President Ronald Reagan – The Berlin Wall, West Germany – June 12, 1987 – Speech made against the advise of his senior speech writers and advisors.
“…if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization. Come here to this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate. Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
President John F. Kennedy – Berlin, West Germany June 26, 1963
“Today in the world of freedom, the proudest boast is, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’ All free men wherever they may live are citizens of Berlin, and there for, as a free man, I take pride in the words, ‘Ich bin ein Berliner.’ (I am a Berliner.)”
President George W. Bush – Ground Zero – New York City – September 14, 2001
“The nation stands with the good people of New York City and New Jersey and Connecticut as we mourn the loss of thousands of our citizens. (In response to a fire firefighter’s shout of ‘We can’t hear you’) “I can hear you! The rest of the world hears you! And the people who knocked down these walls will hear all of us soon!”
President Barack Obama – Paris, France – January 11, 2015
Fifty major leaders of the free world marched arm in arm on the public streets of Paris to let the world know they stood united against radical Islamic terrorism. President Obama chose not to attend – or even send his Vice President, Secretary of State, or a former President to publicly show the world that the United States stands courageous and firm with the rest of the free world.