President Ronald Reagan stood before a crowd of 20,000 30 years ago today, on June 12, 1987, to deliver one of his most famous speeches.
Standing at the Brandenburg Gate in West Berlin Germany, Reagan called on Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall – a barrier that had divided socialist Eastern Germany from West Germany since 1961.
“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,” Reagan said.
“This wall will fall,” Reagan said. “For it cannot withstand faith. It cannot withstand truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom.”
Two years after Reagan’s iconic speech the Berlin wall did come down, celebrated by many as an icon of the triumph over Marxism and freedom from Russian socialism.
