Unique archive containing four TLSs from ABC broadcast journalist Barbara Walters to would-be Reagan assassin John Hinckley, Jr., plus one ALS from Hinckley to Walters in response. The four Walters letters are each one page on ABC News letterhead, dated from July 12, 1982 to September 15, 1982. In her first letter, Walters writes: "I have read your letters to the various newspapers. If ever there is a time when you would consider letting the people understand your views, I hope that you will consider doing the interview with me. I can promise you a fair and understanding view."
Her next two letters outline some terms for a potential interview ("I realize that there will be certain areas that you would not be able to discuss, and I can promise that we will restrict ourselves to whatever you and your attorneys feel is best…I can assure you of a most dignified interview aired in prime time to an intelligent and caring audience") and offer him some encouragement ("So much has been written about you, and so much is probably inaccurate that we look forward to this opportunity to present your thoughts and to have the American audience understand you a bit better").
Her final letter, in part: "I am very sad that St. Elizabeth's Hospital will not allow you to do an interview and express your views. However, since you say that the only way you can now 'communicate with the real world is through the written word,' then please do write me your thoughts, and I promise you I will read them on the ABC Network so that everyone will have the opportunity to understand you. You might want to tell us how you feel about your trial, how you feel about Ronald Reagan, how you feel about Jodie Foster, and what, if you were the jury, you would have thought advisable for John Hinckley. You might want to talk a bit about your family and what you feel should have been done to have helped you. There are millions of people with sons and daughters who are in troubled spirits who might profit from your thoughts. Whatever you decide to write about, I would like to hear. If you do make a videotape, that would, of course, be extremely important for us to have, and I would indeed show it on '20/20' along with what you have written us."
Hinckley's eventual reply (presumably his own retained copy) is an ALS signed "John Hinckley, Jr.," one page, March 1984, written from St. Elizabeth's Hospital in Washington, DC. In full: "Dear Barbara Walters, You have taken an interest in me and my family and I would like to give you a good progress report. I'm letting you be the first person in the outside world to know that I have gotten over the obsession with Jodie Foster. For the past year I have been free from Jodie and my life without her is wonderful. I've found some wonderful relationships here at St. Elizabeth's and I've never been happier. My parents are on a crusade to help the mentally ill and I wish them luck with their project. At one time I was mentally ill but now I'm better and looking forward to the day I get out of this hospital so I can perhaps help the mentally ill myself." In fine condition. Accompanied by the original mailing envelopes for the Walters letters.
On March 30, 1981, driven by an obsessive fixation with Jodie Foster, John Hinckley, Jr., attempted to assassinate President Ronald Reagan outside the Hilton Hotel in Washington in order to win the teen actress's attention. He was ultimately found not guilty by reason of insanity, and remained under institutional psychiatric care until September 2016. Throughout the 1980s, he was hounded by broadcast journalists dreaming of TV interviews—which he wished to grant—but his doctors always refused, saying that the requests fed his narcissistic personality and delusions of grandeur. Barbara Walters took a particular interest in Hinckley's case, and recorded an interview with his parents for 20/20 in April 1983. Interestingly, Hinckley was barred from giving interviews as one of the conditions for release in 2016. A unique archive related an odd moment in American history.
