25 Years Ago Today – Ronald Reagan Challenges Mikhail Gorbachev: “Tear Down This Wall!”

“Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”

Twenty-five years ago today, Ronald Reagan delivered this challenge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, “Tear down this wall!”
It was the challenge issued by United States President Ronald Reagan to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to destroy the Berlin Wall, in a speech at the Brandenburg Gate near the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987.

The Great Ronald Reagan shook the Soviet regime 25 years ago today.

Here are a few lines from that famous speech.

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!

I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent– and I pledge to you my country’s efforts to help overcome these burdens. To be sure, we in the West must resist Soviet expansion. So we must maintain defenses of unassailable strength. Yet we seek peace; so we must strive to reduce arms on both sides.

Beginning 10 years ago, the Soviets challenged the Western alliance with a grave new threat, hundreds of new and more deadly SS-20 nuclear missiles, capable of striking every capital in Europe. The Western alliance responded by committing itself to a counter-deployment unless the Soviets agreed to negotiate a better solution; namely, the elimination of such weapons on both sides. For many months, the Soviets refused to bargain in earnestness. As the alliance, in turn, prepared to go forward with its counter-deployment, there were difficult days–days of protests like those during my 1982 visit to this city–and the Soviets later walked away from the table.

But through it all, the alliance held firm. And I invite those who protested then– I invite those who protest today–to mark this fact: Because we remained strong, the Soviets came back to the table. (cheers)

Two years later, in November 1989, East Germans issued a decree for the wall to be opened, allowing people to travel freely into West Berlin.

Update (by Andrea Ryan): A special credit should be given to Peter Robinson, President Reagan’s speechwriter who wrote this speech. He is currently Editor-In-Chief for Ricochet. You can read his three short posts here describing the courage and conviction Reagan had to keep these words under strong objection by the National Security Council and the State Department…wanting those words removed.

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#2 June 12, 2012 at 5:43 pm
costin commented:

25 years later the soviets return to Poland!

Russian soccer fans marched today in the center of Wroclaw, major Polish Town, holding communist flags and beating up passers by and journalists.

Read it in in the international press, you will only find out that Polish extremists attacked poor rusian soccer fans.

I found NO pictures with the communist flags in western press (or eastern europe, for that matter)]

Pictures here: http://tinyurl.com/ck3vhut
#3 June 12, 2012 at 5:47 pm
bigkahuna commented:

Today Obama says….please hire people and I wanna hire more teachers and firefighters damn it.!

Please dont build nuclear bombs Iran…. pretty please.
#4 June 12, 2012 at 5:48 pm
Ella commented:

Ronald Reagan, that’s when we had a real president.
#5 June 12, 2012 at 6:14 pm
lizzy84 commented:

President Reagan, we will always miss you.
#6 June 12, 2012 at 6:18 pm
MVH commented:

Vivat Ronaldus Magnus!
#7 June 12, 2012 at 6:26 pm
Annoyed In Illinois commented:

Aside from having spent 20 years in Illinois, there are ZERO similarities between Ronald Reagan and Barack Odumbo.

I’d have to type for three hours to delineate all the differences.
#8 June 12, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Hussein Soetoro commented:

Mister Putin, build up this wall!
#9 June 12, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Taqiyyotomist commented:

OT

SHELLIE ZIMMERMAN ARRESTED FOR PERJURY.

http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2012/06/12/shellie-zimmerman-arrested-for-perjury-prosecutorial-pressure-leverage-and-now-im-really-pissed/

Update: Released on $1000 bond.

This gets sicker and more like a Franz Kafka novel each day.
#10 June 12, 2012 at 6:35 pm
Jim commented:

And Jeb Bush claims that Reagan would not be nominated never mind being elected today – HELL yes he would.
http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2012/06/jeb-bush-ronald-reagan-would-have-a-hard-time-getting-nominated-by-todays-ultra-conservative-gop-party/
#11 June 12, 2012 at 6:37 pm
jainphx commented:

obama, that name does nothing but raise laughter in me. Ronald Reagan, that name makes me stand up and cheer, he was all man and all American.
#12 June 12, 2012 at 6:45 pm
P. Aaron commented:

OBAMA: “Mr. Putin, let’s Restore This Wall!”
#13 June 12, 2012 at 6:49 pm
FurryGuy commented:

Man, I so miss Reagan. One of America’s greatest presidents, ever.

Reagan stared down the Evil Empire, and won. Barry bowed to the Islamic Empire, and we all are going to lose if such defeatist policies continue.
#14 June 12, 2012 at 7:01 pm
Taqiyyotomist commented:

I REALLY wish people would quit fellating Reagan for “beating the Evil Empire”.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/01/did_communism_fake_its_own_dea.html

Yeah, while we “beat” communism, communism infiltrated and completely took over our schools from K-12-PhD, our institutions such as the YW/MCA, Girl Scouts, NAACP, ACLU, SPLC, and a few thousand more, our every printed newspaper, most book publishers, most television stations and networks, Hollywood, most of our Federal Government, and now has a Trojan Horse named Obama, or Soetoro, or something, as PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

Reagan, and America, WAS F&*KIN’ DUPED.

And we kinda deserve it for being so intellectually lazy and too cowardly to take on the communists at home.

Yeah, I said it.
#15 June 12, 2012 at 7:04 pm
Taqiyyotomist commented:

We live in a cockroach-infested home, while bragging daily about how we destroyed the cockroach home base.

GAH!
#16 June 12, 2012 at 7:06 pm
Taqiyyotomist commented:

And the communists are LAUGHING! OH, are they laughing. Every time we brag.

Every time we brag, tens of thousands of bureaucrats at unaccountable communist agencies such as the EPA, tens of thousands of communist college professors are LAUGHING THEIR F^&KING ASSES OFF!
#17 June 12, 2012 at 7:09 pm
Taqiyyotomist commented:

McCarthy was close to the truth. He only understated the problem by orders of magnitude.

And HE was the bad guy. Right.
#18 June 12, 2012 at 7:10 pm
Taqiyyotomist commented:

And nobody laughs harder than Barack and Michelle, when we brag “we beat Communism!”
#20 June 12, 2012 at 8:28 pm
MVH commented:

He didn’t “go wobbly.” Thank G-d!