Sticking With My Father on John Hinckley

Michael Reagan on Sep 30, 2021

“Yeah?”

“That blue suit I was wearing was a brand new suit. It was the first time I ever wore it. The last time I saw it they had cut it off me and it was in shreds in the corner of my hospital room. So that’s why I’m telling you, ‘If you’re ever going to be shot, don’t be wearing a new suit.’ ”

Then he said, “That young man who shot me – Hinckley.”

“Yes,” I said, “John Hinckley.”

“I understand his family is in the oil business.”

“Yep.”

“Do you think they have any money?”

“They’re in the oil business and they live in Denver. Of course they’ve got money. Why?”

“Well, do you think they’d ever buy me a new suit?”

That was what my father was really like. Unlike so many people in and out of politics today, he was never angry – even after being shot.

Humor was his way of putting people at ease, whether it was his worried son, his doctors or the entire country. His good-natured temperament – and the virtue of forgiving the trespasses of others – are what we miss and what we could all use a lot more of today.

Michael Reagan, the son of President Ronald Reagan, is an author, speaker and president of the Reagan Legacy Foundation. Send comments to reagan@caglecartoons.com and follow @reaganworld on Twitter.