Ronald Reagan assassination attempt

The diary’s account of the Ronald Reagan assassination attempt centers on its immediate emotional aftershock. At Sharon Hammond’s birthday party on March 30, 1981, the gathering’s festive mood existed alongside recent public anxiety, which eased as guests learned Reagan was expected to survive.

Anxiety and relief

The entry describes people as having been nervous after Reagan was shot, then relieved by the expectation that he would recover. It offers no account of the attack’s circumstances; instead, the changing expectation of his survival is the event’s defining detail in this scene.

The party as a social setting

The account places this reaction inside Sharon Hammond’s birthday party, which the diarist describes as festive. Political shock enters the record through the guests’ mood, interrupting but not erasing the ordinary social occasion.

Other conversations that evening

The diary also notes hearing Lester Persky discuss Popism with another producer. Persky said he wanted to buy it, but the diarist was unsure whether he meant the film rights or a copy of the book. This uncertainty sits beside the party’s relief, preserving the evening as a mixture of public crisis and everyday industry talk.