Twenty-five years ago President Ronald Reagan went to Berlin and, in a speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate, issued this call:
“We welcome change and openness; for we believe that freedom and security go together, that the advance of human liberty can only strengthen the cause of world peace. There is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace. General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
I don’t remember President Reagan’s speech being widely reported at the time. The New York Times had an article on it, but I could not find anything in The Washington Post or Chicago Tribune archives (which I realize may say more about my searching abilities). In any case, in June of 1987, nobody expected the Berlin Wall would come down any time soon. In fact, it wasn’t until an East German election more fraudulent than normal in May of 1989, that protests in East Germany started to involve more than just a handful of people.
But whether the speech was a big deal or not in 1987, it has become one since then. And I have no problem with a little bit of historical revisionism (if that is what it is) because President Reagan’s speech represented what is best about America: Standing up for the principles of liberty, freedom, peace and a chance for prosperity, and calling on other countries to live up to those principles, too. But it was more than just talking about them. It was also, when we had a chance two and a half years later, following through on our principles to help the people of East Germany – and Eastern Europe – secure freedom, liberty, and a chance for prosperity for themselves. And accomplishing it peacefully.
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Here is President Reagan’s full speech, courtesy of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
Here is an article by Peter Robinson, the speechwriter who wrote the speech, talking about, inter alia, all of the efforts to get the iconic line, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall,” taken out of the speech.
Update (6/11/12 7:50 am): Corrected two typos in the last paragraph.
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