WASHINGTON >> Dr. Joseph Giordano, a surgeon who played a central role in saving President Ronald Reagan’s life after an assassination attempt in 1981, has died. He was 84.

He died June 24 at a hospital in Washington, D.C. from an infection related to a lengthy illness, his family said.

Giordano was in charge of The George Washington University Hospital’s trauma teams that treated Reagan after the president had been shot and badly wounded March 30, 1981. Over the course of several dramatic hours, doctors stabilized Reagan, retrieved a bullet an inch from his heart and stanched massive internal bleeding.

“Dr. Giordano and the doctors at GW, without them, Ronald Reagan would have died,” said Jerry Parr, the president’s lead Secret Service agent at the time, in a 2010 interview for the book “Rawhide Down.”

It was a typical March Monday for Giordano when John Hinckley Jr. opened fire on Reagan as the president left a speech at the Washington Hilton Hotel. Parr, the Secret Service agent, shoved Reagan into a limousine, and it hurtled from the scene. On the ride back to the White House, Parr realized Reagan had been hurt. Not knowing the extent of the injuries — doctors would soon discover he had been shot — Parr directed the limousine to the hospital.

In the ER, Giordano found a man he recognized as the president on gurney. Nurses had already cut off Reagan’s clothes and inserted IV lines.

“How are you doing, Mr. President?” he asked.

“I’m having trouble breathing,” Reagan replied.

Gens, a chief surgical resident, provided Giordano a quick summary of the situation: The president had been shot in the left side, his chest was filling with blood and they were about to insert a chest tube to drain the chest cavity.

Giordano did not hesitate. “You better let me do this one.” He made an incision eight inches below Reagan’s left armpit and inserted the tube.

It relieved pressure on Reagan’s lung and allowed him to breathe more easily. But the bleeding did not stop. Doctors decided they had to operate.

Giordano and Gens performed a peritoneal lavage — known as a “belly tap” — and ensured that Reagan’s abdomen was clear of blood. They then turned over the patient to a chest surgeon, Dr. Benjamin Aaron, who halted the bleeding and retrieved the bullet.

Reagan spent 11 days at GW and fully recovered from his wounds. Three others were injured in the shooting: White House Press Secretary Jim Brady; Secret Service agent Timothy McCarthy; and Thomas Delahanty, a police officer.

Hinckley was found not guilty by reason of insanity. He was confined at a psychiatric hospital until a federal judge in 2022 ordered his unconditional release.

The physician may best be remembered for a line he delivered in the operating room. Just before he was administered anesthesia, Reagan got up on an elbow, took off his oxygen mask and said, “I hope you are all Republicans.”

Giordano, a staunch liberal, didn’t miss a beat: “Today, Mr. President, we are all Republicans.”