This Day in History: President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest outside a Washington, D.C., hotel by John Hinckley, Jr., on this day in 1981. Hinckley shot Reagan because he was trying to impress actress Jodie Foster, with whom he had an obsessive fixation. Hinckley became obsessed with the 1976 film Taxi Driver, which starred Jodie Foster, in which disturbed protagonist Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) plots to assassinate a presidential candidate.
Hinckley fantasized about conducting an aircraft hijacking or committing suicide in front of Foster to get her attention. Eventually, he settled on a scheme to impress her by assassinating President Jimmy Carter, thinking that by achieving a place in history, he would appeal to her as an equal. Hinckley trailed Carter from state to state, and was arrested in Nashville, Tennessee, on a firearms charge.
Hinckley was released from institutional psychiatric care on September 10, 2016, with many conditions. He was required to live full-time at his mother's home in Williamsburg, Virginia. In addition, the following prohibitions and requirements were imposed on him: He is not allowed to drink, he is not allowed to to have weapons, he is not allowed to contact the Reagan family, or Jodie Foster or her family and agent, he is not allowed to watch violent movies or programs...or porn, he is not allowed to visit the graves of any president, and he is not allowed to erase his computer's web browser history.
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