Dinner shooting again put Washington Hilton at center of presidential history
When shots rang out at the Washington Hilton during the White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday, there were echoes of the hotel's storied presidential history.
Updated on: April 28, 2026 / 11:33 AM EDT / CBS News
On March 30, 1981, President Ronald Reagan nearly died after John Hinckley Jr. pulled out a .22 caliber revolver and unleashed six shots in 1.7 seconds, from a mere 15 feet away, as the president was leaving the hotel. He had come from addressing union members of the AFL-CIO in the ballroom, ending his remarks with a familiar line: "Together we'll make America great again."
Lead U.S. Secret Service agent Jerry Parr — who was inspired at 9 years old to become an agent after seeing Reagan play one in a film — acted quickly to throw Reagan in the limousine, according to Del Wilber, author of "Rawhide Down . " Rawhide was Reagan's Secret Service code name.
But, Hinckley's sixth shot "slaps against the side of the limousine, flattens to the size of a dime, slips through a gap an inch and a half wide between the door and the door frame and hits Reagan," Wilber said.
Bullets hit White House press secretary James Brady in the head, paralyzing him; D.C. police officer Thomas Delahanty in the back and U.S. Secret Service agent Tim McCarthy in the chest.