 | |
| Author | Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Attempted Assassination of Ronald Reagan |
| Publisher | Henry Holt and Co. |
Publication date | September 22, 2015 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Hardcover |
| Pages | 336 |
| ISBN | 978-1627792417 |
Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency is a book written byBill O'Reilly andMartin Dugard about theattempted assassination ofU.S. PresidentRonald Reagan in 1981.[1][2] It is the fifth in theKilling series, followingKilling Lincoln,Killing Kennedy,Killing Jesus, andKilling Patton. The book was released on September 22, 2015,[2] and toppedThe New York Times Best Sellers List.[3]
In 1981, after delivering a speech at theWashington Hilton Hotel on March 30, President Reagan isshot byJohn Hinckley Jr. Near death, Reagan's life is in the balance in the hands of doctors atGeorge Washington University Hospital. At theWhite House, however, there is chaos asReagan's cabinet is led bySecretary of StateAlexander Haig.
On September 26, 2015, about a week after the book's release,National Geographic announced that atelevision film adaptation was in development.[4] In May 2016, it was announced thatTim Matheson andCynthia Nixon had been cast as Ronald and Nancy Reagan respectively.[5] Filming began in late May.[5] It premiered October 16, 2016.
Following the release ofKilling Reagan, Reagan biographersCraig Shirley,Steven Hayward,Paul Kengor, andKiron Skinner, along with a handful of former Reagan aides, immediately began to challenge the book on its factual inaccuracies and historical fabrications.[6] Those four Reagan biographers, who had written 19 biographies on Ronald Reagan among them, penned an op-ed forThe Washington Post on October 16 that highlighted what they claimed to be major historical inaccuracies and outright fabrications used in O'Reilly's book.[7] Additional criticisms surfaced from officials that served in the Reagan Administration, who were present at the events discussed in the book, yet dispute what actually happened.A. B. Culvahouse, who served as counsel to the president from 1987 to 1989, calls one of the key anecdotes of O'Reilly's book describing a meeting focused on President Reagan's fitness to hold office "a debunked myth."[8]
In response, O'Reilly took to the airwaves on October 19, responding to the criticism and calling his critics "zealots and jealous people."[9] He also called the criticisms "comical," to which Reagan historian Shirley responded "So far, I've written four books on Ronald Reagan, written dozens of articles, given dozens of lectures, am a trustee ofEureka College, taught a course there [titled] Reagan 101, and have lectured at theReagan Library and theReagan Ranch. [I]t is fair to say we probably know a little bit more about Ronald Reagan than Bill O'Reilly. We certainly know the facts of Ronald Reagan."[10]
The following day,Ed Meese, who served as counselor to the president (1981–1985) andAttorney General (1985–1988), penned a joint op-ed with Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation executive directorJohn Heubusch detailed more inaccuracies in O'Reilly's book, saying "we believe thatKilling Reagan does a real disservice to our 40th president and to history itself."[11] The same day,Frank Donatelli, President Reagan's assistant for political and intergovernmental affairs, also penned an op-ed forThe Washington Times disputing O'Reilly's key thesis as another discredited "senility myth" about Ronald Reagan.[12]
More criticisms came from reporters atThe Washington Post, who looked into O'Reilly's claim to have "double-sourced everything" in his book.[13] On October 19, 2015, about a monthafter the book was published, O'Reilly's researcher first reached out to theRonald Reagan Presidential Library to obtain a document that O'Reilly himself called a "key part of the book."[14] On October 21, it was reported that Annelise Anderson, the fact-checker that O'Reilly and Dugard commissioned to research and fact-check the manuscript forKilling Reagan, pulled out of the project after realizing that the authors were "distorting" material, in her opinion.[15] In an op-ed published inNational Review, she further stated, "Why the authors want to present this distorted 'witch and wimp' view ofNancy [Reagan] and the 40th president is puzzling, especially since an alternative view of the effect of Reagan's near-death experience is so readily available."[16]
Conservative commentatorGeorge Will called the book a work of "nonsensical history and execrable citizenship." He added that it "should come with a warning: 'Caution—you are about to enter a no-facts zone.'"[17]
Bill O'Reilly talked about his bookKilling Reagan, in which he looks at the career of Ronald Reagan and the challenges the president faced following his assassination attempt.
