Ronald Reagan

===Assassination attempt===
{{Main|Attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan}}
[[File:President Ronald Reagan moments before he was shot in an assassination attempt 1981.jpg|thumb|left|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 moments before he was shot, 1981]]

On March 30, 1981, Reagan was shot by [[John Hinckley Jr.]] outside the [[Washington Hilton]]. Also struck were: [[James Brady]], [[Thomas Delahanty]], and [[Tim McCarthy]]. Although "right on the margin of death" upon arrival at [[George Washington University Hospital]], Reagan underwent surgery and recovered quickly from a broken rib, a 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}}