In 1980, Hinckley Sr. was a Texas oilman who, the records show, strove mightily to get fellow Texas oilman George H.W. Bush the Republican nomination for president. The Bushes and the Hinckleys were frequent dinner companions.
But far beyond their social connection, neither Bush nor Hinckley wanted Ronald Reagan to become president, because Reagan was opposed to tax breaks for the oil industry to which Bush, Hinckley and other Texans were highly dependent.
The effort to make Bush Sr. president in 1980 failed; but he and his friend and backer Hinckley Sr. got the next best thing the "heartbeat away from the presidency" office of Vice-President of the United States.
A couple months later, Hinckley Jr. shot Reagan, and Bush Sr. very nearly did become president at that time, after all. Curiously, only one time was it announced on the news about the connections between the Bush and Hinckley families: An almost bewildered John Chancellor on NBC Nightly News reported "the bizarre coincidence" that Vice President Bush's son, Neil, and Scott Hinckley had dinner plans for March 31, 1981 -- now cancelled, of course. [But even Chancellor failed to mention the close friendship between the the assassin's father and Vice President Bush--let alone the rest of the corporate media.]
Reports indicate that the Bush family strove mightily to keep this information from the American people. And some reports list this incredible "coincidence" -- directly linked to the assassination attempt of President Reagan -- as one of the most spiked stories of the last century.
In other words, the brother of the shooter and the son of the vice-president (and their wives) had a dinner date for the day after the shooting. But it really wasnt such "a bizarre coincidence." Those two families were very close; but the press never focused on that critical fact as it should have. If Reagan had died, the oilmens interests would have been served.
Some people think that Hinckley Jr. was mind-controlled, CIA-style, to shoot Reagan. George Bush Sr. was head of the CIA a few years before. Others think that young Hinckley wanted to please his dad and get Bush, his dads candidate and close friend, into the presidency for him after all.