Mr Reagan ‘stable’ after snooting

Press, 1 April 1981, Page 1

Mr Reagan ‘stable’ after snooting

NZPA-Reuter

Washington

President Reagan was in a stable condition yesterday after more than two hours of surgery to remove a bullet lodged in his left lung during an assassination attempt which also left his Press Secretary and two security men wounded. ./••‘M'.’i

Vice-President George Bush, who would be next in line for the Presidency if Mr Reagan died, inter-* rupted a Texas trip to return to the rain-drenched capital to assume temporary charge,. . Mr . Bush, who spent the night in the White House, said that Mr Reagan-.;had emerged “with flying colours” from his ordeal. Mr Reagan, aged 70, was expected to stay in the George Washington University Hospital, near the White House, for up to two weeks. Doctors .said that Mr Reagan, who walked into the hospital and joked with his wife and his aides before undergoing surgery, would be able to make decisions today but that he might not be fully recovered, 'for three months.

A hospital spokesman, Dr Denis O’Leary, said that Mr Reagan, who has been in Office for only 70 days, had never been in serious danger during the operation. Mr Reagan was awake and in a good condition, with “absolutely rock stable” vital signs.But-> the White House Press Secretary, Mr James Brady, aged 40, was in a critical condition. Dr O’Leary said that a bullet had passed through Mr Brady’s brain and had come put the other side,

Apart from Mr Reagan and: Mr- Brady, those shot were a local policeman, Mr Thomas Delahanty, aged'4s, and a Secret Serive agent, . Mr ... Tim McCarthy, aged 31.- Both men were' reported to be in. stable, condition and.improving. - • . Mr Reagan, a man widely acclaimed for his good humour and charm ■in the White House, joked to his wife, Nancy, and his aides as he was taken into the hospital’s . emergency room.-

He told Mrs Reagan, who. had rushed to the hospital" when; told of ; 'the shooting,-“Honey, I forgot to duck.” In the operating room ' he grinned and- told the surgeons, '“Please tell me you’re all They . replied, “Today we’re aU'Republicans.” .the -recovery room after surgery Mr Reagan joked .with doctors . in spite of tubes placed in his mouth and handed them a note saying, “All in all, I’d rather be in Philadelphia.” The . late comedian,' W. C, Fields, made that line famous when asked what he wanted bn his tombstone. Mr Reagan was given about 2.3 litres of blood to make up for blood oozing from the wound , in his chest. An, incision - was made in jlhis; chest, and .

tubes placed inside to reinflate the lung.The White House said that there was no need for Mr Bush to become Acting President. But Mr Bush, who was named last week to head the White House crisis-management team over the objections of the Secretary of State, Mr Alexander Haig, had automatically assumed mili-tary-command functions in the event of an emergency during the night.' The White House Deputy Press Secretary, Mr Larry Speakes, said that the Defence Secretary, Mr Caspar Weinberger, who was in the White House all day with Mr Hdig and other Cabinet officers, would be next in line after Mr 'Bush in exercising command responsibilities.-

Union and China the. news . was reported without’ comment. The Senate and the House of . Representatives closed early< So-, .-did the New York; Stoick'-’Ex-change and the American Stock Exchange, In Tokyo, ihe'dollar; and the" Tokyo' Stock Exchange average, both fell sharply when trading- operied,. The exchange suspended tradingtibr the day in -foreigu stock’. , ? • .- ■ The • shootings, wbrevcer-• ,/tain to revive 'pressures ;frbm -the pro-gun-’cpntrol lobby 'for< stricter 'cdhtrpls op handguns,’ q demand that. has not? m<?t-?AVith much. success and. . which Mr-- Reagan himself -’has opposed s in ,the past. In Wellingtohithe,,Prime Minister. ’ (Mr Muldoon) .said he message ’to- Mr.-Reagan., '■*..< "In this message.!:have said that New Zealand is outraged at what 'hap-, pened in Washington and that the prayers arid goqji. wishes of our people and the Government qf this country are with President Reagan, his faipilyi and the American people,” he said. More stories, pictures.

The announcement, .resulted in. some tense questions in the White House press room when reporters recalled that Mr Haig had said a few minutes after Mr Reagan had been shot, that he was in charge. Americans were stunntel by the shootings, which came at a time when Mr Reagan and his fledgling Administration were still seeking to put their print on American economic and foreign policies. Similar reaction flowed in. from most of the rest of the worlds In the Soviet

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