Reagan survived an assassination attempt and his response changed the trajectory of his presidency

WASHINGTON (AP) — The would-be assassin got off six shots in 1.7 seconds, nearly taking the life of a president and changing the trajectory of a presidency.

It happened on a dreary March afternoon in 1981. President Ronald Reagan was leaving the Washington Hilton hotel after giving a speech to a union group when John W. Hinckley Jr. opened fire from his .22-caliber revolver.

At the sound of the gunshots, Secret Service agents swarmed, and one of them shoved the president into the waiting limousine — but not before one of the bullets struck home, hitting Reagan in his side.

What transpired over the next few hours became the stuff of presidential and political legend. The life of the 70-year-old president was saved by the quick actions of his lead Secret Service agent, as well as the skill of medical personnel at George Washington University Hospital. Reagan’s courage over those tense hours further cemented his relationship — and political standing — with the American public and changed the way he approached the job over the next eight years.

On the surface the parallels between 1981 and what happened Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, when a gunman fired shots at former President Donald Trump, are striking. A gunman got off several shots as Trump was addressing a rally crowd, and Trump was struck in the right ear. Trump ducked behind a lectern as agents piled on top of him as human shields. In what is sure to be an iconic moment, a bloodied Trump raised a defiant fist to the crowd as agents whisked the presumptive Republican presidential candidate off the stage.

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