The Speech That Defined a Presidency

Recorded on July 23, 2017
Thirty years after Ronald Reagan’s famous denouncement of the Berlin Wall, Peter Robinson reflects on writing the Brandenburg Gate speech and why it was so important to include the now memorable words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!” Pat Sajak, host of Wheel of Fortune, turns the tables on Uncommon Knowledge’s host, Peter Robinson, sitting him down in the interview chair to discuss that famous speech and his journey to becoming Ronald Reagan’s speechwriter.
Peter Robinson's journey to becoming Ronald Reagan's speechwriter began in Oxford as he was trying his hand at becoming a novelist. After a year of writing a book Peter wasn't thrilled with, William H. Buckley advised him to try to become a speechwriter in Washington, DC. Peter left Oxford and. after a series of interviews, was given the task of speechwriting for then vice president George H. W. Bush and eventually became a speechwriter for President Ronald Reagan.
Five years after Peter Robinson became President Reagan's speechwriter it was Peter's turn to write one of the president's important speeches of the year to be delivered in Berlin during the height of the Cold War. To get the speech right, Peter spent a day and half in West Berlin researching the points of view of diplomats and politicians, all of whom all made it seem as though the Berlin Wall was something people hardly noticed any more. This view turned out to not be shared by the citizens of West Berlin, as Peter discovered later that evening when he sat down to dinner with citizens of West Berlin, where the dinner host said if Mr. Gorbachev is serious about perestroika he'd get rid of this wall. Peter’s dinner hosts went on to talk about how much they missed their families whom they hadn’t seen in decades because, though they lived just a mile away, the wall stood between them. That statement and the sentiments of the people of West Berlin struck Peter; after a series of drafts he came up with the now well-known line, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" That line, however, almost didn’t make it into the final draft of the speech as various advisers counseled against it and tried to persuade Peter and President Reagan to remove it. In the end, though, President Reagan insisted, and the line was kept in and remains to this day one of his most famous statements.
For the full transcript go to
www.hoover.org/research/speech...
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[@EnhanceRaptor]

Not only does Peter do a great job interviewing, he's a heck of a guest too.

[@artoffugue333]

Mr. Robinson is one of my favorite people.

[@baryntn41]

Peter Robinson, all I can say is RESPECT.

[@fabslyrics]

Uncommon knowledge is the best show around, insightful, smart, thoughtful and probably because the host is as interesting as the guests. And getting better day after day. Thank you!

[@cyrilignatiuskendrick6663]

I would say "outstanding interview!" but in fact, it is more than this. It is an outstanding conversation!

[@ralphnadler3825]

Great story Mr. Robinson. Some of us in the military had the opportunity to serve in the Berlin Brigade before the wall came down. Your description of the modern city and the gray communist east side was spot on. Great memory.

[@OneTwo1989]

Listened to all of this, my parents lived not too far from the wall in Vienna when it was torn down, I was born 7 years after. Mr. Robinsons interviews with Tom Sowell started crafting me into me a libertarian and in some aspects a conservative and ultimately an adult in my political views. As far as I have heard out of this, he contributed greatly to the historical fall of the wall, which changed Germany and therefore Austria strongly for the next 28 years to come. Thank you Peter, we're doing great, partly because of the history written by you and President Reagan.

[@MasterChief-sl9ro]

Funny you say that. As Thomas Sowell is considered a Rock Star today, with the Younger Generation. His popularity is at the Zenith. As people want to hear the truth..Then makeup their own minds.. I heard the same thing from Former Soviet citizens. That lived under communism. When they had Scientist from the West give speeches. The professors asked them. Why were we never told this! They had been denied access to the truth. As they thought they were Educated...They were really upset with the Soviet Empire that had robbed them of information.

[@brookamos5787]

I've always admired Peter Robinson and his work with the Hoover Institution. He is so incredibly thoughtful and passionate as an interviewer. It is wonderful to see him as the interviewee for once. He is equal to the task on the opposite side of the table. His comment about the contrast between the two cities, West Berlin being in color and East Berlin in black and white, is a profoundly accurate observation. I served as a Marine Security Guard at the American Embassy in Moscow in 1981, and this was precisely how I saw that city during the year I was there. When people ask me what it was like back then I describe it as if you'd been dropped into the middle of an old 1930s black and white film.

[@alanaadams7440]

Thank you for your service

[@rsmyth75]

Love ❤️ Robertson! He knows when not to interrupt!!!

[@sinistril]

Peter, thank you for everything. Your importance for the conservative/libertarian community is beyond renown. Hopefully you'll continue doing what you're doing for a long time.

[@robdewey317]

🤗 How cool, the man who wrote the speech. Terrific video!

[@jcandstonesfollower]

I always thought peter was a super cool dude! Hes interviewed milton friedman and Thomas sowell! Now I know that he wrote this speech! A true bada@$

[@CombatRulesCom]

The end of Reagan’s speech: goosebumps.

[@kravenmoorehead3824]

This was incredibly interesting. It was awesome to get to know more about Peter. I've watched his show for years, and always knew he was conservative. That said I never knew he was as conservative as I was. It's a testament to his interviewing ability.

[@cynthiacarr4252]

Timeless.

[@TheMushybees]

i had no idea he wrote that. already loved him anyway, but now even more so

[@leslopinot3619]

The great unparalleled interviewer is also a great interviewee. . . . . Turnabout is fair play. When will Robinson be hosting the Wheel? . . . . Can't give Pat enough kudos. He masters another sector of the same medium. . . . . Both, Sajak and Robinson (their urbanity, wit, intelligence/insight, ease of expression), are beacons in an oft-ill-lit landscape. One more word: MORE!!!

[@tr5848]

So wonderful. Real people. Thanks!

[@marknan5352]

Thank you Peter ! Great interview.

[@dongaetano3687]

Love Reagan of course and Peter as well. Have watched hours of Uncommon Knowledge and am all the better for it and for the Hoover Inst as well.

[@LynnTharp1971]

I'm so sorry Mr. Robinson, I had no idea you wrote Mr. Reagan's speech.

[@RomanticWildFire]

What an amazing interview! Thanks to the both of you for the great information and humor.

[@whiff1962]

Peter Robinson is a real Renaissance man. And Peter describes East Berlin as I perceived it, on my first and last visit, in 1982.

[@ralphlazio505]

Great interview

[@sjkdec18]

Wow.... this whole time I thought Peter Robinson was just an amazing interviewer. Forgive me of my ignorance!

[@KevinSmith-qi5yn]

Yea that's what I thought to. To believe he wrote the words that marked the end of Communism.

[@flintmcrock636]

This is a fabulous interview THANK YOU 🙏🏻

[@hendersonjohnson3750]

I love this channel.

[@johnjay3808]

Over the past few months I've watched Peter Robinson conduct several interviews and I can't help but wonder how much better off our country would be, if Mr Robinson, instead of the likes of Candy Crowley and Megan Kelly, moderated the Presidential debates.

[@idleobserver7211]

"I've yet to meet an idiot in Congress." Note that this was recorded prior to AOC's election.

[@austinnguyen9107]

Didn't see this one coming

[@tophersupreme5573]

This was really great.

[@richbirecki]

Great introduction!!! Love it. Great Peter impression

[@gggusc11]

Fantastic!

[@mattbutler458]

Best episode of Uncommon Knowledge, by far!

[@bradmills01]

This was as fascinating and informative as any other episode on this channel. Thank you Peter Robinson!

[@bernlin2000]

He saw Pat guest-host Jeopardy, and knew that Sajak can fit into any hosting chair just fine :-P

[@saa82vik]

love those two. Peter, i have been following your interviews since 2009. You helped me in so many lonely moments and opened my mind so much. Thank you.

[@cosmicallyderived]

BRAVO!!!! What an experience that was. So much to comment on. For one that Peter was a speech writer explains so much of his behavior on the show. I think of his admiration in opening with Daniel Hannan's interview and the lengthy quote that he had "all but memorized by now". That was effectively tipping his hat to Hannan's abilities at speech for which there was a clear admiration. Furthermore I imagine his handpicking of juicy select quotes from various books of his interviewees reveal that Robinson, like myself but all the more from the angle of a speechwriter, is a connosieur of articulation. And I thought I "smelled" a Catholic with all those St Augustine analogies popping up. I figured he was spending time around some knowledgeable faithful dropping some History on him and himself wading out into the deep. Peace be with you Peter. And my oh my, that parting pretape clip encore of building up a preemptive gratitude bank, what touching affection of brotherly love and affirmation. Philadelphia eat your heart out!

[@Grace17893]

love you guys

[@lennissytsma5503]

Great!

[@patmanz28]

very powerful

[@timothyhopper4956]

Peter Robinson’s comment at 9:10 turned out to be very wrong; five years after this was recorded, we are still very interested. “It turns out that it’s easy to live with because people only become interested in it about once every five years and I have the feeling that on the 30th you and I (are discussing it) for the last time … I don’t think anybody will be all that interested at 35 years…”

[@legatejakius5386]

Peter Robinson is an American National Treasure. When Johnathan Bowden talked about an American face disappearing and being an amalgam of multicultural demographic change; making that face Mexican or Black. A lot of people wonder, well yes what is the true American face? The true American man? In my estimation Peter Robinson holds the eloquence and presentation of someone who could've been there at the writing of the Constitution. Meaning that Peter is the face, is the true depiction of what it means to be an American.

[@christinabernat9681]

The Barbarian Report what a lovely comment.

[@sjkdec18]

Does any body know the interview that Mr. Robinson is referring to with the Milton Friedman quote? "...of course it's a moral argument. What other kind of argument is there?"

[@TheMushybees]

i think it was 1999, its here on youtube somewhere

[@secularvalue1114]

A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims, but accomplices. 2nd June 2020

[@romeobarrera7945]

Beautiful, delicious, wonderful. Thank you

[@Georgesbarsukov]

I love it

[@janelboth2932]

Thank you

[@Apriluser]

Love this.

[@allysondoerfler2435]

Trump is a gentleman around gentlemen - He and Reagan would have got along VERY WELL.

[@caveatemp]

Favorite interview done by Peter Robinson was with Rene Girard.

[@lukecage9836]

Wheel of Fortune!!!

[@jstanley011]

I didn't realize Peter Robinson wrote that line. Fascinating history. Yet today, the former Secretary for Agitation and Propaganda for the Academy of Sciences under the Communists in East Berlin has been Chancellor of Germany for twelve years. What a whacky world we live in... www.spiegel.de/international/germany/new-book-suggests-angela-merkel-was-closer-to-communism-than-thought-a-899768.html Pat Sajak is a great interviewer btw, not to mention a card. "Not just waiting for Elmo," lol!

[@m0rfeus]

Pat should run for President!

[@alextownsend4706]

m0rfeus Love Pat but I'm no conservative so please don't run!!!

[@shomeresdevorahbayer9763]

Sooo interesting, thank you.

[@magrietbarnard1445]

I love his shows ! (South Africa) 46:50

[@floridaboy.californiaman.649]

Like ! The video. 🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@Erix7810]

Is that Pat Sajak from Wheel of Fortune?

[@elaineteut6508]

Erix7810 yes it is. Very bright guy. I saw Peter interview Pat awhile back and it was great. So glad to see these two again.

[@christinabernat9681]

Elaine Teut totally agree - I have watched it a few times I enjoy(ed) it so much.

[@mourningwarbler]

President Trump perfectly encapsulated the Charlottesville mess. Wonder who wrote that speech.

[@christinabernat9681]

really enjoyed this, except when Peter says Trump perhaps is not a reader nor writer (I am paraphrasing) - that was disappointing. Otherwise TERRIFIC interview. And Pat Sajak, you did a great job in that seat!

[@alanaadams7440]

Or the politicians turn the question around to the one that they Want to answer

[@studiobencivengamarcusbenc5272]

What’s wrong with this Peter fellow ? Funny too ? 😳😂

[@yevgeniyzharinov7473]

Wheel of fortune guy is so out of place.

[@djsunshine1]

Fantastic!

[@delas7389]

Great interview