Ronald Reagan said "give me liberty or give me death" directed at Mikhail Gorbachev.
Ronald Reagan . Publicly describing the Soviet Union as an `` evil empire '' , and during his famous speech at the Brandenburg Gate , President Reagan challenged Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev to `` tear down this wall ! '' The Washington Summit of 1987 was a Cold War-era meeting between United States president Ronald Reagan and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev that took place December 8 -- 10 .