--- title: Reagan's Four Famous Syllables: 'Tear Down This Wall' | TIME description: Though his aides didn't believe the speech would have much of an impact, President Reagan's blunt demand in Berlin to 'Tear Down This Wall' was one of his most memorable moments canonical: https://time.com/video/xC71qa7h/ og:title: Reagan's Four Famous Syllables: 'Tear Down This Wall' og:description: Though his aides didn't believe the speech would have much of an impact, President Reagan's blunt demand in Berlin to 'Tear Down This Wall' was one of his most memorable moments og:url: https://time.com/video/xC71qa7h/ og:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xC71qa7h/poster.jpg?width=720 og:type: video.other twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Reagan's Four Famous Syllables: 'Tear Down This Wall' twitter:description: Though his aides didn't believe the speech would have much of an impact, President Reagan's blunt demand in Berlin to 'Tear Down This Wall' was one of his most memorable moments twitter:image: https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xC71qa7h/poster.jpg?width=720 --- # Reagan's Four Famous Syllables: 'Tear Down This Wall' > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c382d755-37d8-41a3-a9a8-9522df9beb33&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Reagan's Four Famous Syllables: 'Tear Down This Wall' [Watch (HLS stream): Reagan's Four Famous Syllables: 'Tear Down This Wall'](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xC71qa7h.m3u8) (4:21)  _Published 2011-02-06. Though his aides didn't believe the speech would have much of an impact, President Reagan's blunt demand in Berlin to 'Tear Down This Wall' was one of his most memorable moments_ --- 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 Words: The Speeches of a 'Great Communicator'](/video/QdcADPtG/) ### Reagan's Words: The Speeches of a 'Great Communicator' --- ## Transcript [00:00] >>Thank you. [00:04] >>Reagan, was going to Berlin primarily because it [00:07] was the 750th Anniversary of the founding of the city, [00:10] so there were all these events throughout the year. [00:13] >>24 years ago, President John F. Kennedy, visited [00:17] Berlin. [00:17] >>The U. S. Embassy in West Germany believed that it [00:20] would be important for Reagan to go to Berlin to show [00:23] American solidarity. [00:24] >>Well, since then, two other Presidents have come, [00:27] each in his turn to Berlin, and today I myself make my [00:31] second visit to your city. [00:34] >>John Kennedy, of course said, 'I am a Berliner', and [00:37] it was enough in 1963, under those circumstances, [00:41] the height of the cold war, to signify American [00:45] solidarity. [00:46] >>But, I must confess we are drawn here by other [00:50] things as well, by the feeling of history in this city. [00:54] >>Reagan's advisers did not have high hopes. They [00:56] didn't actually think that this was gonna be a [00:58] particularly significant moment that people were gonna [01:02] remember forever. I think, there was a sense that [01:05] Reagan, was just trying to get his political feet back [01:08] after the Iran- Contra scandal, and so the expectations [01:12] were actually fairly low. [01:13] >>If you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for [01:17] the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek [01:21] liberalization, come here to this gate. Mr. [01:26] Gorbachev, open this gate. [01:32] >>Reagan's speechwriters had inserted into the [01:36] speech this sort of challenge to Gorbachev, that they [01:39] knew if Reagan said it, would really resonate, and I [01:43] think Reagan recognized that too, because it was the [01:46] one part of the speech that he actually told the [01:49] speechwriters and the members of his staff that he [01:51] wanted to say, no matter what. [01:52] >>He did believe in good and evil. He did believe that [01:55] God had a purpose for him. That was part of his world [01:58] view, and people sensed that from him. That he was [02:00] not scared to say, the Soviet system is bad and wrong [02:04] and should be destroyed. The same way he was not [02:07] scared to say, Mr. Gorbachev, 'Tear Down This Wall'. [02:09] He was not being diplomatic. The diplomats at that [02:12] time were having a heart attack that he was going to [02:14] say this. This isn't the way people are supposed to [02:15] talk. [02:16] >>Mr. Gorbachev, " Tear Down This Wall ". [02:21] >>Could anyone, other than [02:25] Ronald Reagan, in effect, say, 'Tear Down This Wall'? [02:30] Probably not. [02:32] >>The reason why 'Tear Down This Wall' was so [02:34] effective is because it was a simple idea, it was simply [02:39] expressed, but it was also something that Reagan truly [02:42] believed. [02:43] >>I understand the fear of war and the pain of [02:45] division that afflict this continent. [02:49] >>Reagan, believed what he said. He believed that [02:52] the Soviet Union was not only an evil empire, but was [02:55] an aberration of history. [02:57] >>Yes, across Europe this wall will fall, for [03:02] it cannot withstand faith, it cannot withstand the [03:06] truth. The wall cannot withstand freedom. [03:09] >>But, I think, it was one of the things that people [03:12] responded to when you could argue that history [03:14] responded to in Reagan, and, you know, perhaps [03:18] under different circumstances and in a different time it [03:20] would have been a very dangerous attitude to have in [03:22] the Oval Office, for his time and what he was up [03:26] against. We ended up seeing that wall come down. At [03:29] the time that he was saying that, that was almost [03:31] unthinkable. [03:32] >>I have read and I have been questioned since I've [03:34] been here about certain demonstrations against my [03:38] coming, and I would like to say just one [03:42] thing, and to those who demonstrate so. I [03:46] wonder if they have ever asked themselves, that if they [03:51] should have the kind of government they apparently [03:54] seek, no one would ever be able to do what [03:58] they're doing again. ```json {"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Reagan's Four Famous Syllables: 'Tear Down This Wall'","description":"Though his aides didn't believe the speech would have much of an impact, President Reagan's blunt demand in Berlin to 'Tear Down This Wall' was one of his most memorable moments","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xC71qa7h/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2011-02-06T00:38:10.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xC71qa7h.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/video/xC71qa7h/","duration":"PT4M21S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/video/xC71qa7h/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}} ```