“General Secretary Gorbachev, 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!” -          Ronald Reagan, June 12, 1987

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum is pleased to announce the opening of its latest temporary exhibit, Fall of the Wall – The 20th Anniversary. Opening October 15, 2009*, Fall of the Wall – The 20th Anniversary tells the story of the Cold War, from the innocent people who sacrified their lives for freedom and democracy, to President Reagan’s role in ending the Cold War and bringing down the Berlin Wall.

Items on display include:

• Original Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (Beginning November 12)
• Pen used by General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to sign the Treaty
• Original speech cards used by President Reagan to deliver his famous “Tear Down This Wall” speech on June 12, 1987
• Actual suit and cufflinks worn by President Reagan during his June 12, 1987 speech
• Gulag Uniform and map of gulag locations from Father Alfonsas Svarinksas, considered one of the most important and active priests in the Lithuanian Catholic Church (he spent over 20 years of his life in the Gulag and was freed, in part by the policies of President Reagan and his administration)
• A U.S. Flag flown over Checkpoint Charlie, presented to President Reagan “on behalf of the dedicated Americans who have served Berlin since 1945”
• Smuggled note to President Reagan from 10 women in Gulag labor camps, placed there for their human rights activism, congratulating the president on his 1984 election win.

“I’ve talked about the continuing threat of fascism in the postwar world, but there’s another ‘ism,’ Communism, and if I ever find evidence that Communism represents a threat to all that we believe in and stand for, I’ll speak out just as strongly against Communism as I have fascism.” -          Ronald Reagan, 1946

* Portions of this exhibit will not be on display from November 8 through November 12