James Brady, Former Press Secretary Under Reagan, Has Died
Former White House Press Secretary
James Brady. (Larry Downing/Reuters/Landov)
Monday, 04 Aug 2014 01:59 PM
James Brady, the
affable, witty press secretary who survived a devastating head wound in the
1981 assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan and undertook a personal
crusade for gun control, died Monday. He was 73.
"We are heartbroken to share
the news that our beloved Jim "Bear" Brady has passed away after a
series of health issues," Brady's family said in a statement. "His wife,
Sarah, son, Scott, and daughter, Missy, are so thankful to have had the
opportunity to say their farewells." The statement did not say where Brady
was when he died.
Brady suffered a bullet wound to
his head outside the Washington Hilton Hotel on March 30, 1981. Although he
returned to the White House only briefly, he was allowed to keep the title of
presidential press secretary and his White House salary until Reagan left
office in January 1989.
Brady spent much of the rest of
his life in a wheelchair. A federal law requiring a background check on handgun
buyers bears his name, as is the White House press briefing room.
"He is somebody who I think
really revolutionized this job," said Josh Earnest, President Barack
Obama's press secretary. "And even after he was wounded in that attack on
the president, was somebody who showed his patriotism and commitment to the
country by being very outspoken on an issue that was important to him and that
he felt very strongly about."
Brady "leaves the kind of
legacy ... that certainly this press secretary and all future press secretaries
will aspire to live up to," Earnest said.
Of the four people stuck by
gunfire on March 30, 1981, Brady was the most seriously wounded. A news clip of
the shooting, replayed often on television, showed Brady sprawled on the ground
as Secret Service agents hustled the wounded president into his limousine.
Reagan was shot in one lung while a policeman and a Secret Service agent suffered
lesser wounds.
Brady never regained full health.
The shooting caused brain damage, partial paralysis, short-term memory
impairment, slurred speech and constant pain.
The TV replays of the shooting did
take a toll on Brady, however. He told The Associated Press years later that he
relived the moment each time he saw it: "I want to take every bit of
(that) film ... and put them in a cement incinerator, slosh them with gasoline
and throw a lighted cigarette in." With remarkable courage, he endured a
series of brain operations in the years after the shooting.
On Nov. 28, 1995, while he was in
an oral surgeon's office, Brady's heart stopped beating and he was taken to a
hospital. His wife, Sarah, credited the oral surgeon and his staff with saving
Brady's life.
Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan
Shooting
Hinckley fired a Röhm RG-14 .22 long rifle[17] blue steel revolver
six times in 1.7 seconds,[6]:82[18] missing the president with all six
shots.[19][16] The first bullet hit White House Press Secretary James Brady
in the head.
James Brady
Brady
Center to Prevent Gun Violence was named for James Scott Brady.
Note: Maria Cuomo Cole
is a trustee at the Brady Center to
Prevent Gun Violence, Mario M. Cuomo’s
daughter, and married to Kenneth D. Cole.
Mario
M. Cuomo is Maria Cuomo Cole’s
father, and a board of adviser’s member for the American Constitution Society.
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the American Constitution Society.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, and
a benefactor at the Harlem Children's
Zone.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Harlem Children's Zone, and the Sundance Institute.
Michael R.
Bloomberg was a benefactor for the Harlem
Children's Zone, is the founder of Everytown
for Gun Safety, and a co-chair for Mayors
Against Illegal Guns.
John
J. Mack was a benefactor at the Harlem
Children's Zone, and is an advisory board member for Everytown for Gun Safety.
Thomas
M. Menino is an advisory board member for Everytown for Gun Safety, and a co-chair for Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
Joyce Foundation
was a funder for Mayors Against Illegal
Guns, and the Brady Center to
Prevent Gun Violence.
Valerie B. Jarrett
was a director at the Joyce Foundation,
is the senior adviser for the Barack
Obama administration, and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Mellody L. Hobson
is a member of the Commercial Club of
Chicago, and a trustee at the Sundance
Institute.
Kenneth
D. Cole is a trustee at the Sundance
Institute, and married to Maria
Cuomo Cole.
Maria Cuomo Cole
is married to Kenneth D. Cole, Mario M. Cuomo’s daughter, and a
trustee at the Brady Center to Prevent
Gun Violence.
Brady
Center to Prevent Gun Violence was named for James Scott Brady.
No comments:
Post a Comment