--- description: Drifter John Hinckley Jr. almost changed the course of history with a "Saturday-nite special." title: Anatomy of an Assassination Attempt image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37b8100c2f025d7c/69869e5913c79f470a193551/106754900.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Anatomy of an Assassination Attempt by [Harry Swartout](/author/harry-swartout/) ## Harry Swartout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 4, 2014 10:04 PM CUT  Assassination Attempt Against The President Ronald Reagan In 1981, March 30 Assassination Attempt Against The President Ronald Reagan In 1981, March 30Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images by [Harry Swartout](/author/harry-swartout/) ## Harry Swartout Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 4, 2014 10:04 PM CUT In 1.7 seconds, John Hinckley Jr. could have altered the course of history. But thanks to a Secret Service agent, a D.C. cop, and the White House Press Secretary—the late James Brady, who died Monday—President Ronald Reagan made it home from the Washington Hinton Hotel alive. The ripples of that March morning can still be felt years later in the Brady Bill and calls for expansions on the background checks and waiting period to buy guns that the bill enacted. But on March 30, 1981, it all came down to six shots, three heroes, and the one man who could have changed everything. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3080379/anatomy-of-an-assassination-attempt/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3080379/anatomy-of-an-assassination-attempt/"},"headline":"Anatomy of an Assassination Attempt","datePublished":"2014-08-04T22:04:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T09:29:54.620Z","description":"One deranged drifter almost took down the most powerful man in the world","url":"https://time.com/3080379/anatomy-of-an-assassination-attempt/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37b8100c2f025d7c/69869e5913c79f470a193551/106754900.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Harry Swartout","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/harry-swartout/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt37b8100c2f025d7c/69869e5913c79f470a193551/106754900.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Washington Dc, Assassination Attempt Against The President Ronald Reagan In 1981, March 30","caption":"Washington Dc, Assassination Attempt Against The President Ronald Reagan In 1981, March 30","creditText":"Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3080379/anatomy-of-an-assassination-attempt/","name":"Anatomy of an Assassination Attempt"}}]}] ```