Killing Reagan (36 page)

Authors: Bill O'Reilly

BOOK: Killing Reagan

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Chapter Seven

ââ
9
.âDelivered at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago on July 9, 1896. Bryan was a thirty-six-year-old former Nebraska congressman when he delivered the address. His oration was so powerful that the audience screamed in agreement, waving hats and canes. Some audience members threw their coats into the air. The speech, which advocated the use of silver coinage to increase American prosperity, was so effective that Bryan won the nomination. He ultimately lost the general election to Republican candidate William McKinley (who was shot by an assassin's bullet on September 6, 1901, died eight days later, and was succeeded in office by Theodore Roosevelt). William Jennings Bryan ran for the presidency twice more and later in life supplemented his income by delivering the “Cross of Gold” speech during lecture appearances. Bryan is also well known as being the foil for famed attorney Clarence Darrow during the Scopes Monkey Trial, which argued the legality of teaching evolution in schools. Bryan, a devout Presbyterian, argued against the practice. He died in his sleep five days after winning the case.

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

ââ
6
.âSpiro Agnew served as vice president from 1969 to 1973. He was very controversial, particularly because he attacked the press, once famously calling journalists “nattering nabobs of negativism.” He was accused of taking bribes and kickbacks from contractors during his time as governor of Maryland, a practice that continued into his vice presidency. He was ultimately accused of tax evasion, conspiracy, bribery, and tax fraud. However, he plea-bargained those charges down to just one: income tax evasion, to which he pleaded no contest. The terms of this deal included three years' probation and resignation from the office of vice president of the United States. Agnew never spoke to Richard Nixon again once he left office, but he was in attendance at Nixon's funeral in 1994. Spiro Agnew died of leukemia in 1996 at seventy-seven.

Chapter Eleven

ââ
8
.âMichael Lance Carvin is an admirer of convicted mass murderer Charles Manson's acolyte, Squeaky Fromme, who tried to assassinate Gerald Ford. The pistol turns out to be a toy replica of an actual pistol. Carvin, who phoned the Denver office of the Secret Service two weeks earlier to make death threats against Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and Nelson Rockefeller, is arrested and later convicted of eight felony charges on April 19, 1976. Carvin is released on bail while awaiting sentencing and promptly flees. Federal agents finally capture him in Lake City, Florida, and Carvin is sent to prison. He is released on January 4, 1982, and resumes a normal life, including getting married and landing a steady job. However, in 1998 he is accused of making death threats against controversial disc jockey Howard Stern. He is sentenced to two years in federal prison, a period reduced to seven months. His current location is unknown.

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