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James Brady
James Scott Brady (August 29, 1940 – August 4, 2014) was an American journalist, politician, activist and American public official who served as assistant to the U.S. president and the 17th White House Press Secretary, serving under President Ronald Reagan. On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot and wounded Brady during Hinckley’s attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, which occurred two months and ten days after Reagan's inauguration.
Brady's death in 2014 was eventually ruled a homicide, caused by the gunshot wound he received 33 years earlier in 1981.
Brady began his career in public service as a staff member in the office of Republican Illinois senator Everett Dirksen. He was of Irish descent. In 1964, he was the campaign manager for congressional candidate Wayne Jones in the race for Illinois's 23rd district. In 1970, Brady directed a campaign in the same district for Phyllis Schlafly.
Brady served in various positions in both the private sector and government, including service as special assistant to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development James Thomas Lynn; special assistant to the director of the Office of Management and Budget; assistant to the Secretary of Defense; and staff member of Senator William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE). He served as press secretary in 1979 to presidential candidate John Connally.
After Connally withdrew his candidacy, Brady became the director of public affairs and research for the Reagan–Bush Committee, then spokesperson for the Office of the President-elect. After Reagan took office, Brady became White House press secretary.
On March 30, 1981, 69 days into his presidency, Ronald Reagan and his cabinet members and staff, including Brady, were leaving the Washington Hilton hotel when a gunman opened fire at the president. The first of six bullets hit Brady. The gunman was 25-year-old John Hinckley Jr., who thought that killing the President would impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom Hinckley had an unhealthy obsession.
Secret Service and police officers forced Hinckley to the ground and arrested him. He had fired six shots from a .22 caliber Röhm RG-14 revolver. The bullet hit Brady in the head above his left eye, passing underneath his brain and shattering his brain cavity. Later shots also wounded Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, Metropolitan Police officer Thomas Delahanty, and President Reagan himself, who was hit and seriously wounded by a bullet that ricocheted off the presidential limousine. Of the four men wounded, Brady suffered the worst injuries. He, Reagan and McCarthy were taken to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
During the confusion that ensued from the shooting, all major media outlets reported that Brady had died. At the time, he was 40 years old. When ABC News anchorman Frank Reynolds, a personal friend of Brady, was later forced to retract the report, he angrily said on-air to his staff, "C'mon, let's get it nailed down!", as a result of the miscommunication.
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James Brady
James Scott Brady (August 29, 1940 – August 4, 2014) was an American journalist, politician, activist and American public official who served as assistant to the U.S. president and the 17th White House Press Secretary, serving under President Ronald Reagan. On March 30, 1981, John Hinckley Jr. shot and wounded Brady during Hinckley’s attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, which occurred two months and ten days after Reagan's inauguration.
Brady's death in 2014 was eventually ruled a homicide, caused by the gunshot wound he received 33 years earlier in 1981.
Brady began his career in public service as a staff member in the office of Republican Illinois senator Everett Dirksen. He was of Irish descent. In 1964, he was the campaign manager for congressional candidate Wayne Jones in the race for Illinois's 23rd district. In 1970, Brady directed a campaign in the same district for Phyllis Schlafly.
Brady served in various positions in both the private sector and government, including service as special assistant to Secretary of Housing and Urban Development James Thomas Lynn; special assistant to the director of the Office of Management and Budget; assistant to the Secretary of Defense; and staff member of Senator William V. Roth, Jr. (R-DE). He served as press secretary in 1979 to presidential candidate John Connally.
After Connally withdrew his candidacy, Brady became the director of public affairs and research for the Reagan–Bush Committee, then spokesperson for the Office of the President-elect. After Reagan took office, Brady became White House press secretary.
On March 30, 1981, 69 days into his presidency, Ronald Reagan and his cabinet members and staff, including Brady, were leaving the Washington Hilton hotel when a gunman opened fire at the president. The first of six bullets hit Brady. The gunman was 25-year-old John Hinckley Jr., who thought that killing the President would impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom Hinckley had an unhealthy obsession.
Secret Service and police officers forced Hinckley to the ground and arrested him. He had fired six shots from a .22 caliber Röhm RG-14 revolver. The bullet hit Brady in the head above his left eye, passing underneath his brain and shattering his brain cavity. Later shots also wounded Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy, Metropolitan Police officer Thomas Delahanty, and President Reagan himself, who was hit and seriously wounded by a bullet that ricocheted off the presidential limousine. Of the four men wounded, Brady suffered the worst injuries. He, Reagan and McCarthy were taken to George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C.
During the confusion that ensued from the shooting, all major media outlets reported that Brady had died. At the time, he was 40 years old. When ABC News anchorman Frank Reynolds, a personal friend of Brady, was later forced to retract the report, he angrily said on-air to his staff, "C'mon, let's get it nailed down!", as a result of the miscommunication.