The big news of [1987]…was the INF agreement. We signed it in the East Room of the White House. I believe this proves what progress can be made when we bargain from a position of strength and determination. I don’t think the agreement would have been possible without our defense buildup. I also don’t think it would have been possible before Gorbachev. He’s quite a fellow.

The Brandenburg Gate and the Berlin Wall separate Berlin into East and West. In spite of the changes that are going on in Communist countries, especially the Soviet Union, that wall is a reminder of the difference between freedom and totalitarianism. The people of East Berlin are walled in with barbed wire and booby-trapped explosives.

The only reason Id never met with General Secretary Gorbachev’s predecessors was because they kept dying on me - Brezhnev, Chernenko, Andropov. Then along came Gorbachev. He was different in style, in substance, and, I believe, in intellect from previous Soviet leaders. He is a man who takes chances and that’s what you need for progress. He is a remarkable force for change in that country.

This is the "evil empire" speech that was often quoted as defining my attitude toward the Soviets. At the time it was portrayed as some kind of know-nothing, archconservative statement that could only drive the Soviets to further heights of paranoia and insecurity.