The Eighties in America - Salem Press (2009)

America’s military expansion but lacked the funds to
do so. Mikhail Gorbachev, after he was elected as Gen-
eral Secretary of the Central Committee of the Com-
munist Party of the Soviet Union in 1985, tried to per-
suade Reagan to stop the American deployment of an
antiballistic missile system, known as the Strategic De-
fense Initiative (SDI), as well as the proposed increase
in intermediate-range missiles in Western Europe,
but Reagan at first refused. The two leaders reached
such rapport in their conversations at the Reykjavik
Summit during 1986, however, that they agreed in
principle that all ballistic missiles should ultimately
be abolished. They launched negotiations to reduce
the number of nuclear weapons on both sides, result-
ing in the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF)
Treaty of 1987. Their discussions also led to negotia-
tions for agreements known as the Strategic Arms Re-
duction Treaties (START I and II). SDI was placed on
the back burner. Finalization of the agreements was
left to Reagan’s successors.
In 1986, Reagan was asked whether he still re-
garded the Soviet Union as an “evil empire.” He
responded, “No,” believing that negotiations with
Gorbachev had brought about a new era in East-West
cooperation.

Impact Some observers credit the “evil empire”

speech with starting a chain reaction of events that

led to the dismantling of the Berlin Wall separating

communist East Germany from capitalist West Ger-

many in 1989 and ultimately to the end of the Cold

War by the end of the 1980’s.

Further Reading

Gaddis, John Lewis.The Cold War: A New Histor y. New

York: Penguin, 2005. Credits Reagan’s speech as a

turning point in the Cold War, abandoning the

policy of deterrence.

Johns, Michael. “Seventy Years of Evil: Soviet Crimes

from Lenin to Gorbachev.”Heritage Foundation

Policy Review, Fall, 1987. Cites 208 examples of

“evil” actions by the Soviet Union from 1917 until

1991, thereby defending the use of the term “evil

empire” against Reagan’s critics.

Michael Haas

See also Berlin Wall; Cold War; Congress, U.S.;

Foreign policy of the United States; Intermediate-

Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty; Military spend-

ing; Reagan, Ronald; Reykjavik Summit; Strategic

Defense Initiative (SDI).

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Reagan’s “Evil Empire” speech The Eighties in America

President Ronald Reagan delivers his “Evil Empire” speech to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983.(Ronald
Reagan Presidential Library)