Journal 53 – Man who defeated the Evil Empire

It was the year 1988. I temporarily lived in Moscow. Ronald Reagan, the president of the United States, first time visited the capital of the Soviet Union.
I saw out my window in the dormitory, when the presidential limousines were going from the airport Sheremietievo to Kremlin, where the headquarters of the Soviet authorities was located.
On the airport, one Soviet journalist aggressively asked the American president, “Mister President, you said that the Soviet Union is an “evil empire”. Could you repeat it today here?”
President Ronald Reagan suddenly and calmly replied, “Yes, I said it, but it was at different circumstances. Today, I am coming to my friend President Mikhail Gorbachev and the friendly Soviet people”.
The Soviet authorities welcomed President Ronald Reagan too formally and stiffly, because the Cold War didn’t end in these times, yet. However, the Soviet people greeted the American president warmth and enthusiastically.
Many years have passed from this time, but I remember that event with great clarity.