Ronald Reagan was known as the Great Communicator for good reason.
He had a knack for delivering the right message at the right time.
But the Gipper rocked West and East with these four words in mid June.
Reagan’s advisors begged him not to say these words
On June 12, 1987, President Ronald Reagan positioned himself within shouting distance of one of the most despised symbols of Communist tyranny in the world.
The Berlin Wall had split East and West Berlin for almost three decades, keeping families apart and imprisoning millions of people under Communist rule.
Reagan was visiting Germany to celebrate the 750th anniversary of Berlin’s founding.
But he had something much more important on his mind than a birthday celebration.
The President planned to issue a direct challenge to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that would make headlines around the world.
His top advisors in the State Department and National Security Council were horrified by what he planned to say.
They warned him that such bold words would harm relations with Gorbachev just when the superpowers were making progress.
The speechwriter who drafted Reagan’s remarks, Peter Robinson, later revealed that top officials strongly objected to the provocative language.
They had good reason to be worried about upsetting the delicate balance of Cold War diplomacy.
Reagan and Gorbachev had been making progress toward peace and even disarmament after a productive summit in Reykjavik in October 1986.
Reagan ignored his advisors and delivered the challenge anyway
But Ronald Reagan wasn’t known for backing down from a fight.
Standing on the West German side of the Berlin Wall with the iconic Brandenburg Gate behind him, Reagan delivered one of the most famous speeches in presidential history.
"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," Reagan declared. "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate."
Reagan paused for the applause to die down before delivering the line that would define his presidency.
"Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!"
The crowd erupted in cheers, but the reaction from the political establishment was much more muted.
Western pundits dismissed Reagan’s challenge as "misguided idealism."
The Soviet news agency Tass called it "openly provocative" and "war-mongering."
Even Gorbachev himself later told an American audience that Soviet leaders "really were not impressed" and reminded people that "Mr. Reagan’s original profession was actor."
The speech marked a turning point in the Cold War
Reagan’s approach was a complete departure from his predecessors.
Presidents Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and Jimmy Carter had all focused on a policy of détente with the Soviet Union.
They tried to play down Cold War tensions and foster peaceful coexistence between the two nations.
Reagan dismissed détente as a "one-way street that the Soviet Union has used to pursue its own aims."
The Berlin Wall had been built and officially closed on August 12, 1961, to prevent East Germans from fleeing to the West.
Between 1949 and the wall’s construction, an estimated 2.5 million East Germans had escaped to the West in search of freedom.
Over the next 28 years, thousands more would risk their lives trying to escape, and some 140 people were killed in the attempt.
Reagan’s speech didn’t immediately bring down the wall, but it did something more important.
It gave hope to millions of people trapped behind the Iron Curtain that America hadn’t forgotten about them.
Four words that changed history
The Berlin Wall finally came tumbling down on November 9, 1989.
East German Communist Party leader Egon Krenz announced that citizens could now cross into West Germany freely.
That night, thousands of East and West Germans headed to the Berlin Wall with hammers, chisels, and other tools to tear it down themselves.
Over the next few weeks, the wall would be almost completely dismantled.
East and West Germany officially reunited on October 3, 1990.
Gorbachev’s reforms within the Soviet Union had given Eastern Bloc nations more freedom to determine their own governments.
Protests within East Germany gained strength, and after Hungary and Czechoslovakia opened their borders, East Germans began defecting in massive numbers.
The pressure became too much for the Communist government to handle.
Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University, later said Reagan’s speech was "seen as a turning point in the Cold War" because it "bolstered the morale of the pro-democracy movement in East Germany."
Reagan’s legacy as the Great Communicator was secured
The "Tear Down This Wall" speech didn’t mark the end of Reagan’s diplomatic efforts with Gorbachev.
The two leaders continued to meet and even signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, a major arms control agreement.
But those four words – "tear down this wall" – became what Time magazine called "the four most famous words of Ronald Reagan’s presidency."
In the aftermath of the Berlin Wall’s fall, many began to reevaluate Reagan’s earlier speech.
What had once been dismissed as naive idealism was now seen as visionary leadership.
The speech played a crucial role in creating Reagan’s enduring legacy as president and solidifying his status as the "Great Communicator."
Gorbachev was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for his work in ending the Cold War.
Reagan served two terms as president from 1981 to 1989 and died on June 5, 2004, at age 93.
Gorbachev died on August 30, 2022, at age 91.
But Reagan’s challenge to "tear down this wall" will forever be remembered as one of the defining moments that helped end the Cold War and free millions of people from Communist oppression.
Those four simple words – "tear down this wall" – proved that sometimes the most powerful weapon against tyranny is the truth spoken boldly.
