Reagan Shot and Wounded

On March 30, 1981, just 69 days after taking office, President Ronald Reagan went to the Washington Hilton Hotel to attend a luncheon and deliver a speech to representatives of the AFL–CIO. As Reagan exited the hotel, John Hinckley Jr., a mentally disturbed man hiding among the crowd of reporters outside, fired six shots at Reagan with a revolver. Reagan, along with the White House press secretary and a bodyguard, was hit by bullets. Reagan was rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency surgery.

One bullet struck Reagan under the arm, stopping only one inch from his heart. During surgery, Reagan joked with the doctors, saying, “I hope you’re all Republicans.” One doctor replied, “Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans.” When First Lady Nancy Reagan arrived at the hospital, Reagan joked to her, “Honey, I forgot to duck.”

The U.S.–Soviet Nuclear Race: Mutually Assured Destruction

As early as 1957, when the Soviet Union launched the first artificial satellite, the United States and the Soviet Union began their competition in space. After the United States landed on the Moon in 1969, the two superpowers entered a nuclear arms race that continued through the 1970s and 1980s. During the Cold War, besides the United States and the Soviet Union, other countries also developed nuclear weapons, but none possessed warhead numbers comparable to those of the two superpowers. Together, the U.S. and Russia held about 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.

Both sides developed second-strike capabilities, meaning that even after suffering an enemy attack, they could still launch devastating retaliation. This capability formed the basis of “mutually assured destruction.” Each side understood that any nuclear attack on the other would result in its own destruction as well. Because the risks of using nuclear weapons were extremely high, both sides were theoretically deterred from attacking each other.

Reagan and Gorbachev Bring About the End of the Cold War

Reagan labeled the Soviet Union an “evil empire.” To protect U.S. security, he increased military spending to unprecedented levels. By the mid-1980s, the Soviet Union found its heavy military burden unsustainable; its economy declined sharply. In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev came to power.

Reagan and Gorbachev held four summit meetings. Reagan urged Gorbachev to promote democracy and, speaking of the Berlin Wall, declared: “Open this gate. Tear down this wall.” Under Gorbachev’s leadership, winds of openness began to sweep through the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan and signed agreements with the United States to destroy large numbers of intermediate- and short-range nuclear missiles.

In 1989, large-scale upheavals erupted across Eastern Europe. One country after another severed ties with the Soviet Union, and Gorbachev chose not to intervene. In November 1989, the Berlin Wall—symbol of communist repression—collapsed. Less than a year later, East and West Germany reunified. A few months afterward, the member states of the Warsaw Pact formally dissolved the alliance, marking the end of the Cold War.

As of early 2013, of Russia’s 8,500 nuclear warheads, about 4,500 were stored by the military, while the remaining 4,000 had been retired and left intact, awaiting dismantlement.

Worldwide, there were nearly 17,000 nuclear warheads: about 7,000 held by the United States, 300 by France, 250 by China, and 225 by the United Kingdom.

Reagan’s Retirement

Reagan left the White House on January 11, 1989, and returned to his large ranch near Santa Barbara, California, where he spent his days writing his autobiography, riding horses, and chopping wood. He later moved to a new home in Bel Air, California.

Reagan passed away in 2004 at the age of 93. A small bag of his beloved jelly beans was placed in his pocket and buried with him.