- On June 12, 1987, Reagan made the most famous speech of his presidency, as he referred to the Berlin Wall and insisted to Russian leader Mikhail Gorbachev, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
- Three days later, Reagan wrote in his diary that Biden was a demagogue, asserting, “[There was] some talk about Sen. Biden — now candidate for Pres. I saw him on CNN last night speaking to the John F. Kennedy school at Harvard U. He’s smooth but pure demagog[ue] — out to save Am[erica] from the Reagan doctrine.”
- Biden harshly opposed Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, nicknamed “Star Wars,” which was a plan to develop a space-based missile defense program that could protect the country from a large-scale nuclear attack.
