分节阅读 Table of contents

• 1.Hollywood Life

  • The fairy tale began in Hollywood. Reagan was meeting with an agent who arranged a screen test for the handsome young man. The test eventually made its way to Jack Warner, the powerful head of Warner Brothers Pictures. He liked what he saw and offered Reagan a seven-year contract at two hundred dollars a week— almost three times what he was making at WHO. A hair stylist transforms Reagan’s center-parted look into the trademark pompadour he would wear the rest of his life.
    
    By December 1938, Jane Wyman had officially divorced Myron Futterman and taken up with Reagan. They soon became Hollywood’s golden couple, “wholesome and happy and utterly completely American.” Wyman and Reagan were married in January 1940, shortly before Reagan began filming Knute Rockne, All American with Pat O’Brien.
    
    Just four short years after breaking into Hollywood, Ronald Reagan was now a major star. He and Wyman soon built a massive new house and spent their evenings at the best Hollywood nightclubs.
    
    However, this marriage didn’t last long. Jane Wyman was not impressed when friends suggested that Reagan, who was developing a fondness for political activism, run for Congress. In May 1948, Jane Wyman filed for divorce from Ronald Reagan, citing mental cruelty.
     
    During his early life, there was another woman in Reagan’s life. It was during the time he was in the U.S. Army. In June 1945, he sent a photographer to a local aircraft factory to take pictures of women working in war production. Private David Conover, using color film, a rarity at the time, snapped the indelible image of an eighteen-year-old brunette holding a small propeller. The wife of a young merchant seaman, the fetching girl was earning twenty dollars a week inspecting parachutes at a company named Radioplane, which also made some of the world’s first drone aircraft. She had a wholesome smile, wore a modest green blouse, and clipped her factory ID badge to the waistband of her pleated gray skirt. Her name was Norma Jeane Dougherty, and those photographs would soon open the doors of Hollywood to her. Eventually, Norma Jeane would divorce her sailor husband and change her name to soon become one of the most famous women in the world. As his own career was on the verge of exploding, Ronald Reagan was directly responsible for initiating the fame of Marilyn Monroe.

• 2.Enter Politics

  • Reagan began his political career as a Democrat. He gained national attention in his speeches for conservative presidential contender Barry Goldwater in 1964. Speaking for Goldwater, Reagan stressed his belief in the importance of smaller government. He argued in "A Time for Choosing”: The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that; it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing....You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream – the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order – or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism." This "A Time for Choosing" speech was not enough to turn around the faltering Goldwater campaign, but it was the key event that established Reagan's national political visibility.
    
    California Republicans were impressed with Reagan's political views and charisma. After his "Time for Choosing" speech, he announced in late 1965 his campaign for Governor of California in 1966. However, becoming governor was not what Reagan truly wanted. He had a bigger plan: the California governorship was just a stepping-stone that would lead him to the ultimate goal –  being the president of the United States.
    
    On November 4, 1980, the landslide was so great that Jimmy Carter conceded the election before the polls even closed in California. He phoned his Republican opponent at home to give him the news. It was Nancy Reagan who answered the phone. Her astrologer had predicted that she and her husband were in for a long night of awaiting returns. But the stargazer was wrong. Therefore, the call at 5:35 p.m. was such a surprise. At that time, Ronald Reagan was in the shower. Nancy called him to the phone. He stepped out half-naked and reached for the phone. “Standing in my bathroom with a wrapped towel around me, my hair dripping with water,” Reagan will later recall, “I had just learned I was going to be the fortieth President of the United States.”

• 3.John W. Hinckley, Jr.

  • John W. Hinckley, Jr., was born May 29, 1955 in Ardmore, Oklahoma, and moved with his family to Dallas, Texas, at the age of four. In 1975 he went to Los Angeles in the hope of becoming a songwriter. His efforts were unsuccessful, and he wrote to his parents with tales of misfortune and pleas for money. He also spoke of a girlfriend, Lynn Collins, who turned out to be a fabrication. In September 1976, he returned to his parents' home in Evergreen. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, Hinckley began purchasing weapons and practicing with them. He was prescribed anti-depressants and tranquilizers to deal with emotional issues.
    
    In the summer 1976, just fifteen miles from the home of Ronald and Nancy Reagan, John Hinckley Jr. sat alone in an aging movie palace watching a new film called Taxi Driver. It’s a motion picture Hinckley will eventually see more than fifteen times. The twenty-one-year-old drifter, who continued to put on weight, wore an army surplus jacket and combat boots, just like the film’s main character, Travis Bickle. Hinckley’s hair was now down to his shoulders, and his breath smelled of peach brandy.
    
    Hinckley had developed an infatuation with actress Jodie Foster, who played a child prostitute in Taxi Driver.. When Foster entered Yale University, Hinckley moved to New Haven, Connecticut, for a short time to stalk her. But rather than find the attention romantic, Foster was disturbed. She told Hinckley he was rude and dangerous, and ordered him never to call her again.
    
    Initially, Hinckley was devastated. He attempted suicide by swallowing antidepressants but failed. Rather than try again, Hinckley vowed to renew his pursuit of Foster by imitating Travis Bickle’s strategy for romancing women: political assassination.

• 4.A Letter from the Murderer

  • On March 30, 1981 at 9 a.m., John Hinckley had not slept well the previous night, troubled by how to play out his Jodie Foster obsession once and for all. Money was also on his mind. Once again, Hinckley was almost broke. After spending $47 on his room for the night, and then spending a dollar for breakfast, he had less than $130 to his name. This was barely enough for a ticket back home to Denver, but John Hinckley did not care. He would never return to that home again.
    
    On his way to breakfast, Hinckley turned into the local Crown Books. He browsed around looking for literature about his two favorite topics: the Beatles and political assassination. But little interested Hinckley this morning. He left the bookstore, crossed the street to McDonald’s, ordered an Egg McMuffin, and sat down in a booth to plan his day. He would either take the train to New Haven and shoot himself dead in front of Jodie Foster, or he would murder Ted Kennedy, if only to add his name to the notorious list of assassins who had stalked and killed a member of that political dynasty. If that target was not available, he might enter the U.S. Senate chamber and try to kill as many lawmakers as possible. And there was one other scenario in Hinckley’s mind: assassinating President Ronald Reagan.
    
    “It was in the shower,” he would later explain, “that I debated whether to detour to the Hilton or go up to New Haven. I was thinking should I go over to the Hilton with my little pistol and see how close I could … well, see what the scene was like.” Hinckley rinsed off the soap and turned off the water. His mind was made up. He was going to the Hilton. There was no guarantee he would fire his gun that afternoon, but if he did get close enough to squeeze off a round, John Hinckley wanted Jodie Foster to know he was doing it for her. He sat down at a small wooden desk and composed a letter to his beloved:
    
    “Dear Jodie,” he wrote. “There is a definite possibility I will be killed in my attempt to get Reagan. This is why I am writing you this letter now. As you well know by now I love you very much. Over the past seven months I’ve left you dozens of poems, letters and love messages in the faint hope that you could develop an interest in me. Although we talked on the phone a couple of times, I never had the nerve to simply approach you and introduce myself. Besides my shyness, I honestly did not wish to bother you with my constant presence. I know the many messages left at your door and in your mailbox were a nuisance, but I felt that it was the most painless way for me to express my love for you. I feel very good about the fact that you at least know my name and how I feel about you. And by hanging around your dormitory, I’ve come to realize that I’m the topic of more than a little conversation, however full of ridicule it may be. At least you know that I’ll always love you. Jodie, I would abandon the idea of getting Reagan in a second if I could only win your heart and live out the rest of my life with you, whether it is in total obscurity or whatever. I will admit to you that the reason I’m going ahead with this attempt now is because I cannot wait any longer to impress you. I’ve got to do something now to make you understand, in no uncertain terms, that I’m doing all of this for your sake! By sacrificing my freedom and possibly my life, I hope to change your mind about me. This letter is being written only an hour before I leave for the Hilton Hotel. Jodie, I’m asking you to please look into your heart and at least give me the chance, with this historical deed, to gain your respect and love. I love you forever— John Hinckley.”
    
    After he signed his name, John Hinckley headed to meet President Reagan. The time was 1:46 pm.

• 5.The Terrifying Moment

  • The time was 2:27 pm. John Hinckley could see Ronald Reagan clearly. Just as he had done so many times at the firing range, Hinckley grasped the butt of the pistol with two hands for maximum stability. He bended his knees and dropped into a shooter’s crouch, then extended both arms and pulled the trigger.
    
    The first bullet hit James Brady square in the head, just above the left eye. He fell face-first to the sidewalk, his blood dripping through a sidewalk grate.
    
    The second shot struck Washington Metro police officer Thomas K. Delahanty in the neck, ricocheting off his spine and lodging against the spinal column. He fell to the ground in agony, screaming.
    
    The third shot went wild, hitting no one.
    
    The fourth shot struck Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy in the torso. He too fell to the sidewalk, seriously wounded with a bullet lodged in his liver.
    
    The fifth shot bounced off the limousine.
    
    The sixth also hit the Lincoln, but ricocheted— piercing Ronald Reagan’s body under his left arm. The bullet entered his lung, coming to rest just one inch from his heart. It took just 1.7 seconds for Hinckley to fire all six Devastators. The president of the United States staggered.
    
    After shooting, Hinckley did not try to flee and was arrested at the scene. All of the shooting victims survived.

• 6.The Real Hero

  • Even though the President recovered physically and mentally from the shooting quickly, his health condition was deteriorating gradually. Everyone noticed this, but no one dared to say anything.
    
    On January 20, 2001, Nancy Reagan sat in a chair next to her husband’s hospital bed, watching a new president being sworn in. Ronald Reagan also watched the ceremony, completely unaware that he had taken that same oath twenty years ago today. There was a faraway look in his eyes as he gazed at the television. It had been seven years since the Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Reagan would turn ninety in two weeks. But he was unaware of his physical condition. He also did not even recognize his own wife.
    
    The Reagans’ good friend Jimmy Stewart once noted that if “Nancy had been Ron’s first wife instead of his second, he would have been a real star in Hollywood, with a couple of Oscars to show for it.” Instead, Nancy guided him to the presidency. “As much as I love Ronnie,” she writes, “I’ll admit he does have at least one fault: He can be naive about the people around him. Ronnie only tends to think well of people. While that’s a fine quality in a friend, it can get you into trouble in politics.” In this way, Nancy Reagan had a hand in changing the world.
    
    Now, as Nancy and her Ronnie watched the presidential inauguration just hours before Reagan would be released from the hospital, her commitment to him continued. Since the fall, he never left the house anymore, other than on those occasions when he was placed in a wheelchair and rolled outside to the patio.
    
    It is a tedious life for Nancy. She remains at her husband’s side night and day, leaving only occasionally to have a Cobb salad and chocolate chip cookies with friends at the nearby Hotel Bel-Air. “It’s lonely,” Nancy will tell Mike Wallace in a rare televised interview for 60 Minutes. “When you come right down to it, you’re in it alone. And there’s nothing that anybody can do for you.”
    
    But Nancy Reagan would not say good-bye to her husband. Throughout his decade of decline, she tended to him as if he were still sound of body and mind. Nancy still slept in their bed, keeping as many traditions alive as possible. From the day they met in 1949, she made it her mission to marry Ronald Reagan and then mold him into the man she thought he could be. She endured years of scathing attacks, all because of her loyalty to her husband. Even in the midst of what doctors were calling “continual neurological degradation,” Nancy protected the former president. No outsiders were allowed to see him, only family. Right to the end, she was managing the legacy of Ronald Reagan, even as she struggled to imagine life without him. “He’s there,” she once told an interviewer, explaining why she could not say good-bye to this man with whom she’d shared a wondrous lifelong journey. “He’s there.” Two days later, on June 5, 2004, a sobbing Nancy finally acknowledged the reality: Ronald Reagan was gone.

关于本书 About the book

Just two months into his presidency, Ronald Reagan lay near death after a gunman's bullet came within inches of his heart. His recovery was nothing short of remarkable -- or so it seemed. But Reagan was grievously injured, forcing him to encounter a challenge that few men ever face. Could he silently overcome his traumatic experience while at the same time carrying out the duties of the most powerful man in the world?

Told in the same riveting fashion as Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Killing Jesus, and Killing Patton, Killing Reagan reaches back to the golden days of Hollywood, where Reagan found both fame and heartbreak, up through the years in the California governor's mansion, and finally to the White House, where he presided over boom years and the fall of the Iron Curtain. But it was John Hinckley Jr.'s attack on him that precipitated President Reagan's most heroic actions. In Killing Reagan, O'Reilly and Dugard take readers behind the scenes, creating an unforgettable portrait of a great man operating in violent times.

本书金句 Key insights

● Reagan has come to believe that less governmental interference is the best path for America.

● For the rest of his life, Ronald Reagan will be vehemently anti-communist. For him, it is very personal: he will never forget the threats.

● Reagan does not really care what other people think. He confidently marches ahead, rarely showing any self-doubt.

● Afraid of flying, Reagan travels the country by train and then takes time to speak with and listen to each employee he meets.