Ronald Reagan

“There is a great silence today in Washington. A fine newspaper is gone and a noble tradition ended.”

Ronald Reagan’s words appeared on the front page of the August 7, 1981, issue of the Washington Evening Star. The biggest piece of news that day was the end of a 128-year-old Washington institution—the story of the newspaper’s own demise.

As the sun rose over Washington, D.C., on the morning of March 30, 1981, an excited tourist lay in his bed at the Park Central Hotel on 18th Street NW. He had arrived the night before on a Greyhound bus, and had a big day ahead. But unlike most other visitors to D.C., he didn't plan to see the Lincoln Memorial or the Capitol dome. He was going to try to kill the President of the United States.