--- title: Reagan's Words: The Speeches of a 'Great Communicator' | TIME description: Ronald Reagan’s optimism and belief in American exceptionalism informed the most memorable speeches of his presidency canonical: https://time.com/video/QdcADPtG/ og:title: Reagan's Words: The Speeches of a 'Great Communicator' og:description: Ronald Reagan’s optimism and belief in American exceptionalism informed the most memorable speeches of his presidency og:url: https://time.com/video/QdcADPtG/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/QdcADPtG/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Reagan's Words: The Speeches of a 'Great Communicator' twitter:description: Ronald Reagan’s optimism and belief in American exceptionalism informed the most memorable speeches of his presidency twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/QdcADPtG/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Reagan's Words: The Speeches of a 'Great Communicator' > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription. ## Video: Reagan's Words: The Speeches of a 'Great Communicator' [Watch (HLS stream): Reagan's Words: The Speeches of a 'Great Communicator'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/QdcADPtG.m3u8) (6:42)  _Published 2011-01-27. Ronald Reagan’s optimism and belief in American exceptionalism informed the most memorable speeches of his presidency_ --- Jul 27, 2023 3:09 PM UTC --- ## More From This Series [All Videos](https://time.com/video/) [Excerpts From Ronald Reagan's June 12, 1987 West Berlin Speech ](/video/LAkmHsmK/) ### Excerpts From Ronald Reagan's June 12, 1987 West Berlin Speech [TIME Raw: Watch Nancy Reagan's Funeral Procession](/video/MJIcW16J/) ### TIME Raw: Watch Nancy Reagan's Funeral Procession [Reagan's Four Famous Syllables: 'Tear Down This Wall'](/video/xC71qa7h/) ### Reagan's Four Famous Syllables: 'Tear Down This Wall' --- ## Transcript >> Ladies and gentlemen, we take pride in presenting a thoughtful address by Ronald Reagan, Mr. Reagan. >> Thank you. >> You know, Ronald Reagan when you look back in his speeches throughout his life long before he became president, I mean there are these sort of recurring themes and tropes. >> Winston Churchill said that " the destiny of man is not measured by material computation ." >> That the United States is a shining city on a hill. That America is the last hopes for mankind. That the United States is all that separated the world from the darkness. >> You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. >> He viewed the world in this sort of very clear stark way and I think the United States in America and American values embodied this sort of idealistic beckon to the rest of the world. >> The past few days when I've been at that window upstairs, I've thought a bit of the 'shining city upon a hill.' The phrase comes from John Winthrop, who wrote it to describe the America he imagined. >> Ronald Reagan and the shining city on a hill go back along ways. It was a speech in many ways that perfect evokes Reagan's optimism and sunny outlook, his capacity to communicate those qualities to other people. >> The economic ills we suffer have come upon us over several decades. They will not go away in days, weeks, or months, but they will go away. They will go away because we, as Americans, have the capacity now, as we've had in the past, to do whatever needs to be done to preserve this last and greatest bastion of freedom. >> Reagan was the kind of person who really believed in America and he believed in American possibility and I think that spoke to a lot of people at that time in our history. >> 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! >> Reagan was a plain spoken order and he was a very eloquent person, but he was also someone who was at his most effective when he spoke from the heart. >> Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall! >> Anyone other than Ronald Reagan in effect say, tear down this wall, probably not. >> The reason why tear down this wall was so effective is because there was a simple idea. It was simply expressed. But it was also something that Reagan truly believed. >> I understand the fear of war and the pain of division that afflict this continent-- and I pledge to you my country's efforts to help overcome these burdens. >> Reagan believed what he said. He believed that the Soviet Union was not an evil empire, but was an admiration of history. >> Reagan was not a universally adored president heroes, someone who had a very strong set of political beliefs. >> In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. >> In any year, but 1980 he would have been told, he would have been to right wing, he would have been to Hollywood, he would have been to just kind of unconventional. >> But I think he made Americans believed that at heart he had their best interest in mind and that he believed in them. >> In all of that time I won a nickname, 'The Great Communicator.' But I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: It was the content. >> Reagan is often, of course, called " The Great Communicator ." And undoubtedly, there's a whole generation of Americans who looked up on Reagan and particularly the televised Reagan as someone who redefined what a president is supposed to be just as 50 years ago John Kennedy's contemporaries watched his press conferences and redefined the office or FDR's contemporaries had in the 30s. I would argue though that as powerful president as Reagan was as memorable as he could be at his best. For example in the role we've just left President Obama. >> But what we cannot do is use this tragedy as one more occasion to turn on each other. >> Every president who fills that role is walking around of Reagan's footsteps. That's it. I would use the indelible defining moments were unscripted. >> I think he was able to always keep people thinking that there was a better future lying ahead and I think that is a strength and probably one of the greatest strength with his time as president. >> My friends: We did it. We weren't just marking time. We made a difference. We made the city stronger. We made the city freer, and we left her in good hands. All in all, not bad, not bad at all. 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