Ronald Reagan was shot 30 years ago Wednesday. His grace under fire helped him solidify the support and affection of the American people. It also helped propel his economic policies through a Democratic-controlled Congress and put American politics on a different trajectory.
"Rawhide Down," a new book by Washington Post reporter Del Quentin Wilber, captures the fateful 70th day of the Reagan presidency in cinematic detail. It is still striking to read how the severely wounded president insisted on walking himself through the doors of the emergency room, where he collapsed. It is a revelation to find how much closer he came to death than was widely known. And it is inspiring to read the notes he wrote to doctors and nurses throughout the ordeal, such as "All in all, I'd rather be in Phil.," referencing an old W.C. Fields line.
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