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| We’ve all had movies that have affected our lives. When Jerry Parr was about eight years old, he saw a movie called “The Code of The Secret Service”. He pointed to that screen and said, “you know what, when I grow up, I’m going to be a Secret Service agent!” So he grows up, he joins the Secret Service, and he spends nineteen years of his career rising the ranks so he is finally one on one protecting the President of the United States. March 30, 1981 (forty years ago today). It’s the 70th day in office for the 70 year old President Ronald Reagan. His brand new pinstripe suit doesn’t fit over a bulletproof vest, so he chooses style over safety. He figures he’s only walking twenty feet from the Washington Hilton hotel to the limousine after giving a speech to the AFL-CIO union, and he’s a union guy, so he feels fine. Ronald Reagan is the only US President to also have been President of a union – he was President of the Screen Actors Guild in the 1930s and 40s, during the McCarthy era, when Communism was a bad thing. This was before The Blacklist was a cool screenwriting competition, and instead, getting your name on the blacklist meant that you couldn’t work in Hollywood anymore. Nancy Davis showed up on that list, and although there were three actresses going by that name at the time, she still sought out the advice from the President of SAG. His suggestion? “Change your name.” And she does, changing it to Nancy Reagan about three years later. We’ve all had movies that have affected our lives. When John Hinckley, Jr. saw the movie “Taxi Driver”, he pointed up to that screen and thought,”hey, I could impress that teenage prostitute played by Jodie Foster by shooting a President.” And he does. Well, he shoots a President, but I don’t think he ever gained the affections of Jodie Foster. John Hinkley, Jr. fired six shots in 1.7 seconds. The first hit White House Press Secretary James Brady. The second hit DC police officer Thomas Delahanty. The third bullet went into a window of a building across the street. The fourth bullet hit agent Tim McCarthy in the abdomen as he went broadside in front of the President to protect him. The fifth hit the bulletproof window of the presidential limousine. The sixth and final shot ricochets between the opening of the limo door, piercing Ronnie under his armpit and landing next to his heart. The limo drives off, heading to The White House. Then Ronnie coughs up blood, causing Jerry Parr to make the decision to go to the hospital. That decision, plus all of the dedicated medical professionals, saves Ronald Reagan’s life. While Ronald Reagan was unconscious, with the doctors searching for the bullet near his heart, he claims to have a message from God that his only mission as President is to prevent nuclear war. Think what you will about his administration, but the fact that I can write this email today proves that he succeeded in preventing a nuclear holocaust. Pretty sure that little boy named Jerry Parr watching that movie called “The Code of the Secret Service” would be so proud of who he grew up to be. We’ve all had movies that have affected our lives. Oh…… ….one more thing. Can you name the actor that starred in the movie “The Code of the Secret Service”?…. ……….. ….. …. It was Ronald Reagan. We’ve all had movies that have affected our lives. And some of us have made movies that have affected our lives. (mic drop). This is my favorite story about Ronald Reagan. Forty years ago today that happened. Happy Anniversary. I call him a paradox of a man. Thank you for letting me share that story with you, forty years to the day of it really happening. The Happy President |
The Happy President 