Seriously, Folks...

When Nancy Reagan first arrived at George Washington University Hospital, her husband deadpanned:

"Honey, I forgot to duck." The President, a onetime radio sportscaster, borrowed that line from Prizefighter Jack Dempsey, who said it to his wife in 1926 after losing the world heavyweight championship to Gene Tunney.

The crack was the first in a barrage of good-humored quips that Reagan tossed off after the shooting. The remarks, made before he had learned that other victims had been critically injured, did much to reassure his family, his staff and the American public that he was still healthy enough to laugh. They were also the envy of at least one other comedian. Said Johnny Carson to his audience at Hollywood's Academy Awards ceremony: "I was tempted to call him and ask if he had any more of those one-liners I could use."

Examples of the President's jests:

> To surgeons, as he entered the operating room: "Please tell me you're Republicans."

-- In a written note, upon coming out of anesthesia in the recovery room (paraphrasing Comedian W.C. Fields):

"All in all, I'd rather be in Philadelphia."

> In another note, recalling a Winston Churchill observation: "There's no more exhilarating feeling than being shot at without result."

-- In a third note: "Send me to L.A., where I can see the air I'm breathing."

> In yet another note written while surrounded by medical staff: "If I had this much attention in Hollywood, I'd have stayed there."

-- Complimented by a doctor for being a good patient: "I have to be. My father-in-law is a doctor."

-- To an attentive nurse: "Does Nancy know about us?"

> To a nurse who told him to "keep up the good work" of his recovery:

"You mean this may happen several more times?"

-- To Daughter Maureen: The attempted assassination "ruined one of my best suits."

-- Greeting White House aides the morning after surgery: "Hi, fellas.

I knew it would be too much to hope that we could skip a staff meeting."

-- When told by Aide Lyn Nofziger that the Government was running normally: "What makes you think I'd be happy about that?"

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.