Tear down this wall!
"Tear down this wall" was the famous challenge from United States President Ronald Reagan to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall.
In a speech at the Brandenburg Gate, by the Berlin Wall, on June 12, 1987, Reagan challenged Gorbachev, then the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, to tear it down as a symbol of his desire for increasing freedom in the Soviet bloc.
Background
President Reagan's 1987 visit was his second within five years. It came at a time of heightened East-West tensions, caused in particular by the debate over the stationing of short range American missiles in Europe. Officially organized as part of Berlin's 750th birthday celebration, Administration officials planned carefully over the preceding six months in order to provide the event with a special political focus as a means of counteracting the Soviet peace offensive in Europe. The Brandenburg Gate site was chosen to highlight the President's determination to open the Berlin Wall. His speech focused on a series of political initiatives to achieve this end. The famous "tear down this wall" phrase was intended as the logical conclusion of the President's proposals. As the speech was being drafted, inclusion of the historic words became a source of considerable controversy within the Reagan Administration. Several senior advisors and aides advised against saying anything which might cause further East-West tensions or potential embarrassment to the Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, with whom President Reagan had built a good relationship. . American officials in Germany and presidential speechwriters including Peter Robinson thought otherwise. Despite getting little support, Robinson included a phrase about the wall in the text, and met with President Reagan soon afterward. Reagan responded to the speech by saying, "I thought it was a good, solid draft." Reagan's then-Chief of Staff Howard Baker objected, saying it sounded "unpresidential" and "extreme," and Deputy National Security Advisor (and future Secretary of State) Colin Powell agreed.[1][2][3] Nevertheless, Reagan said he liked the passage and said, "I think we'll leave it in."[4]
So, on the dramatic June afternoon, Reagan spoke the following:
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, tear down this wall!
Two years later, Gorbachev allowed Berliners to destroy the wall, and the Soviet Union collapsed soon afterward. Although there is some disagreement over how much influence, if any, Reagan's words had on the destruction of the wall,[5] the speech is remembered as one of the finest in world history.[4]
Cultural references
- In the Family Guy episode "Peter's Got Woods", during a flashback, Reagan is shown at a wall saying the phrase, and then turns around and begins punching the wall while saying, "Reagan smash!" The camera pans out to show he is standing outside of a McDonald's restaurant.
- In the South Park episode "Child Abduction Is Not Funny", the mayor tells the Mr. Lu Kim to "tear down this wall!" that they had made him build.
- During the 2006 White House Correspondents Dinner, celebrity impersonator, Steve Bridges gave a line "Mr. President, tear down this wall", suggesting the Chinese bring down Great Wall of China to "eliminate barrier."[1]
- Stephen Colbert celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the speech on his show The Colbert Report on June 12, 2007.
- In the webcomic Shortpacked! (where Ronald Reagan has a recurring role, he confronts Ethan (who supposedly has emotional troubles) and orders him to "tear down this wall," the "wall" being his mental defenses.
Footnotes
- ^ Washington Monthly Online July/August 2000
- ^ The Eighties Club - The Inside Story of Reagan's Berlin Challenge
- ^ The History Net - Inside Story of Reagan's Berlin Challenge to "Tear Down This Wall!"
- ^ a b Walsh, Kenneth T. (2007). "Seizing the Moment". U.S. News & World Report: 39–41.
{{cite journal}}:|access-date=requires|url=(help); Unknown parameter|month=ignored (help) - ^ Letters to the editor in reply to an LA Times article crediting Reagan with the fall of the Berlin wall.
References
Peter Robinson, It's My Party: A Republican's Messy Love Affair with the GOP, 2000, hardcover, Warner Books, ISBN 0-446-52665-7
Ambassador John Kornblum "Reagan's Brandenburg Concerto", The American Interest, May-June, 2007.
See also
External links
- Full text and audio MP3 of the speech
- Media met its match - obituary crediting Reagan with getting rid of the Berlin Wall