kept mounting as I was reading. I think that's a rather good hallmark of a writer - he can keep the suspense going even though you know how it eventually ends. The book covers the events starting on the Sunday before the event, all the way through it and then what happened to all the personalities afterwards.
The author does spend a great deal of time detailing Reagan's experience in the hospital in the mid part of the book. Some people may find this a bit tedious but I actually enjoyed reading about that kind of stuff (how to get a bullet out, how to perform surgery, the doctors' personalities, etc.). It moved along pretty well and still kept up that tension.
The only real criticism I had was that the author is obviously a Reagan fan and spends quite a few pages detailing how much he loves him. I get suspicious of any book that has an obvious bias because it makes me think that the point of view of the rest of the book would probably be suspect as well. However, once the author got into the nitty-gritty of the incident, he treated all the players pretty objectively and got away from the Reagan bias. The author had good and bad things to say about everybody involved (loved the descriptions of Alexander Haig - the author is not a fan of his). And for the record, I'm a conservative so if I think there's an obvious bias towards Reagan, that's pretty bad :).
All in all, I was satisfied that I didn't waste my money on the book and I can see myself rereading it in a couple of years.
I would definitely recommend.
Top reviews from other countries
いい本だと思います。今まではノンフィクションはあまり読んだことがなかったのですが、
面白いなと思って読んでいます。読書の秋を堪能しています。
The bravery of various members of the security detail and the expertise of the surgeons and nursing staff at the hospital are also,quite rightly,noted in detail.
The book is well written and fast paced and is altogether a fascinating and engrossing read. Typically,there are some nice instances of the President's humour;none more so than immediately prior to the operation to locate and remove the bullet when the President removed the surgical mask and said that he hoped all the medical staff were Republicans.In a room filled with Democratic supporters the leading surgeon and fervent Democrat found a wonderful response "Today,Mr.President we are all Republicans".I heartily recomend this book to all interested in modern America.