Time editor reflects on Reagan’s Berlin Wall speech

On June 12, 1987 President Ronald Reagan stood before the Brandenburg Gate in West Germany and voiced his now-famous challenge to the Soviet leader: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall."

The Berlin Wall did fall on Nov. 9, 1989, 20 years ago Monday.

Reagan's speech before a crowd of 20,000 was a vital catalyst, says Romesh Ratnesar, deputy managing editor of Time Magazine and the author of "Tear Down this Wall."

"The fall of the Berlin Wall was the kind of moment that has really become very rare in our world today," Ratnesar told the World Affairs Council of Greater Richmond last night at The Jefferson Hotel in Richmond. "It was a genuine moment of hope."

Reagan's 28-minute speech alone did not end the Cold War and lead to the wall's toppling, Ratnesar said. He called the partnership that Reagan had developed with Mikhail Gorbachev the single greatest reason that the Berlin Wall fell when it did.

While Reagan had the conviction to express his core beliefs, he also had recognized Gorbachev, named general secretary of the Soviet Union in 1985, was "a different kind of Soviet leader," Ratnesar said. Gorbachev came from a new generation and believed that, to survive, the Soviet system needed wholesale economic and political reform and a less-hostile relationship with the West.

Chief speechwriter Peter Robinson, who watched Reagan's speech on television from his home in Alexandria, told Ratnesar that Reagan's delivery always made speeches better. The speechwriter said he did not realize the "natural rhythm" of the famous phrase until Reagan delivered the "four single syllables" "tear down this wall" that "hit like hammer blows."

Reagan's speech has "three broad lessons" for current and future leaders, Ratnesar said:

• "Soft power often works better than military force," he said. Reagan believed "you have to talk to your enemies," Ratnesar said. His convictions never changed, but he believed that America could not impose its values through force.

• "Patience is a virtue." It took Reagan five years to find a Soviet leader with whom he could work, Ratnesar said

• Finally, that "words do matter."