During it's dominance it was the most foreboding symbols of the Cold War. During it's collapse it was one of the most celebrated victories over freedom of all time. An ever advancing barrier consisting of over 100 kilometers of barbed wire, guard towers and concrete, split Families, a People and a Whole City into two, yet used as a symbol of a political war where nothing less than the fate of the world hung in the balance. During this detrimental period, Two American Presidents Visited the Western state of Berlin, not only to discuss political topics relevant to the era, but to also talk about the oppressing landmark itself, the Berlin Wall. In the Context of the Presidents' speeches, lay Morale boosting hope for West Berliners, highlighted serious flaws of the menacing Berlin Wall and even a controversial demand which changed the cold war and history itself.
With two different American Presidents' Speeches and a whole 24 years of Cold War tension in between, one might think West Berlin may matured and adapted enough with the Berlin Wall, for the presidents' speeches to vary or deviate from each other, and to some degree they do. Unsurprisingly though with the wall still evolving, the main focuses on both speeches were both freedom and Unity. Presidents Kennedy and Reagan suggest these themes with a range verbal language features. President Ronald Reagan highlights Freedom with antithesis, contrasting the West Berliners' prosperous life styles to the Failures and shortcomings of the U.S.S.R including the neighboring, (once German and Capitalistic) communism influenced Eastern State of Berlin. "In the 1950's, Khrushchev predicted: (1) "We will bury you." But in the West today, we see a free world that has achieved a level of prosperity and well being unprecedented in all human history. In the communist world, we see (2) failure, technological backwardness, declining standards of health, even want of the most basic kind - too little food." from this extract of...