Rawhide Down: The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan by Del Quentin Wilber

I well remember March 30, 1981.  That was the day that shots were reported fired at the Washington Hilton Hotel where Ronald Reagan was giving a speech.

I remember vividly rushing home from school to watch ABC News with Frank Reynolds giving the latest news about the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan's life.  I remember Reynolds bursting in anger of the misreporting of James Brady's death.  This would not be the only piece of misinformation to be broadcasted, but I admired Frank Reynolds for his being upset that such horrible news was given out that was actually false.  It was a chaotic time, just look at what happened to Alexander Haig. 

Ronald Reagan's code name was Rawhide.

When I look back on this horrible tragedy, I am reminded of the efforts Ronald Reagan made to assure the nation of his condition in spite of the fact that he nearly, very nearly, died.  There were many acts of heroism from this event, such as the quick thinking of Jerry S. Parr, the Secret Service agent who saved Reagan's life.  There were tremendous stories to be heard even though many of these where in the background due to the crisis at hand.

This book is an accurate telling and reveals many details that I was not aware of until the book was released.  I especially enjoyed the audio version of the book too.  There is also a great website to go along with the book too at http://rawhidedown.com/

I highly recommend Rawhide Down  -- The Near Assassination of Ronald Reagan to all who were thankful that the word "Near" was to be in the title of the book!