Romesh Ratnesar

Category: Reviews & Praise

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The Washington Times Review

Mr. Ratnesar's book...gives us both an accurate and detailed picture of our cumbersome governmental policymaking process and a remarkable re-creation of the last days of the Soviet empire, with East Germany as the culmination of the Marxist dialectic, and the wall the perfect symbol for that strange alternate universe.

-John R. Coyne Jr.

Link: Book Review: Finding origin of the potent words

 

Romesh Ratnesar, deputy managing editor of Time magazine and author of this fast-moving and splendidly written book, quotes from "White House Ghosts," Robert Schlesinger's authoritative study of White House speeches: "Seeking the origin of a specific phrase, then, is, akin to straining to find the source of the first noise in an echo chamber."

Frequently true. Franklin D. Roosevelt's "fear itself" phrase has been credited at various times to Henry David Thoreau, the Chamber of Commerce, and a department store ad. John F. Kennedy's most memorable phrases are similarly attributed to a variety of sources. Also, as time passes, there's a tendency among people who worked in or around administrations to take or be given credit for memorable lines - "effete corps of impudent snobs," "axis of evil" or "tear down this wall" among them.

Despite various attributions, the first was Vice President Spiro T. Agnew's creation, and he was very proud of it. As for "axis of evil," at least three contenders have laid claim to it - or not, depending on the direction of the prevailing political winds. Aram Bakshian, a former White House speechwriter, suggests they split it three ways - one taking credit for "axis," the second for "evil," and the third for "of."

But no matter. Here the lines are clearly drawn. Peter Robinson, a young speechwriter, had just returned from a trip to Germany with the team advancing Ronald Reagan's upcoming visit. He had seen the wall, talked with Berliners, and the effects were profound. Mr. Robinson had been assigned to write Reagan's Berlin speech, to be given at the Brandenburg Gate. At dinner in West Berlin, he told Mr. Ratnesar, "the idea of removing the wall had burst into his mind." He told chief speechwriter Tony Dolan that he'd like the president to say "Tear Down the Wall." Mr. Dolan's response, according to Mr. Ratnesar: " 'What a great idea. What a wonderful idea.' "

The phrase was incorporated in a preliminary draft and presented to the president at a meeting with the writers to review trip material. Mr. Robinson's speech was the last discussed, and the president had minimal comments. Mr. Robinson asked what he'd like to say to the people on the other side of the wall. " 'Well, there's that passage about tearing down the Wall,' " he said. " 'That's what I'd like to say to them.' "

Thus, writes Mr. Ratnesar, Mr. Dolan "had gotten what he came for: The president's endorsement would be his most powerful weapon in the bureaucratic battles to come." And indeed it was. Reagan had chosen the basic phrase and image, and as Mr. Robinson plowed through successive drafts, Mr. Dolan guided the speech through the heavy seas of bureaucratic approvals every presidential speech draft must navigate.

Through it all, the speech underwent numerous changes, and there were concerted efforts to deep-six the key phrase. But the president insisted that it remain. And on June 12, 1987, Reagan stood at the Brandenburg Gate and demanded: "Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate," and "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" And with those words, on that date, the Cold War unofficially ended.

Mr. Ratnesar's book, based on interviews with former Reagan administration officials, American and German eyewitnesses who were present at the event, State Department documents and East German records, gives us both an accurate and detailed picture of our cumbersome governmental policymaking process and a remarkable re-creation of the last days of the Soviet empire, with East Germany as the culmination of the Marxist dialectic, and the wall the perfect symbol for that strange alternate universe.

Also valuable here is Mr. Ratnesar's re-examination of the relationship between Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, who developed a mutual respect that transcended diplomatic niceties, and led to the unprecedented steps taken by Mr. Gorbachev to begin dismantling the "evil empire." As Mr. Ratnesar notes, Reagan understood that by openly calling on him to tear down the wall, he was in effect providing Mr. Gorbachev with the rationale necessary to put the process in motion.

In all, Mr. Ratnesar captures the vision, consistency, steadiness of purpose and unshakeable belief in the ultimate triumph of democracy that carried Reagan through his two terms and allowed him to function, to the frustration of his critics, with something very much like serenity. And despite the best efforts of those critics, he will be remembered as one of our greatest presidents.

Mr. Ratnesar leaves us with this assessment: "The liberal historian Sean Wilentz ... wrote in 2008 that Reagan's 'success in helping finally to end the cold war is one of the greatest achievements by any president of the United States - and arguably the single greatest achievement since 1945.' "

John R. Coyne Jr., a former White House speechwriter, is co-author with Linda Bridges of "Strictly Right: William F. Buckley Jr. and the American Conservative Movement" (Wiley, 2007).

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Who killed communism? Look past the usual suspects.

Link: Who killed communism? Look past the usual suspects.

Here's an excerpt from an op-ed in the Washington Post:

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Publishers Weekly Review

"Time magazine deputy managing editor Ratnesar has mined American and East German archives to produce a lively, impressively detailed history of the iconic speech."

-Publishers Weekly

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David Grann, Author of The Lost City of Z

"Romesh Ratnesar has produced a riveting account of one of the greatest speeches in modern times, which would have been enough. But along the way he has also written a brilliant and incisive history of the end of the Reagan Presidency and the Cold War. Tear Down this Wall affirms the power of words."

-David Grann, Author of The Lost City of Z

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Sean Wilentz, Princeton University, author of The Age of Reagan

"Romesh Ratnesar's absorbing, fine-tuned account offers a valuable behind-the-scenes view of the Reagan White House at work -- and, on the other side of the Berlin Wall, of the world of the democratic dissidents whom Reagan uplifted. It is an important addition to the growing library on the Reagan era."

-Sean Wilentz, Princeton University, author of The Age of Reagan

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Richard Norton Smith, author of The Colonel

"More than most presidents, Ronald Reagan governed through his speeches--never to greater effect than in his 1987 Berlin summons to 'Tear down this wall.' With the perspective of time, access to newly available papers, and a Reaganesque flair for storytelling with a point, Romesh Ratnesar gives us the ultimate insider's account of the history that unfolded when those around him, sometimes reluctantly, let Reagan be Reagan. No future discussion of the Cold War and how it ended will be complete without reference to this riveting book."

-Richard Norton Smith, author of The Colonel

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Strobe Talbott, author of The Great Experiment

"The four words that Ronald Reagan hurled at Mikhail Gorbachev were an exhortation, even a demand, but they were also part of a dialogue, a partnership, and a friendship that changed the world. It is high time for a focused study of how that speech came to be written and why it was so consequential. Romesh Ratnesar has told the story with narrative verve, brilliant political and personal insight, and a combination of concision and pithiness worthy of the Great Communicator himself."

-Strobe Talbott, author of The Great Experiment

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Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein

"Among the fascinating challenges facing historians are figuring out how Ronald Reagan's mind worked and assessing the factors that led to the end of the Cold War. Romesh Ratnesar weaves these together brilliantly. This is an exciting narrative that explains a critical moment in history and brings to life the amazing players in a great drama."

-Walter Isaacson, author of Einstein

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Douglas Brinkley, author of Wilderness Warrior

"Romesh Ratnesar has written a smart and deeply illuminating history of Ronald Reagan at the zenith of the Cold War. Tear Down This Wall helps clarify a lot of misnomers about Reagan's most enduring speech. This is a fine, important, and admirable study. Highly recommended!"

-Douglas Brinkley, author of Wilderness Warrior

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Kirkus Reviews

"A well-balanced look at a key moment in Reagan’s presidency."

-Kirkus Reviews

Time deputy managing editor Ratnesar examines the legacy of what is perhaps President Ronald Reagan's most famous speech. When Reagan died in 2004, nearly every tribute included the universally known line from his landmark speech at the Berlin Wall on June 12, 1987: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." Reagan's challenge to the Russian president was soon seen as one of the highlights of his tenure, and even today historians rank it as one of the most powerful lines ever spoken in a presidential speech. In his brief but comprehensive debut, Ratnesar includes testimony from members of Reagan's former staff, including the speech's main writer, Peter Robinson. The author capably portrays the nuts-and-bolts process of crafting a presidential speech, with vetting and editing from countless cabinet departments. But Ratnesar widens his scope, effectively placing the speech in the context of the Cold War, showing how Reagan's predecessors dealt with the Berlin Wall and how Reagan, as far back as 1967, had expressed a firm desire to eliminate it. The author makes a strong case that the words "tear down this wall" were not simply a bellicose challenge; they were an invitation to Gorbachev, an attempt to build a bridge between Cold War enemies. Reagan's respect for Gorbachev gave the challenge particular resonance. "If he took down that wall," the president privately told aides, "he'd win the Nobel Prize." Ratnesar is careful not to freight the speech with too much importance, however. Unlike some of Reagan's more ardent admirers (and despite the book's subtitle), the author does not give the speech full credit for the fall of the Berlin Wall, or of the Soviet Union. But there's no denying its importance. "That single phrase in Berlin," Ratnesar writes, "seemed to capture the essence of Reagan: a clear, simple, resolute message of optimism" that has since become a key part of Reagan lore.

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