He's Going To Kill The President - The John Hinckley Jr. Story
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Who is John Hinckley Jr. and what led to his infamous actions?
So this guy, he's sort of a YouTuber. But do you remember when he tried to kill the president? Now the guy's name is John, and John is around 22 when this story all starts, living in California. And John, he has kind of a problem. He doesn't have a lot of friends. I mean, he's a loner who no one really pays attention to. But then, one day, in 1976, his life suddenly changes. Because he decides to see a popular movie during this time called Taxi Driver, starring a young Robert De Niro. And John, he ends up loving this movie, like he becomes obsessed with it. So he goes back to see it, and he watches it over and over and over again. And he sees it at least 15 times. Because the thing is, John really relates to the main character, a guy who's a loner who no one really pays attention to.
And as he's watching this movie over and over again, he starts to become more and more like the main character. Like he starts dressing like him, wearing an army fatigue jacket and boots, and he starts drinking the same alcohol, and he even starts getting into guns. But that's not the only thing he starts getting into. Over the course of watching this movie so many times, he starts to fall in love with one of the characters. A character played by this actor, Jodie Foster. And the more John watches, the more obsessed with Jodie he becomes. Not the character she plays, but with Jodie herself. Now, there's obviously a huge problem with this.
How did the movie Taxi Driver influence John Hinckley's mindset?
Not only is she a famous Hollywood actor, but she's also only 13, while John is 22. But I guess John doesn't care. He continues to obsess over her and think about her, and he's convinced that he's gonna meet her one day. And so years pass, and it's now 1980, and he is still infatuated with this teen actress he's never met. Now, at this point, Jodi is 17, about to turn 18, and she's doing pretty well for herself. She's actually going to college at Yale. And John learns that she's going to school there, and he decides it's time to pay her a little visit. So he flies from Colorado, where he now lives, all the way over to Connecticut, where Yale is. Once he gets there, he quickly finds Jody and he begins to stalk her.
Like he figures out which dorm she's staying in and he starts leaving her love notes and poems in her mailbox. And I guess when that doesn't really work, he figures out her dorm phone number and he starts calling her. He even talks to her briefly on the phone a couple of times, and he tells her that he's the one who's been leaving notes for her. And Jodi is, of course, totally creeped out by all this, and she tells him to stop. But John, he's so obsessed with her that he actually records some of these calls.
Oh, no, not you again. Look, I really can't talk to you, okay? You understand why I can't, you know, carry on these conversations with people I don't know. You understand that it's dangerous and not fair and it's rude. All right? Well, I understand that, but it's just, it's the same thing, okay? So you just don't ever want good times?
No. And so anyway, she tells him to stop, but of course, John doesn't stop. So Jody has to stop answering the phone. She even hands all of his love letters over to the dean at Yale and reports him. But see, John isn't going to give up. He's determined to impress her and win her over. So he comes up with a new plan. He's going to do exactly what the main character in Taxi Driver does in the movie. He's going to assassinate a political figure. And the political figure he targets is the president of the United States during this time, Jimmy Carter, who's actually running for re-election. And so John gets to work, and he makes an attempt to get close to him. Because Carter is currently in Ohio doing a campaign rally.
And there, there are a lot of people at this event, and John actually gets within 20 feet of Carter. So close enough to shoot him. But he doesn't have his gun with him, he doesn't even really have a coherent plan at this point. He just wanted to see if he could get close enough to a president to attack him.
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