John Hinckley

43 Years Since Reagan Assassination Threat, And Dangers Ahead!

admin Leave a comment

It has been 43 years since the last direct threat against an American President.

Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley on March 30, 1981, and miraculously survived and recovered, although many observers think his later diagnosis of Alzheimers Disease may have been related to that shooting.

There have been threats against Presidents and other top government officials in the four decades since, thankfully without the kind of horrible experience that Reagan went through.

But the levels of verbal violence and threats has grown exponentially, and now Donald Trump has used violent rhetoric, incitig his supporters and threatening Joe Biden, federal judges, and others, claiming “freedom of speech”.

But “freedom of speech’ does have its limits, and there is a need to make that clear to Donald Trump and everyone else, on all sides of the political spectrum, that using incendiary rhetoric could lead to prosecution and imprisonment!

The fact that we have gone through the longest period of no turnover in the Presidency, and that the 25th Amendment has only been used twice, in 1973 and 1974, is a warning of the growing reality that the nation is likely to face growing odds of a transition that we have not faced in a half century since 1973-1974.

So the office of the Vice Presidency is more significant than ever, moving forward!

35 Years Since Last Direct Assassination Attempt–When Will Next Occur?

Ronald Leave a comment

35 years ago, President Ronald Reagan was shot and seriously wounded by John Hinckley.

There have been assassination threats against every President since then, but none eyeball to eyeball.

One has to wonder in the midst of the political maelstrom that we are in during this election year of 2016, when the next such direct threat will occur.

Already, there have been reported threats against Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

With the reckless rhetoric of Donald Trump in particular, but also other Presidential candidates, the danger of a serious assassination attempt or success has grown dramatically.

One has to hope and pray that nothing will happen, but this blogger has written on thehill.com and on History News Network (hnn.us) of his fear of a tragic event occurring.  Just by the fact that we have had no direct threat in 35 years, after so many between 1963 and 1981, makes one wonder about the odds catching up toward doom!

 

 

The “What Ifs” Of The Vice Presidency And Succession To The Presidency!

Ronald Leave a comment

The “What If”s of history are a topic that continues to fascinate, such as Jeff Greenfield’s new book on a second term in the Presidency of John F. Kennedy, had he not been assassinated.

There are so many examples of situations where a Vice President could have become President, and the fortunes of history did not make that work out. And twice, the President Pro Tempore of the Senate could have become President, as next in line, and with no Vice President at the time of the situation!

A total of 15 circumstances could have occurred, as follows:

John Tyler came close to being killed on the USS Princeton on a Potomac River trip on February 28, 1844, when an explosion occurred, killing the Secretary of State and Secretary of the Navy, but Tyler was unhurt. Had he died, and with no Vice President, as Tyler had succeeded William Henry Harrison in 1841, the President of the United States Senate would have been President Pro Tempore Senator Willie P. Mangum of North Carolina, a Whig Party member..

James K. Polk had constant intestinal ailments during his one term in office from 1845-1849, and chose not to run again, and died 103 days after his Presidency. Had he died during the term, Vice President George M. Dallas would have been President.

If Abraham Lincoln had been assassinated in his first term, rather than his second, Vice President Hannibal Hamlin would have been President, and Andrew Johnson would not have been President.

If Andrew Johnson had been convicted on impeachment charges in 1868, President Pro Tempore Benjamin Wade, Senator from Ohio, would have been President.

If Grover Cleveland, who had surgery for jaw cancer in 1893, had died, Vice President Adlai Stevenson I, the grandfather of the two time Democratic nominee for President in 1952 and 1956, would have been President.

If William McKinley’s first term Vice President, Garret Hobart, had not died in 1899, he likely would have been Vice President in the second term, when McKinley was assassinated in 1901, and Hobart would have been President, and Theodore Roosevelt would not have been President.

If Woodrow Wilson, having suffered a paralytic stroke which limited his ability to do his job for the last 18 months of his Presidency, had either died or resigned, Vice President Thomas Marshall would have been President.

If Franklin D. Roosevelt had been killed in an assassination attempt 17 days before his Presidency began, John Nance Garner would have been President.

If Franklin D. Roosevelt had not “dumped” Vice President Henry A. Wallace for his fourth term, Wallace would have been President, and not Harry Truman.

If Harry Truman had been successfully assassinated in a 1950 attempt, Vice President Alben Barkley would have been President.

If Gerald Ford had been a victim in either assassination attempt against him in September 1975, Vice President Nelson Rockefeller would have been President.

If Jimmy Carter had been the victim of John Hinckley, who stalked him at a campaign event in October 1980, the same person who attempted to assassinate Ronald Reagan less than six months later, Vice President Walter Mondale would have been President.

If George H. W. Bush had died of an atrial fibrillation during his term, Vice President Dan Quayle would have been President.

If Bill Clinton had been removed on impeachment charges or resigned during the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Vice President Al Gore would have been President.

And if George W. Bush had been shot down by terrorists on September 11, 2001, Vice President Dick Cheney would have been President

Try to imagine Andrew Johnson, Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman NOT being Presidents!

And imagine Presidents Willie P. Mangum, George M. Dallas, Hannibal Hamlin, Benjamin Wade, Adlai Stevenson I, Garret Hobart, Thomas Marshall, John Nance Garner, Henry A. Wallace, Alben Barkley, Nelson Rockefeller, Walter Mondale, Dan Quayle, Al Gore and Dick Cheney as Presidents of the United States, which would have meant, instead of nine Vice Presidents succeeding to the Presidency during a term, it could have been 19 Vice Presidents out of 44, nearly half (leaving out Vice Presidents Andrew Johnson, Theodore Roosevelt and Harry Truman from the list of 47 Vice Presidents)! Plus two Presidents Pro Tempore of the Senate would have been President!

Two Heroines Of Gun Control: Senator Diane Feinstein And Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy!

Ronald Leave a comment

This nation is fortunate to have two heroines in Congress, ready to fight for realistic gun control in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook Elementary School Massacre in Connecticut.

Senator Diane Feinstein of California and New York Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy have both known what gun violence has done, and how it has affected their lives.

Senator Feinstein became Mayor of San Francisco in 1978, after the assassination of gay Councilman Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone, and she fought for the Brady Bill’s passage in 1993-1994, named after the press secretary to President Ronald Reagan, wounded during the attempt against the President’s life in 1981 by John Hinckley. She achieved the impossible two decades ago, and the Brady Bill remained law until 2004, when President George W. Bush refused to support an extension of this gun control law. Feinstein is now willing to lead the fight for an equivalent ban nine years after the last one expired, with the horrible record of violence ever since, much of it with assault rifles and vast magazines of ammunition, something that no hunter, and no civilian, needs!

Congresswoman McCarthy lost her husband in 1993, due to violence on the Long Island Railroad, and nearly lost her son, who needed many months of rehabilitation. She lobbied for the Brady Bill, ultimately signed by President Bill Clinton, and ultimately ran against the Long Island Republican Congressman Dan Frisa when he refused to support the Brady Bill, and was elected in 1996. She has made it clear that she intends to fight for another Brady Bill, alongside Feinstein and other courageous men and women in the House and Senate, including New York Senator Chuck Schumer, who worked on the Brady Bill in the House back in 1993-1994.

These two women are indeed true heroines, and let’s hope they can accomplish their goal of a safer America, as we cannot continue to live in a nation where 11,000 to 12,000 men, women, and children are killed annually by gun violence!

Rocker Ted Nugent, Mitt Romney, And Threats Against Barack Obama

Ronald 3 Comments

Ted Nugent is a long time singer and musician, defined as a hard rocker and hevy metal musician, performing since age 10 in 1958.

Nugent has been a great influence on others in the hard rock and heavy metal music business, and has become well known for his conservative views on politics and public affairs over his long career.

Nugent is certainly entitled to have his views and to express them, but as with any public figure, and really any person, there is such a thing as going too far, if one threatens anyone, and particularly a public figure, and most significantly the President of the United States, whoever he happens to be.

In other words, there is the concept of “clear and present danger’, which allows government to prosecute anyone who threatens the breakdown of law and order, the promotion of bloodshed and violence and anarchy by one’s use of language.

Ted Nugent has reached that level of objectionable and dangerous language, and is being investigated, appropriately, by the Secret Service.

What did Nugent say?

At the National Rifle Association conference this past weekend in St. Louis, Missouri, Nugent said that if Barack Obama is reelected, he (Nugent) will either be dead or in prison. He spoke to a group of mostly young men, riling them up, by talking about decapitating Barack Obama and calling him a piece of excrement. He also bitterly criticized Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and Attorney General Eric Holder, and used threatening language against them.

One could sense that Nugent was provoking these gun enthusiasts with feverish language against the Commander in Chief, and could certainly have the effect of making some young man, similar to John Hinckley, Arthur Bremer, or Lee Harvey Oswald, be motivated by the comments of this famous rock star to attempt to bring harm against President Obama, or actually assassinate him, which would be a horrible tragedy beyond belief.

Mitt Romney has been endorsed by Ted Nugent, but he needs to make a clear statement of condemnation of Nugent, and repudiate his endorsement, as who would seriously wish to have the backing of an unstable public figure who, despite his right to criticize, shows a total lack of respect for the office of President, if not the individual in that office.

But don’t bet on Romney taking a principled stand, as he has failed to do that constantly during his political career.

Should John Hinckley Be Rewarded With More Freedom And Eventual Parole? NO! Should Sirhan Sirhan Be Allowed Parole? NO!

Ronald Leave a comment

Two infamous assassination efforts against a President and a Presidential candidate, with one person being in a mental hospital and the other in a prison for a long time, has led to these individuals applying for more freedom and less control, and for parole, respectively. Neither should be allowed to win his case!

John Hinckley, who shot President Ronald Reagan on March 30, 1981, has already been allowed the right to visit his family and stay away from the mental hospital under family supervision for periods of time, but now wants no supervision and less monitoring, and as much as 24 days away from the hospital at a time. This should NOT be allowed in any form! Nancy Reagan opposed the amount of freedom he has already been granted, and she is absolutely correct in her feelings!

Sirhan Sirhan, the assassin of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, who was considered a likely winner of the Democratic nomination for President in 1968 had he lived, and thought to have been likely to have defeated Richard Nixon for the Presidency, has applied for parole. But the heinous act that he engaged in on June 5. 1968, should NOT be excused to allow him freedom at any time!

When an assassin tries to kill, or succeeds in murdering a President, or a Presidential candidate, he or she should lose his or her right to freedom at any point, because this is not just a murder, but affects the history of the country! One does the crime, one pays the time in loss of freedom forever!

The 30th Anniversary Of The Attempted Assassination Of Ronald Reagan: A Time To Reconsider Stronger Gun Control Laws!

Ronald 2 Comments

Today, March 30, thirty years ago, after only ten weeks in office, President Ronald Reagan was subjected to an assassination attempt by John Hinckley.

Reagan was seriously wounded, and without the wonders of modern medicine, would have died after what would have been the second shortest term of a President in American history, only surpassed by William Henry Harrison, who died of pneumonia from cold weather conditions on Inauguration Day, exactly one month after he became President in 1841.

Reagan is also the only President ever shot who would recover from his wounds, although former President Theodore Roosevelt, shot while campaigning for election as a Progressive in 1912 after his time in office, also recovered from his wounds.

Reagan’s shooting demonstrated the chaos and anarchy that can happen for a period of time after such a tragic event, with no one really sure who was in charge in the moments after the assassination, due to Vice President George H W Bush traveling overseas at the time, and Secretary of State Alexander Haig claiming he was in charge, when actually Speaker of the House Thomas (Tip) O’Neill technically was next in line, but Bush able to act from afar, not having to be present in the nation to be in charge.

Press Secretary James Brady suffered much greater wounds than Reagan, who fully recovered, although some wonder if he suffered mental damage that led to his later Alzheimers diagnosis after leaving the Presidency. But Brady suffered major brain damage, was paralyzed and forced to spend his life in a wheelchair, and even today, speaks in a distorted manner. But his wife, Sarah, is a true example of a loyal wife, who has stuck through thick and thin with her husband, an example of true love!

The Brady Bill for gun control finally resulted in the Clinton Administration, but was not renewed ten years later during the Bush Administration, and we have seen the dangers of lack of gun control, with the recent attempted assassination of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona in January.

We need President Obama to speak up on this issue in a much more forceful manner, and of course, we know that the National Rifle Association and the Republican Party will fight any attempt at gun control, but this is a moral cause, and the memory today of how we almost lost our 40th President thirty years ago today should sustain us in this fight!

Ron Reagan Vs. Michael Reagan On The Historic Image Of Ronald Reagan: A Family Feud!

Ronald Leave a comment

Next month, on February 6, the nation will commemorate the centennial of the birth of President Ronald Reagan.

Sadly, his two sons by different marriages–Michael, adopted by Reagan and Jane Wyman–and Ron, born to Reagan and Nancy Davis–have been bitter enemies since the former President’s death, as they both fight over his legacy.

Michael is a right wing talk show host, and Ron is a left wing talk show host, and both have now written books about their dad. But Ron has not treated his father with total adulation, but has instead demonstrated his love and admiration while seeing shortcomings, such as his belief that his dad may have shown signs of mental disabilities, as in the debate with Walter Mondale in the Presidential campaign of 1984. Also, Ron pointed out in his book that his father may have suffered from deficits due to his advancing age and also from being shot by John Hinckley in 1981, the only time a President was shot in office and recovered to serve his full term in office.

Ron presents Reagan realistically, but Michael condemns him in bitter terms as just trying to make money on a book, as if Michael is not out to make money with many irresponsible statements over the years on his talk show.

Instead, Michael wants to paint his dad as somehow incapable of shortcomings and perfect in every way, a totally unrealistic portrayal! Michael comes across as petty, nasty, and refusing to realize that his dad would not like the trend of the Republican party, were he alive today, unlike Michael, who has no problem with the mean spirit of the GOP in 2011! 🙁

If one wants a sympathetic and realistic appraisal of the 40th President of the United States from a family member, read Ron Reagan’s memoir and ignore Michael Reagan’s propagandistic view of his father!