James Brady, Former Press Secretary Under Reagan, Has Died

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

http://www.newsmax.com/Newsfront/james-brady-death-obit/2014/08/04/id/586721

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           

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reagan_assassination_attempt

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.