Standing before the Brandenburg Gate with the Berlin Wall at his back, President Ronald Reagan delivered a speech directly challenging Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to prove his reform credentials by demolishing the barrier dividing East and West Berlin. Though largely overlooked by press at the time, the line 'tear down this wall' became one of the Cold War's most quoted phrases after the Wall fell two years later.
Reagan's speechwriter Peter Robinson crafted the line over the objections of State Department and National Security Council staff, who considered it needlessly provocative and worried it would embarrass Gorbachev during a period of delicate arms negotiations. Draft after draft tried to soften or cut it; Reagan insisted it stay, reportedly telling aides 'I think it's the right thing to do.'
The speech was delivered to a crowd of West Berliners gathered near the Wall, with loudspeakers positioned so East Berliners might catch fragments across the barrier, though East German police kept most residents away from the border that day. American media coverage at the time was modest; the New York Times ran the story on an inside page.
Gorbachev, already pursuing glasnost and perestroika, gave no immediate response, and Soviet officials dismissed the challenge. But the phrase gained mythic status after November 1989, when East German authorities, overwhelmed by mass protests and defections, opened the Wall's checkpoints and Berliners literally tore down sections with hammers. Reagan's line was retroactively cast as prophecy, cementing the speech's place in Cold War lore even though its immediate diplomatic impact was minimal.
Key people: Ronald Reagan, Mikhail Gorbachev