Jerry Parr was a 9-year-old boy when his father took him to see the movie Code of the Secret Service (1939) starring Ronald Reagan as dashing agent Brass Bancroft. The film inspired Parr to join the U.S. Secret Service, and he was widely credited with saving Reagan's life during the 1981 assassination attempt. Parr later told Reagan how the movie had influenced him to become a Secret Service agent. The president reportedly laughed and said, "That was the cheapest film I ever made."
This is Cynthia Nixon's second TV movie role playing a First Lady. She played Eleanor Roosevelt in Warm Springs (2005)
Real-life First Lady Nancy Reagan died during the production of his film and the real-life John Hinckley was released from prison. These updates were added post-production in the on-screen text at the end.
Second time for Tim Matheson playing a president. He previously play John F. Kennedy in Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis (2000)
Some of the lines that Tim Matheson says in the film are the exact verbatim from Reagan and were iterated at the same place, including the "Sorry honey, I forgot to duck" at the hospital and "There you go again" in his debate with Jimmy Carter.