Hey, history lovers, I'm Mike Rosenwald with Retropod, a show about the past, rediscovered.

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.

The version of the Cold War's conclusion, most of us have heard, starts with President Ronald Reagan saying that famous line,

and ends soon after with the total collapse of the Soviet Union.

Reagan stood at the Berlin Wall that separated the West from the Communist bloc and issued an ultimatum that has gone down as one of history's most memorable speeches.

But here's the thing. At the time, nobody cared.

It was 1987 when Reagan headed to the Berlin Wall to give a speech at the Brandenburg Gate

in West Berlin. Reagan was pretty unpopular there, where he was seen as militaristic.

Many West Germans just wanted peace and were worried that Reagan was going to turn the Cold

War hot.

John Kormloom was the top U.S. official in Berlin at the time, and he saw the speech as a chance to appeal to West

Germans who just wanted things to go back to normal. He advocated for language about removing

the wall, against the advice of other Reagan advisors who wanted a less confrontational approach.

Advisors fought over the language all the way up until the speech itself.

Battling over whether the speech would include Cornblum's fiery statement demanding

an end to the separation of Berlin or take a softer tack.

It was only when Air Force One landed in Berlin that a White House official approached Kornblum and said Reagan had decided.

Congratulations, he said, your sentence made it in.

Reagan nailed the delivery.

And then, nothing.

Germany's main news magazine, Der Spiegel, didn't report the speech until six months later.

And then it described it as the work of amateurs.

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