President Ronald Reagan acknowledges the crowd after his speech in front of the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin, where he said: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! " on June 12, 1987. | AP Photo Reagan challenges Gorbachev to 'tear down' Berlin Wall, June 12, 1987

On this day in 1987, President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down” the wall that divided Communist East Germany from the western enclave in Berlin. In August 1961, the East Germans, with strong support from Moscow, erected the wall to deter their citizens from leaving for the West. From 1949 until the wall’s inception, some 2.5 million East Germans had fled their country in search of a better life.

With the wall serving as a dramatic backdrop near the historic Brandenburg Gate, Reagan, standing on a high platform, told the large throng gathered on the western side of the wall that “there is one sign the Soviets can make that would be unmistakable, that would advance dramatically the cause of freedom and peace.”


He then added: “Gen. 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!” After making this gesture, the president went on to call upon Gorbachev to undertake arms reduction talks with the United States.

Later in his speech, Reagan said, “As I looked out a moment ago from the Reichstag, that embodiment of German unity, I noticed words crudely spray-painted upon the wall, perhaps by a young Berliner, ‘This wall will fall. Beliefs become reality.’ Yes, across Europe, this wall will fall. For it cannot withstand faith; it cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.”

Reagan’s speech served as a reminder that, despite Gorbachev’s repeated statements calling for a new relationship with the West, the United States wanted to see more action and fewer words from Moscow in the bid to further dampen Cold War tensions.

Peter Robinson, a White House speechwriter who drafted the address, said its most enduring line was inspired by a conversation he had with Ingeborg Elz, a former World Bank employee who had lived in Washington for many years and then retired at age 60 to West Berlin.

She remarked to him: “If this man Gorbachev is serious with his talk of glasnost and perestroika he can prove it by getting rid of this wall.”

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Reagan’s brief visit to West Berlin, his first in five years, was scheduled so he could also take part in the city’s 750th anniversary celebration.

On Nov. 9, 1989, the barrier came down, to the delight of East and West Berliners alike. The two Germanys were officially reunited on Oct. 3, 1990.

In 1985, Gorbachev had become the top figure in the Politburo in his capacity as general secretary of the Soviet Communist Party. He stepped down in 1991 as the Soviet Union imploded. Reagan, who served two terms as president, from 1981 to 1989, died on June 5, 2004, at age 93.

SOURCE: “PRESIDENT REAGAN: THE ROLE OF A LIFETIME,” BY LOU CANNON (2000)

