James Brady, Reagan White House Press Secretary Wounded in Assassination Attempt, Dies

Details

Category: World News

Published on Tuesday, 05 August 2014 04:47

Written by Janet Walker

James "The Bear" Brady, the former White House Press Secretary permanently wounded in the 1981 assassination attempt on former President Ronald Reagan has died at his home in Virginia, his family announced. He was 73.

Brady was accompanying former President Reagan to a local Washington function in 1981, when a single gunman fired six shots at the president. Three men, Brady, Thomas Delahanty, a former District of Columbia Police Officer, and Timothy McCarthy, a Secret Service agent who shielded the president with his body, were gravely wounded. Brady and Delahanty were pronounced dead in the March 31, 1981 attack.

Neither died at the scene, and all networks except CNN were accused of sensationalism.

Brady remained permanently disabled and became a staunch advocate of gun control. The current White House Press room was bestowed with his name in honor of his diligent service to the President

Confined to a wheelchair for the following 33 years after the attack, Brady and his wife, Sarah, founded the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, which became the Brady Handgun Violence Prevent Act known as the Brady Bill and 13 years after the attack was passed into law.

Former President Reagan was also injured in the March 30, 1981 attack and was reported near death upon arrival at the hospital. He was soon stabilized and remained hospitalized for the next ten days. He became the only president to survive an assassination attempt.

Brady is survived by his wife Sarah and children Scott and Melissa. Funeral arrangements have not been made public.

The following images, courtesy of Wikipedia, are of the scene at the assassination attempt.