Reagan wanted to meet attacker

It wasn't enough that Ronald Reagan had forgiven John Hinckley Jr. in his heart. He wanted to forgive the young man to his face. Pope John P...

It wasn8217;t enough that Ronald Reagan had forgiven John Hinckley Jr. in his heart. He wanted to forgive the young man to his face. Pope John Paul II had extended his hand to the man who tried to kill him, and Reagan was apparently inspired to do the same.

In 1983, Reagan asked the White House physician to see whether a meeting with Hinckley was possible, according to people involved in the effort. Hinckley was at St. Elizabeth8217;s Psychiatric Hospital here, after being found not guilty by reason of insanity in the shooting of Reagan and three others.

It would be a remarkable moment, the President face to face with the man who tried to assassinate him. 8216;8216;I had the feeling he really wanted to do it,8217;8217; said Roger Peele, then head of psychiatry at St. Elizabeth8217;s.

But Reagan wanted to know what Hinckley8217;s caretakers thought. Peele found himself on the phone with the President, who called from Air Force One.

8216;8216;He said he only wanted to do what was in Mr. Hinckley8217;s best interests,8217;8217; Peele recalled in an interview. The psychiatrist joked that the President should join the treatment team. 8216;8216;He laughed,8217;8217; Peele said. Then the conversation turned serious. Peele said a meeting would be unwise. 8216;8216;I was concerned that it would diminish Hinckley8217;s sense of responsibility,8217;8217; he said.

Peele, now 73 and chief psychiatrist for the suburban Montgomery County, MD, health department, first recounted the conversation with Reagan in a letter on Friday in The Washington Post. Hinckley had tried take the President8217;s life in a bid to impress actress Jodie Foster, a sign of his narcissistic personality disorder and delusions of grandeur.

Reporters were pleading for interviews, and autograph seekers were sending 5 and 10 checks, hoping he would sign and cash them. A meeting with the President would only compound the problem.

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8216;8216;I didn8217;t want him to feel rewarded in any way for what he did,8217;8217; Peele said. Telling the President that wasn8217;t easy.

If Reagan got his way, it probably wouldn8217;t hurt, Peele remembers thinking. 8216;8216;Even so,8217;8217; he said, 8216;8216;I thought it was my role to say what was in the patient8217;s interest.8217;8217; Daniel Ruge, then the White House physician, arranged for Reagan and Peele to talk.

The President had first broached the idea with Ruge at Camp David, Ruge, now 87 and living in Denver, said yesterday. The revelation that the President wanted to meet with him, said Hinckley8217;s lawyer, Barry W. Levine, 8216;8216;demonstrates the magnanimity of the President, a man of grace, great grace8217;8217;. 8212;LAT-WP