The first time Kathy Paul and Wendy Koenig met President Reagan, they cut off the front of the President's

pinstrip suit jacket.

Paul and Kenig were nurses at the George Washington University Hospital,

and they were getting Reagan ready for emergency surgery.

This was March 30, 1981.

A disturbed man named John Hinkley Jr.

had just shot the president as he had left the Washington Hilton Hotel.

Hinkley had also wounded White House Press Secretary Jim Brady, a Secret Service agent, and a police officer.

In the chaos that followed, Reagan was rushed to the hospital. That's where he lost his suit jacket.

And for at least a short time, Reagan lost the Biscuit.

That's right, the Biscuit, and it was a big deal.

The Biscuit is the nickname for a little card that every

president carries with him at all times. It has a set of verification codes that the president

is supposed to recite after he's made the decision to order a nuclear attack.

You see, the president can't just push a button

to launch nuclear missiles like you see in the movies.

There's actually a fairly bureaucratic process that takes

place. Let's say the president learns of an imminent nuclear attack against the

United States. That would lead to the opening of the football. What's the football? That's the nickname for what's officially known as the President's

Emergency Satchol. It's a big black briefcase that contains the nuclear options available to the president and it has

the instructions for contacting top military commanders. The football

follows the president everywhere he goes everywhere it's not carried by him but it has to follow

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