By — Elizabeth Summers Elizabeth Summers Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/rawhide-down-thirty-years-later Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter ‘Rawhide Down’: Former Secret Service Agent Revisits Reagan Shooting Scene Politics Mar 30, 2011 1:10 PM EDT Editor’s note: Jerry Parr, the secret service agent credited with saving President Ronald Reagan’s life, died Friday at the age of 85. We accompanied Parr to the scene of the March 30, 1981, shooting outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Watch that video above. At 2:27 p.m. on March 30, 1981, John Hinckley, Jr. opened fire from behind a ropeline at the Washington Hilton Hotel. It took him less than two seconds to wound President Ronald Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service Officer Tim McCarthy and Washington, D.C., police officer Thomas Delahanty. Former Secret Service agent Jerry Parr is credited with saving the president’s life twice that day, first by pushing him headfirst into a waiting limousine, then by making the decision to change course and take “Rawhide,” President Reagan’s code name, to George Washington University Hospital instead of the White House. Thirty years later, Parr agreed to return to the hotel where the shooting took place, and share his recollection of the moments surrounding the assassination attempt. Video edited by Mike Fritz, camera by Mike Fritz and Quinn Bowman A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now By — Elizabeth Summers Elizabeth Summers Beth Summers is the senior politics producer for the PBS NewsHour where she oversees coverage of Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court. She joined the NewsHour in 2001 as an editorial assistant in the newsroom, and has worked as a reporter for the national desk and as well as the politics desk before becoming the NewsHour’s political director.
Editor’s note: Jerry Parr, the secret service agent credited with saving President Ronald Reagan’s life, died Friday at the age of 85. We accompanied Parr to the scene of the March 30, 1981, shooting outside the Washington Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. Watch that video above. At 2:27 p.m. on March 30, 1981, John Hinckley, Jr. opened fire from behind a ropeline at the Washington Hilton Hotel. It took him less than two seconds to wound President Ronald Reagan, Press Secretary James Brady, Secret Service Officer Tim McCarthy and Washington, D.C., police officer Thomas Delahanty. Former Secret Service agent Jerry Parr is credited with saving the president’s life twice that day, first by pushing him headfirst into a waiting limousine, then by making the decision to change course and take “Rawhide,” President Reagan’s code name, to George Washington University Hospital instead of the White House. Thirty years later, Parr agreed to return to the hotel where the shooting took place, and share his recollection of the moments surrounding the assassination attempt. Video edited by Mike Fritz, camera by Mike Fritz and Quinn Bowman A free press is a cornerstone of a healthy democracy. Support trusted journalism and civil dialogue. Donate now