Today in History

June 12, 1987

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall

On June 12, 1987, US President Ronald Reagan stood in front of cameras poised at the Berlin Wall. It was clear that the arms race with the Soviet Union was nearly over, that the United States had driven the Soviets to the brink of collapse. Soviet leader Gorbachev had met with Reagan at a number of summits to discuss the future of relations between the two nations. The future was clear, and Reagan seized a dramatic moment to make the following speech:

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 Soviet Union allowed the Berlin Wall to be torn down in 1989. Less than two years later, the Soviet Union had collapsed.

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