President Reagan, Tear Down This Wall Speech - 1987

Historic Voices: Global History and Culture

S03-E18 President Ronald Reagan spoke at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin that is often referred to as the “Tear Down this Wall” speech. Like many other U.S. presidents, President Reagan gave a speech in Berlin during the Cold War between the U.S. and the Soviets. To demonstrate solidarity with the German people who were in Soviet-occupied East Germany, President Kennedy stated two decades earlier “I am a Berliner” and identified with their struggle for freedom. President Reagan’s speech touched on many topics, but the most famous line came in the middle of the speech when he not only identified with the struggle that President Kennedy had described, but Reagan called upon the Soviets to tear down the Berlin wall. The Brandenburg Gate was just one spot along a long line of separation that divided Germany in half with Communist troops, barbed wire, and fences. This is generally listed as one of President Reagan finest speeches. Two years after this speech was given, the Berlin Wall indeed was removed and the Brandenburg Gate was opened. But the story for why that occurred is a tremendously complicated event and one that may be explored in another speech in the future.

In addition to this audio episode, I also provide several PDF documents: first, a transcript of this speech, secondly a biography of President Reagan, thirdly, a history of the Brandenburg Gates, and finally, a short analysis of Reagan’s speech.

These audio recordings come from the American Rhetoric online database. This website provides more than 5,000 speech transcripts, audio recordings, and videos of public speeches, sermons, lectures, interviews, and more. Check out the website at http://americanrhetoric.com

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