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Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library

The atmosphere in the Situation Room—a secure conference room on the ground floor of the White House—was tense throughout the afternoon, and the attention of the country’s leaders was often riveted on slow-motion replays of the shooting on the conference room’s single television.

Courtesy George Bush Presidential Library and Museum

Before issuing a statement to the press shortly after eight o’clock that evening, Vice President George H. W. Bush (left) conferred with top Reagan administration advisors. Clockwise from Bush’s left are Edwin Meese, James Baker, Caspar Weinberger, Fred Fielding, and William French Smith.

Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library

President Reagan, hugging the first lady, waved to a crowd of supporters who cheered his return to the White House on April 11, only twelve days after the assassination attempt. One advisor later commented that Reagan resembled a championship golfer strolling toward the eighteenth green.

Courtesy Ronald Reagan Library

On April 28, 1981, just four weeks after nearly being assassinated, the president delivered an address to a joint session of Congress following what one reporter called a “rafter-shaking ovation.” With his behavior immediately after the shooting and this speech to Congress, Reagan turned a near tragedy into a political triumph.