Tear down this wall

Tuesday is the 20th anniversary of Ronald Reagan giving his now famous Tear down this wall speech in Berlin.

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!

The irony is that this part of the speech was vigorously opposed by both the State Department and the National Security Council. Most of the media reports at the time were very negative on it also. Peter Robinson, the person who wrote the speech for Reagan, details here the numerous attempts people made all the way up to the Chief of Staff and Secretary of State to get the words changed.

I met Peter Robinson in Santa Barbara last year and got to hear from him first hand the story of the speech. Inspiring indeed. Especially to all those in Eastern Europe who heard it.