[KarlInOhio]

I forget who wrote the story about the speech, but it was amazing how many White House staffers were trying to remove the "tear down this wall" section as overly provocative. Reagan kept on putting it back in.

Consider that you really start remembering things and connecting them together around ten years old (I clearly remember Carter's term in office, not so much with Ford or Nixon). That means anyone thirty-five or under only knows about this speech as history instead of as part of their lives. Excuse me while I go shake my cane at some whippersnappers who are on my lawn.

[rottndog]

I was in the Navy at the time, just finishing boot camp. I ended up on a submarine out hunting the Soviets. By the time I got out, the Soviet/Russian threat had largely subsided, thanks to RR.

[Straight Vermonter]

I forget who wrote the story about the speech, but it was amazing how many White House staffers were trying to remove the "tear down this wall" section as overly provocative. Reagan kept on putting it back in.

Peggy Noonan's excellent biography of Reagan has a good recounting of the battle over including this in the speech.

That means anyone thirty-five or under only knows about this speech as history instead of as part of their lives.

This speech happened on the day I graduated from high school so, unfortunately, it is really just history for me too.

[Kozak]

Peter Robinson wrote the speech, one of the junior speech writers at the time. EVERY senior aid to the president wanted that line removed. The president stuck to his guns and the rest is history. By the way checkout the Ricochet.com web site, it’s run by Robinson.