Illustration: a dense, generic Cold War intelligence analyst's evidence wall of press photography, redacted reports and aerial reconnaissance imagery.

Ronald Reagan

Illustration, not an archive object

President of the United States · United States

2 quotes, oldest first. Filter with other speakers.

  1. Content note: Describes the Soviet Union as an evil empire. The words are shown as they were said or written. Why

    “I urge you to beware the temptation of pride—the temptation of blithely declaring yourselves above it all and label both sides equally at fault, to ignore the facts of history and the aggressive impulses of an evil empire, to simply call the arms race a giant misunderstanding and thereby remove yourself from the struggle between right and wrong and good and evil.”

    March 8, 1983 · Speech · Orlando, Florida, National Association of Evangelicals convention

    Speech to an evangelical convention, given while the nuclear freeze proposals were under debate. The phrase refers to the Soviet Union and argues against describing both sides of the arms race as equally at fault.

    Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, 8 March 1983, The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara) Source

  2. Content note: Describes the Soviet leadership as the focus of evil. The words are shown as they were said or written. Why

    “they are the focus of evil in the modern world.”

    March 8, 1983 · Speech · Orlando, Florida, National Association of Evangelicals convention

    Same speech. The clause completes a sentence about those who preach the supremacy of the state and predict its eventual domination of all peoples, which Reagan applies to the Soviet leadership.

    Remarks at the Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in Orlando, Florida, 8 March 1983, The American Presidency Project (UC Santa Barbara) Source