Add The California Post on Google President Ronald Reagan was famous for many things, including: having the gumption to stare down the Soviet Union, helping bring the Cold War to an end, and living to tell of an assassin’s bullet.
In all three of those cases, Reagan’s most powerful weapons were not limited to the US military arsenal.
They also included his trademark California charm.
A new revelation has come more than 40 years after John Hinckley Jr. shot President Reagan outside of the Washington Hilton.
The near-assassination has been in the news due to the attack at the White House correspondents dinner this summer, where President Donald Trump and his Cabinet members were targeted at the same hotel as Reagan.
In light of those events, Hinckley, who was released from a mental institution in 2022, recently sat down with Mark Joseph, podcast host and the producer of the biopic movie “Reagan,” which will be re-released on Sept. 25 in honor of America’s 250th birthday.
What Hinckley shared during the interview is shocking — yet shouldn’t be surprising.
Hinckley admits he passed up the first opportunity to take what would have likely been a fatal shot at Reagan as he entered the hotel on that fateful day, March 30, 1981.
Because Reagan actually smiled and waved to Hinckley in a small group of bystanders who were there to catch a glimpse of the Hollywood-actor-turned-president.
The flash of that trademark Reagan smile caught Hinckley off guard.
As a result, the would-be assassin then had to wait for Reagan to exit the hotel to take another shot at him. Even though Hinckley finally got his opportunity, the shot wasn’t all that clean — he couldn’t take Reagan completely out. In fact, he ended up hitting other members of the security entourage as a result; namely, then-press secretary James Brady, Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy, and DC police officer Thomas Delahanty.
Remarkably, Reagan’s split-second decision to smile and wave to Hinckley — whom he had no idea was lying in wait for him — likely saved his life.
Simply put, the Golden State president’s charm was stronger than a bullet-proof vest.
It’s the kind of charm atypical in politics today — yet, it was typical Reagan.
Reagan hailed from Hollywood where he charmed the bobby socks off young women and movie executives alike; ran for governor of the most populous state in America; then ascended to the Oval Office— all with a twinkle in his eye.
Four years after the assassination attempt, Reagan would deploy the same charm when taking on the Soviet Union.
When President Reagan first met Mikhail Gorbachev in Geneva in November 1985, the two men had an arsenal of nuclear weapons at their disposal and had spent decades regarding one another as mortal enemies.
However, Reagan made a point to spend a half day talking one-on-one with Gorbachev during the Geneva Summit.
White House officials noticed something happened almost immediately. After hours of private conversation, it became clear that Reagan and Gorbachev had come to like one another.
Reagan’s genius was understanding that strength and warmth weren’t mutually exclusive.
He could condemn Soviet policies, while treating the Soviet leader like a human being.
Reagan charmed Gorbachev across the negotiating table in the same way he had won over millions of Californians to elect him, becoming one of the most popular governors in California history.
It was the same way he charmed his would-be assassin in that split-second decision to flash that Golden State smile.
For Reagan, none of it was calculated. It’s just who he was.
According to FBI files and Hinckley’s own admission, Reagan’s charm likely saved his life.
With that sunny California disposition that had served him so well, he went on to save the lives of millions of others in the name of freedom.
As Americans confront socialism once again, it is worth learning from Reagan’s sunny example.
Jennifer Kelly is the former spokeswoman for the California Republican Party and host of The Jennifer Kelly Show.
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