40 years ago this week, a young would-be assassin put a bullet in President Ronald Reagan.
The man whose quick thinking likely saved the president’s life was Jerry Parr, a member of Mr. Reagan’s Secret Service detail that day outside the Washington Hilton Hotel.
Before anyone was aware that one of John Hinckley jr. shots had actually hit the president, Jerry Parr recognized something was seriously wrong, and he ordered the president’s driver to head straight to the hospital.
The president arrived at the hospital just in time. He collapsed inside the door, and was rushed into surgery.
I met Jerry Parr in 2013. He and his wife Carolyn had written a book about that day, and about their lives before and after the assassination attempt.
And as you’re about to hear, Carolyn Parr made what I guess Hollywood would call a cameo appearance at the Reagan shooting scen
So here now, from 2013, Jerry Parr.
Jerry Parr died just two years after our interview. He was 85.