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Who is John Hinckley Jr.?

John Hinckley Jr. is the would-be assassin of President Ronald Reagan. On March 30, 1981, only two months after being sworn in as President, Ronald Reagan was shot in an attempted assassination by John Hinckley Jr. Hinckley’s motivation is said to have been some sort of deranged attempt to impress actress Jodie Foster. Although President Reagan would recover from his wounds and go on to serve two terms as President, his press secretary James Brady would die from his wounds 33 years later in 2014. Brady’s death would be ruled a homicide caused by his gunshot would from Hinckley. John Hinckley was declared not guilty by reason of insanity and remained locked up in a psychiatric facility until September 2016 when he was released into the care of his elderly mother.

Famous Kin

In addition to being a descendant of Mayflower passengers John Howland and John Tilley, John Hinckley Jr. is also the great-grandson of Francis Edward Hinckley. Francis Hinckley is one of the co-founders of the University of Chicago. John Hinckley Jr. is also a cousin to former First Lady Nancy Reagan, wife of the president he shot. Although there is no known family connection between John Hinckley Jr. and President Ronald Reagan, he does have a number of other U.S. Presidents in his family tree that include Barack Obama, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, Warren G. Harding, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Gerald Ford, Calvin Coolidge, Richard Nixon, Howard Taft, and both Presidents Bush.

John Hinckley Jr. has a number of celebrities in his family tree. One of the most surprising is his connection to Jodie Foster, the object of his obsession that led to his assassination attempt on President Reagan. Other celebrities in his family tree include actor Alec Baldwin, director Howard Hawks, actor Humphrey Bogart, actress Kyra Sedgwick, actor Kevin Bacon, actress Shirley Temple, actor Christopher Lloyd, TV chef Julia Child, actor Ted Danson, composer Cole Porter, comedian Chevy Chase, songwriter Harry Chapin, and numerous others. He also has a royal connection through his kinship to the late Princess Diana.

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Some of the most recently added connections of famous kin for John Hinckley, Jr.

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