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Watch How Manly Reagan Handles Gunshot Sound During Speech

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Of all of our recent presidents, Ronald Reagan was clearly the most unflappable.

That’s not just opining, mind you. If you need an example of why the Gipper was full of true grit, take a look at this clip from May 1981.

Keep in mind, just months before this, Reagan had been the subject of an assassination attempt — an attempt that almost took his life.

During a visit to West Germany (for those kids with a Common Core education — yes, there used to be East and West Germanys), Reagan was speaking at an Air Force base in the divided city of Berlin, certainly a dangerous place in a pre-Glasnost Soviet world.

“By its very existence and character, Berlin remains the best existence for an open world,” Reagan said.

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“We’re reminded of the many traditions of openness and democracy that will mark the history of this city,” he continued.

And then a balloon loudly exploded. In fact, it sounded very much like a gunshot — the kind of gunshot that could have killed the president just months earlier.

Did he duck? Flinch? Hide behind the Secret Service?

No, he simply said two words, delivered on the fly: “Missed me.”

Obviously, the man got applause and laughter, but it was far from the only time that Reagan evinced this sort of composure in similar events.

Take just months earlier, when he was wheeled into the George Washington University Medical Center suffering from a gunshot wound.

Before he went under the knife, he had one question for his doctors. No, it wasn’t if he was going to make it.

“I hope you’re all Republicans,” he quipped.

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Do you think Ronald Reagan was America's greatest president?

According to the Deseret News, chief surgeon Dr. Joseph Giordano — actually a Democrat — told him, “We’re all Republicans today.”

Reagan never lost his sense of humor. He never lost his composure at moments like this. And most importantly, he never forgot that a president needs to lead from a position of strength and fearlessness.

We won’t soon see another like him, but don’t despair. To have one Reagan is a miracle every nation should be lucky enough to be blessed with.

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C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014.
C. Douglas Golden is a writer who splits his time between the United States and Southeast Asia. Specializing in political commentary and world affairs, he's written for Conservative Tribune and The Western Journal since 2014. Aside from politics, he enjoys spending time with his wife, literature (especially British comic novels and modern Japanese lit), indie rock, coffee, Formula One and football (of both American and world varieties).
Birthplace
Morristown, New Jersey
Education
Catholic University of America
Languages Spoken
English, Spanish
Topics of Expertise
American Politics, World Politics, Culture




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