Excerpt: On this day in 1981, President Ronald Reagan was shot in the chest at the side entrance of the Washington Hilton on Connecticut Avenue by John Hinckley Jr. Reagan was walking to his limousine after a speech to AFL-CIO leaders when Hinckley, 25, who was standing among a group of reporters, fired six shots, hitting Reagan and three others.
I’ve always passively wondered what career choices lead to working these ultra-high level security jobs. What’s this guys story? What was he doing before he became Ronald’s well dressed uzi man?
Because this is such a well known and documented photo, we actually know the agent’s name was Robert Wanko.
Looking up his obituary provides at least a basic overview. He was a US Army Investigator for the Military Police. I don’t know what that looked like in the 1960s-70s, but in the modern day to be bumped up to an Investigator there are some higher standards than a normal MP, and a requirement of a Secret level clearance. Then he got out of the military, got a college degree, and then got hired by the USSS. He worked on both Carter and Reagan details.
Interesting. Thanks!