Evil Empire speech: Difference between revisions

Evil Empire speech
	Reagan in the Citrus Crown Ballroom
Date	March 8, 1983
Venue	Sheraton Twin Towers Hotel
Location	Orlando, Florida, US
Participants	Ronald Reagan
	The full text of the speech at Wikisource

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The "Evil Empire" speech was a speech delivered by US President Ronald Reagan to the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983, at the height of the Cold War and the Soviet–Afghan War. In that speech, Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" and as "the focus of evil in the modern world". Reagan explicitly rejected the notion that the United States and the Soviet Union were equally responsible for the Cold War and the ongoing nuclear arms race between the two nations; rather, he asserted that the conflict was a battle between good and evil.

Background

Reagan's chief speechwriter at the time, Anthony R. Dolan, coined the phrase "evil empire" for Reagan's use.^[1] Dolan included similar language in a draft for Reagan's June 1982 speech before the British House of Commons in London, but reviewers flagged and struck the phrasing.^[2] Dolan included the phrase "evil empire" in drafts for Reagan's speech at the National Association of Evangelicals' 41st annual convention.^[3] White House staffers who saw drafts of the speech, including David Gergen, repeatedly struck the "evil empire" portion; the speech eventually reached Reagan with the "evil empire" portion included, staffer critics concluding the event would be minor and unlikely to attract attention.^[4]

When Reagan reviewed and edited the draft himself, he extended the material on domestic matters.^[4] Dolan had included a reference to "abortion on demand" as a "great moral evil"; Reagan cut the line and added a remark asserting that "until it can be proven that the unborn child is not a living entity" its "right to life, liberty & the pursuit of happiness must be protected".^[5] Regan left the "evil empire" phrase and did not substantially alter the draft's strongly anti-communist tone.^[6]

Speech

Reagan spoke at the 41st annual convention of the National Association of Evangelicals on March 8, 1983, in the Citrus Crown Ballroom of the Sheraton Twin Towers Hotel in Orlando, Florida.^[7] The speech, marking his first recorded use of the phrase "evil empire" to refer to the Soviet Union, has become known as the "Evil Empire" speech. In that speech, Reagan said:^[8]^[9]

Yes, let us pray for the salvation of all of those who live in that totalitarian darkness—pray they will discover the joy of knowing God. But until they do, let us be aware that while they preach the supremacy of the State, declare its omnipotence over individual man, and predict its eventual domination of all peoples on the earth, they are the focus of evil in the modern world .... So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, 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.

The audience applauded Reagan's speech.^[10] A band played him off with the song "Onward, Christian Soldiers".^[11]

Reception

Contemporaneous press criticized the speech as inflammatory, and critics worried the speech portended negatively for arms negotiations with the Soviet Union.^[12] The Christian Science Monitor argued that Reagan's rhetoric would encourage an arms race and "would some day, in logic, point toward war".^[13] During a 1984 presidential debate, Reagan both reiterated his assessment of the Soviet Union, saying he "believe[d] that many of the things that they have done are evil in any concept of morality that we have", while also emphasizing pragmatism, adding, "I also recognize that as the two great superpowers in the world, we have to live with each other".^[14]

The Soviet Union, for its part, alleged that the United States was an imperialist superpower seeking to dominate the entire world, and that the Soviet Union was fighting against it "in the name of humanity". In Moscow, the Soviet state-run press agency TASS said the "evil empire" words demonstrated that the Reagan administration "can think only in terms of confrontation and bellicose, lunatic anti-communism".^[15]

During his second term in office, in May–June 1988, more than five years after using the term "evil empire", Reagan visited the new reformist General Secretary of the Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, in Moscow. When asked by a reporter whether he still thought the Soviet Union was an evil empire, Reagan responded that he no longer did, and that when he used the term it was "another time, another era".^[16]

Interpretation

G. Thomas Goodnight characterized the "evil empire" speech, along with the "Zero Option" and "Star Wars" speeches, as part of the rhetorical side of the Cold War and reshaped public perceptions of nuclear warfare.^[17] In the former, Reagan depicted nuclear warfare as an extension of an "age old struggle between good and evil".^[18] By characterizing the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" and therefore irrational and untrustworthy, the speech justified demurrals on peace proposals.^[19] Historian John Lewis Gaddis called the speech the "complet[ion of] a rhetorical offensive designed to expose what Reagan saw as the central error of détente: the idea that the Soviet Union had earned geopolitical, ideological, economic, and moral legitimacy" and argued that it "could not have been better calculated to feed the anxieties" afflicting Soviet leadership at the time.^[20] According to literature professor Leerom Medovoi, on top of opposing the Soviet Union, the "Evil Empire" speech directed the Evangelical audience's attention to domestic policy and characterized American liberals as being additional enemies in a culture war that Reagan called "a test of moral will and faith".^[21]

References

^ "'The Battle of the Evil Empire', by Frank Warner, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa., March 5, 2000". Frankwarner.typepad.com. December 4, 2003. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
^ Peterson (2010, p. 126).
^ Schlesinger (2008, pp. 327–328).
^ ^a ^b Schlesinger (2008, p. 328).
^ Schlesinger (2008, pp. 328–329).
^ Schlesinger (2008, p. 329).
^ Jones (2018, p. 161).
^ "Ronald Reagan, Address to the National Association of Evangelicals ("Evil Empire Speech")". Voices of Democracy: The U.S. Oratory Project. University of Maryland, College Park. March 8, 1983. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
^ "President Reagan's Speech Before the National Association of Evangelicals". The Reagan Information Page. March 8, 1983. Archived from the original on June 9, 2004. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
^ Goodnight (1986, p. 401).
^ Davis (1983, paragraph 9).
^ Rowland & Jones (2016, p. 430).
^ Harsch (1983, paragraph 10).
^ Cooper, Richardson & Schwab (2024, p. 70).
^ "President Ronald Reagan". Britannica.com. June 12, 1987. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
^ Meisler, Stanley (June 1, 1988). "Reagan Recants 'Evil Empire' Description". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved December 23, 2016.
^ Goodnight (1986, pp. 390–3891, 408–409).
^ Goodnight (1986, p. 391).
^ Goodnight (1986, p. 403).
^ Gaddis (2005, pp. 224–225).
^ Medovoi (2012, p. 182).

Sources

Cooper, James; Richardson, R. J.; Schwab, Bailey (2024). Ronald Reagan's 1984: Politics, Policy, and Culture. Palgrave Macmillan. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-53677-9. ISBN 978-3-031-53676-2.
Davis, Donald A. (March 8, 1983). "President Reagan Warned Tuesday Against 'Simple-minded Appeasement'". United Press International.
Gaddis, John Lewsi (2005). The Cold War: A New History. Penguin Books. ISBN 1-59420-062-9.
Goodnight, G. Thomas (1986). "Ronald Reagan's re-formulation of the rhetoric of war: Analysis of the 'zero option,' 'evil empire,' and 'star wars' addresses". Quarterly Journal of Speech. 72 (4): 390–414. doi:10.1080/00335638609383784.
Harsch, Joseph C. (April 26, 1983). "Are Russians Human?". The Christian Science Monitor.
Jones, Seth G. (2018). A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland. W. W. Norton. ISBN 978-0393247008.
Medovoi, Leerom (2012). "The Race War Within: The Biopolitics of the Long Cold War". In Belletto, Steven; Grausam, Daniel (eds.). American Literature and Culture in an Age of Cold War: A Critical Reassessment. University of Iowa Press. pp. 163–186. ISBN 978-1-60938-113-4.
Peterson, Jon Richard (June 2010). "An Evil Empire": The Rhetorical Rearmament of Ronald Reagan (PhD thesis). Ohio University.
Rowland, Robert C.; Jones, John M. (October 2016). "Reagan's Strategy for the Cold War and the Evil Empire Address". Rhetoric & Public Affairs. 19 (3): 427–463. doi:10.14321/rhetpublaffa.19.3.0427. S2CID 151775200.
Schlesinger, Robert (2008). White House Ghosts: Presidents and Their Speechwriters. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-0743291699.

External links

[1] "'The Battle of the Evil Empire', by Frank Warner, The Morning Call, Allentown, Pa., March 5, 2000". Frankwarner.typepad.com. December 4, 2003. Retrieved March 8, 2013.

[2] Peterson (2010, p. 126).

[3] Schlesinger (2008, pp. 327–328).

[:0-4] Schlesinger (2008, p. 328).

[5] Schlesinger (2008, pp. 328–329).

[6] Schlesinger (2008, p. 329).

[7] Jones (2018, p. 161).

[8] "Ronald Reagan, Address to the National Association of Evangelicals ("Evil Empire Speech")". Voices of Democracy: The U.S. Oratory Project. University of Maryland, College Park. March 8, 1983. Retrieved April 19, 2015.

[9] "President Reagan's Speech Before the National Association of Evangelicals". The Reagan Information Page. March 8, 1983. Archived from the original on June 9, 2004. Retrieved July 28, 2014.

[10] Goodnight (1986, p. 401).

[11] Davis (1983, paragraph 9).

[12] Rowland & Jones (2016, p. 430).

[13] Harsch (1983, paragraph 10).

[14] Cooper, Richardson & Schwab (2024, p. 70).

[15] "President Ronald Reagan". Britannica.com. June 12, 1987. Retrieved March 8, 2013.

[16] Meisler, Stanley (June 1, 1988). "Reagan Recants 'Evil Empire' Description". Los Angeles Times. ISSN 0458-3035. Retrieved December 23, 2016.

[17] Goodnight (1986, pp. 390–3891, 408–409).

[18] Goodnight (1986, p. 391).

[19] Goodnight (1986, p. 403).

[20] Gaddis (2005, pp. 224–225).

[21] Medovoi (2012, p. 182).

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@@ Line 27: / Line 27: @@
 So, in your discussions of the nuclear freeze proposals, 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.</blockquote>
-The audience applauded Reagan's speech.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Goodnight|1986|p=401}}.</ref>
+The audience applauded Reagan's speech.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Goodnight|1986|p=401}}.</ref> A band played him off with the song "[[Onward, Christian Soldiers]]".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Davis|1983|loc=paragraph 9}}.</ref>
+==Reception==
-In the "Evil Empire" speech, which also dealt with domestic issues, Reagan made the case for deploying [[NATO]] nuclear-armed [[Intermediate-range ballistic missile|intermediate-range ballistic missiles]] in [[Western Europe]] as a response to the Soviets installing new nuclear-armed missiles in [[Eastern Europe]]. Eventually, the NATO missiles were set up and used as bargaining chips in arms talks with Soviet leader [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], who [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|took office]] two years and three days after Reagan's speech, on 11 March 1985. At the [[Washington Summit (1987)|Washington Summit]] in 1987, Reagan and Gorbachev agreed to go further than a [[Nuclear Freeze campaign|nuclear freeze]]. In an [[Atomic Age]] first, they signed the [[Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty]], agreeing to reduce nuclear arsenals. Intermediate- and shorter-range nuclear missiles were eliminated.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kramer |first1=Andrew E. |last2=Specia |first2=Megan |date=2019-02-01 |title=What Is the I.N.F. Treaty and Why Does It Matter? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/01/world/europe/inf-treaty.html |access-date=2022-06-19 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
+Contemporaneous press criticized the speech as inflammatory, and critics worried the speech portended negatively for arms negotiations with the Soviet Union.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Rowland|Jones|2016|p=430}}.</ref> ''[[The Christian Science Monitor]]'' argued that Reagan's rhetoric would encourage an [[arms race]] and "would some day, in logic, point toward war".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Harsch|1983|loc=paragraph 10}}.</ref> During a [[1984 United States presidential debates|1984 presidential debate]], Reagan both reiterated his assessment of the Soviet Union, saying he "believe[d] that many of the things that they have done are evil in any concept of morality that we have", while also emphasizing pragmatism, adding, "I also recognize that as the two great superpowers in the world, we have to live with each other".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Cooper|Richardson|Schwab|2024|p=70}}.</ref>
-Historian [[John Lewis Gaddis]] called the speech the "complet[ion of] a rhetorical offensive designed to expose what Reagan saw as the central error of détente: the idea that the Soviet Union had earned geopolitical, ideological, economic, and moral legitimacy" and argued that it "could not have been better calculated to feed the anxieties" afflicting Soviet leadership at the time.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gaddis|2005|pp=224–225}}.</ref>
-==Global reaction and aftermath==
-During a [[1984 United States presidential debates|1984 presidential debate]], Reagan reiterated the phrase by saying "I have said on a number of occasions exactly what I believe about the [[Soviet Union]], I retract nothing that I have said, I believe that many of the things that they have done are ''evil'' in any concept of morality that we have."
-In 1987, American [[Conservatism in the United States|conservative]] [[Michael Johns (policy analyst)|Michael Johns]] compiled a list of [[Political repression in the Soviet Union|Soviet crimes]], echoing Reagan by saying "what we face today in Soviet Communism is, indeed, an evil empire".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Johns |first1=Michael |date=October 2, 2019 |title=Seventy Years of Evil |url=https://cornellsun.com/2019/10/02/johns-seventy-years-of-evil/ |website=[[Policy Review]] |publisher=}}</ref>
 The Soviet Union, for its part, alleged that the United States was an [[American Imperialism|imperialist]] [[superpower]] seeking to dominate the entire world, and that the Soviet Union was fighting against it "in the name of humanity". In [[Moscow]], the Soviet state-run press agency [[Telegraph Agency of the Soviet Union|TASS]] said the "evil empire" words demonstrated that the Reagan administration "can think only in terms of confrontation and bellicose, lunatic [[anti-communism]]".<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/presidents/article-214232 |title=President Ronald Reagan |encyclopedia=Britannica.com |date=June 12, 1987 |access-date=March 8, 2013}}</ref>
@@ Line 42: / Line 36: @@
 During his second term in office, in May–June 1988, more than five years after using the term "evil empire", Reagan visited the new reformist [[General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union|General Secretary of the Soviet Union]], [[Mikhail Gorbachev]], in Moscow. When asked by a reporter whether he still thought the Soviet Union was an evil empire, Reagan responded that he no longer did, and that when he used the term it was "another time, another era".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1988-06-01-mn-3667-story.html|title=Reagan Recants 'Evil Empire' Description|last=Meisler|first=Stanley|date=June 1, 1988|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US|issn=0458-3035|access-date=December 23, 2016}}</ref>
+== Interpretation ==
-According to [[G. Thomas Goodnight]], the "evil empire" speech, along with the "[[Zero Option]]" and "[[Strategic Defense Initiative|Star Wars]]" speeches, was part of the rhetorical side of the [[Cold War]] and reshaped public perceptions of nuclear warfare.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Goodnight|1986|pp=390–3891, 408–409}}.</ref> In the former, Reagan depicted [[nuclear warfare]] as an extension of an "age old struggle between good and evil"<ref>{{Harvtxt|Goodnight|1986|p=391}}.</ref> By characterizing the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" and therefore irrational and untrustworthy, the speech justified demurrals on peace proposals.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Goodnight|1986|p=403}}.</ref>
+[[G. Thomas Goodnight]] characterized the "evil empire" speech, along with the "[[Zero Option]]" and "[[Strategic Defense Initiative|Star Wars]]" speeches, as part of the rhetorical side of the [[Cold War]] and reshaped public perceptions of nuclear warfare.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Goodnight|1986|pp=390–3891, 408–409}}.</ref> In the former, Reagan depicted [[nuclear warfare]] as an extension of an "age old struggle between good and evil".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Goodnight|1986|p=391}}.</ref> By characterizing the Soviet Union as an "evil empire" and therefore irrational and untrustworthy, the speech justified demurrals on peace proposals.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Goodnight|1986|p=403}}.</ref> Historian [[John Lewis Gaddis]] called the speech the "complet[ion of] a rhetorical offensive designed to expose what Reagan saw as the central error of détente: the idea that the Soviet Union had earned geopolitical, ideological, economic, and moral legitimacy" and argued that it "could not have been better calculated to feed the anxieties" afflicting Soviet leadership at the time.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Gaddis|2005|pp=224–225}}.</ref> According to literature professor Leerom Medovoi, on top of opposing the Soviet Union, the "Evil Empire" speech directed the [[Evangelicalism|Evangelical]] audience's attention to [[domestic policy]] and characterized [[Liberalism in the United States|American liberals]] as being additional enemies in a [[culture war]] that Reagan called "a test of moral will and faith".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Medovoi|2012|p=182}}.</ref>
 ==See also==
@@ Line 54: / Line 49: @@
 ==Sources==
+* {{Cite book |last=Cooper |first=James |title=Ronald Reagan's 1984: Politics, Policy, and Culture |last2=Richardson |first2=R.&nbsp;J. |last3=Schwab |first3=Bailey |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |year=2024 |isbn=978-3-031-53676-2 |doi=10.1007/978-3-031-53677-9}}
+* {{Cite news |last=Davis |first=Donald A. |date=March 8, 1983 |title=President Reagan Warned Tuesday Against 'Simple-minded Appeasement' |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/03/08/President-Reagan-warned-Tuesday-against-simple-minded-appeasement/1542415947600/ |publisher=[[United Press International]]}}
 * {{Cite book |last=Gaddis |first=John Lewsi |title=The Cold War: A New History |publisher=Penguin Books |year=2005 |isbn=1-59420-062-9}}
 * {{cite journal | first = G. Thomas | last = Goodnight | title = Ronald Reagan's re-formulation of the rhetoric of war: Analysis of the 'zero option,' 'evil empire,' and 'star wars' addresses | journal = Quarterly Journal of Speech | volume = 72 | issue = 4 | year = 1986 | pages = 390–414 | doi = 10.1080/00335638609383784 }}
+* {{Cite magazine |last=Harsch |first=Joseph C. |author-link=Joseph C. Harsch |date=April 26, 1983 |title=Are Russians Human? |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/1983/0426/042623.html |magazine=[[The Christian Science Monitor]]}}
 * {{Cite book |last=Jones |first=Seth G. |title=A Covert Action: Reagan, the CIA, and the Cold War Struggle in Poland |publisher=W.&nbsp;W. Norton |year=2018 |isbn=978-0393247008 |language=en}}
+* {{Cite book |last=Medovoi |first=Leerom |title=American Literature and Culture in an Age of Cold War: A Critical Reassessment |publisher=[[University of Iowa Press]] |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-60938-113-4 |editor-last=Belletto |editor-first=Steven |pages=163–186 |chapter=The Race War Within: The Biopolitics of the Long Cold War |editor-last2=Grausam |editor-first2=Daniel}}
 * {{Cite thesis |last=Peterson |first=Jon Richard |title="An Evil Empire": The Rhetorical Rearmament of Ronald Reagan |date=June 2010 |degree=PhD |publisher=Ohio University |url=https://etd.ohiolink.edu/acprod/odb_etd/ws/send_file/send?accession=ohiou1273107940&disposition=inline}}
 * {{cite journal | first1 = Robert C. | last1 = Rowland | first2 = John M. | last2 = Jones | title = Reagan's Strategy for the Cold War and the Evil Empire Address | journal = Rhetoric & Public Affairs | volume = 19 | issue = 3 | date = October 2016 | pages = 427–463 | doi = 10.14321/rhetpublaffa.19.3.0427 | s2cid = 151775200 }}

v t e Ronald Reagan
40th President of the United States (1981–1989) 33rd Governor of California (1967–1975)
Life and politics	Birthplace Pitney Store Boyhood home Rancho del Cielo Filmography Political positions Governorship of California Presidential Library and Museum Reagan Era Death and state funeral
Presidency	Transition First inauguration Second inauguration Domestic policy Economic policy Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 Tax Reform Act of 1986 Assassination attempt Strategic Defense Initiative Foreign policy Reagan Doctrine Cold War 1st term 2nd term Soviet Union summits Geneva Reykjavík Washington INF Treaty Moscow Governors Island Constructive engagement Invasion of Grenada Iran–Contra affair Libya bombing Cannabis policy International trips The Grace Commission Cabinet Judicial appointments Supreme Court controversies Administration scandals "We begin bombing in five minutes" Impeachment efforts Executive orders Presidential proclamations Bush transition
Speeches	Ronald Reagan Speaks Out Against Socialized Medicine (1961) "A Time for Choosing" (1964) Neshoba County Fair "states' rights" speech (1980) First inaugural address (1981) Joint session of Congress (1981) "Ash heap of history" (1982) "Evil empire" (1983) Second inaugural address (1985) "Tear down this wall!" (1987) State of the Union 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988
Books	An American Life The Reagan Diaries
Elections	1966 California gubernatorial election 11th commandment 1970 California gubernatorial election Republican presidential primaries (1968 1976 1980 1984) Republican National Convention (1968 1976 1980 1984) 1976 presidential campaign 1980 presidential campaign "There you go again" "Let's make America great again" 1984 presidential campaign "Morning in America" "Bear in the woods" United States presidential election (1976 1980 1984)
Cultural depictions	Bibliography In music Let Them Eat Jellybeans! (1981) U.S. Postage stamps Rap Master Ronnie Ed the Happy Clown (1983 comic series) Spitting Image (TV series) (1984) A Mind Forever Voyaging (1985 game) The Dark Knight Returns (1986) film adaptation Pizza Man (1991 film) The Day Reagan Was Shot (2001 film) Reagan's War (2002 book) The Reagans (2003 film) Reagan (2011 documentary) The Butler (2013 film) Killing Reagan (2015 book) Killing Reagan (2016 film) Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (2020 game) The Reagans (2020 miniseries) Reagan (2023 film) "What would Reagan do?" Reykjavik (TBA)
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