7 The 100 Most Influential World Leaders of All Time 7Presidents (left to right) Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and
Richard Nixon, 1982. U.S. Department of Defense
agreed to release them. Then, on March 30, 1981, Reagan
was shot by John W. Hinckley, Jr. After his release from
the hospital 12 days later, Reagan made a series of carefully
staged public appearances designed to give the impression
that he was recovering quickly, while in fact he remained
seriously weakened for months and his workload was
sharply curtailed.
Domestic Policies
Domestically, the fi rst Reagan term set a new tone, indi-
cated in such themes as “getting the government off the
backs of the people” and not letting it spend more than it