Reagan's 'Tear Down This Wall' Myth

consortiumnews.com — As the United States celebrates Ronald Reagan’s centennial birthday, the defining proof of his greatness as president will be represented by two sequential film clips – Reagan in Berlin ordering Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to “tear down this wall,” followed by scenes of the Berlin Wall coming down. he intended impression of this editing technique is to suggest a causal relationship: tough-guy Reagan tells the Soviet leader to do something and, poof, it’s done. Ronald Reagan “wins the Cold War.” While this video sophistry has worked wonders with the American public, the reality is that the two events, Reagan’s speech and the Wall’s destruction, had little to do with one another

more »