Editing Ronald Reagan (section)

===Assassination attempt===
{{Main|Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan moments before he was shot in an assassination attempt 1981.jpg|thumb|alt=Ronald Reagan waves his hand as he walks out of the Washington Hilton. Surrounding him are secret service agents, policemen, press secretary James Brady, and aide Michael Deaver.|Reagan (center) waves just before he is shot on March 30, 1981]]

On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot by [[John Hinckley Jr.]] outside the [[Washington Hilton]]. Although "right on the margin of death" upon arrival at [[George Washington University Hospital]], Reagan underwent surgery and recovered quickly from a broken rib, punctured lung, and internal bleeding. Professor J. David Woodard says that the assassination attempt "created a bond between him and the American people that was never really broken".{{sfn|Woodard|2012|pp=120–123}} Later, Reagan came to believe that God had spared his life "for a chosen mission".{{sfn|Kengor|2004|p=210}}