March 30, 1981 began as a typical day for Ronald Wilson Reagan, who was just settling into the routine of being president of the United States. He had been on the job for merely two months.
The day had included morning briefings followed by the usual meetings, messages, and perfunctory announcements. That day, he had nominated an assistant secretary here and there—one to the Department of Agriculture, two to the Department of Interior, two to the Department of Health and Human Services. Ho-hum.
Also on the president's schedule was a speech, listed unremarkably as “Remarks at the National Conference of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.”
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