Ronald Reagan – “The Westminster Address” Behind the Scenes “If the rest of this century is to witness the gradual growth of freedom and democratic ideals, we must take actions to assist the campaign for democracy.” – Ronald Reagan, President of the United States, June 8, 1982 Thirty years ago, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher dispatched invitations to the White House. Accepting, President Reagan delivered an historic speech before British Parliament that has become known as “The Westminster Address,” where he made a bold prediction and took an even bolder step to advance freedom. It was June 8, 1982. President Ronald Reagan was the first American president to speak before both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, with paintings of British military victories lining the walls and guards in their red beefeater uniforms standing behind him. To view the invitations, click here: Realizing the rare opportunity and trust placed before him, he chose to be direct. Calling a spade a spade, he summoned courageous language, startling those intimidated by communist aggression. He bravely predicted the demise of communism, the first time an American president had criticized their system. 1 To be sure, a few American presidents in the past had criticized Soviet behavior, not their system. Basically, the U.S. position had been that we don’t really care what your system is. Do whatever you like. Just don’t be aggressive. Until June 8, 1982, that is. “The march of freedom and democracy,” Reagan declared, “will leave Marxism-­‐Leninism on the ash-­‐heap of history as it has left other tyrannies which stifle the freedom and muzzle the self-­‐
expression of the people.” Do you realize the irony in the language, “ash-­‐heap of history”? That memorable phrase was included in the original draft written by Tony Dolan, the primary speechwriter on the project. It had been excised by a few overly-­‐sensitive critics, and then re-­‐inserted by the President. It’s origin? It was coined in 1917 by Marxist Leon Trotsky as he declared to the defeated Mensheviks who walked out of the Petrograd Second Congress of Soviets, “You are pitiful, isolated individuals! You are bankrupts. Your role is played out. Go where you belong from now on—into the (ash heap) dust bin of history!” Beyond President Reagan’s prediction that Marxism-­‐Leninism would fail, the historic speech offered more. The president called upon Western allies to encourage democratic developments, in effect constituting a “crusade for freedom.” He urged, “Let us move toward a world in which all people are at least free to determine their own destiny…” Reagan made it clear, he didn’t mince words and he didn’t look back as he bravely continued in order to put freedom on the offensive. How can you promote freedom, individualism and the rule of law while condoning oppression? “I believe the renewed strength of the democratic movement,” President Reagan declared, “complemented by a global campaign for freedom, will strengthen the prospects for arms control and a world at peace.” Of course, the world viewed President Reagan’s language as “brazen,” as “wishful thinking, bordering on delusional.” The Soviet newspaper, Pravda, reported that Reagan and his cult of “latter-­‐day crusaders” had evil intentions toward the Soviet empire. The communists claimed he was trying to undermine socialism. That’s one thing they were right about. Despite the fact that the President had been advised by a trusted critic to delete the announcement of the initiative, dismissing it as a “dubious idea,” the President proceeded with his campaign, headlined by the New York Times as “President Reagan Urges Global Crusade for Democracy.” The president himself inserted the word “crusade” into the text and was thrilled the New York Times took his bait. How did the speech evolve prior to his appearance before Parliament? Several drafts, many different writers, along with State Department officials, National Security and White House advisors were involved. President Reagan traded draft after draft with staff 2 who at varying times called upon the ideas of Madison, Jefferson, Lincoln, Churchill, Eisenhower and Truman to evoke the images they were after. In the end, the speech was pure Reagan. At the Reagan Library, we have a May 14th version written by the State Department. This version did not capture President Reagan’s objectives or his aesthetic. It was described by one critic as reminiscent of the axiom…that a camel is a horse designed by a committee…because at the State department, “everyone has interests and no one has ideas.” After the State Department version, our 40th president asked for Tony Dolan’s draft, a speechwriter who had read, understood, and embraced everything written or spoken by Ronald Reagan since 1952. Using a very few phrases from the State Department version, Dolan spent about two months working on a new speech in order to create something “representing the heart and soul of Ronald Reagan.” About 50% of Dolan’s draft survived the critical pen of the President, who, according to Tony, “made it his own.” You can see the President’s early handwritten notations, deletions, and additions by clicking here, as well has his final copy by clicking here: Three weeks after his speech in London, Reagan convened a cabinet-­‐level meeting to discuss precisely how Project Democracy would be carried out. Collectively, they believed that it was not reasonable for the United States alone to seek to contain the advance of the Soviet empire. Or to assume all the burdens of fighting Soviet advances. They agreed that no one asks or wants America to fight for their own freedom. What President Reagan said in 1982, which became the treatise for the Reagan Doctrine was….we will help you do it. Ten years after President Reagan left office, his “delusional” ideas about communism proved to be true. As the Soviet system crumbled, Harvard University Press published in 1999 The Black Book of Communism documenting horrors beyond anyone’s comprehension, how terror was always one of the basic ingredients of modern communism where a multitude of crimes not only against individual human beings, but also against civilization and national cultures were committed. When President Reagan dedicated the Reagan Library in November 1991, he summarized and he reminded us that, “Today a heroic people has cast off the chains of Marx and Lenin that gave rise to so much of this century's tensions. The iron curtain has rusted away. In churches and schools, in factory and on farms, the people of Eastern Europe have found their voice and with it a battering ram to knock down the walls of tyranny. Totalitarianism is melting like snow. As the mythologies of communism melts under the fierce heat of truth, our greatest enemy now may be complacency itself.” 3