"We begin bombing in five minutes" is the last sentence of a controversial, off-the-record joke made by thepresident of the United States,Ronald Reagan, in 1984 duringthe Cold War. While preparing for a scheduled radio address from hisvacation home in California, Reagan joked with those present about outlawing and bombing Russia. The joke was not broadcast live, but was recorded and later leaked to the public. The Soviet Union criticized the joke, as did Reagan's opponent in the1984 United States presidential election,Walter Mondale.
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At 9:06 a.m. on August 11, 1984, President Reagan madehis weekly radio address fromRancho del Cielo, his ranch nearSanta Barbara, California. The live address began with the president announcing his signature on theEqual Access Act: "My fellow Americans: I'm pleased to tell you that today I signed legislation that will allow student religious groups to begin enjoying a right they've too long been denied—the freedom to meet in public high schools during nonschool hours, just as other student groups are allowed to do."[1][2]
Before the speech, while Reagan was joking withNPR'saudio engineers during asoundcheck, he riffed on his own speech, saying, "My fellow Americans, I'm pleased to tell you today that I've signed legislation that will outlaw Russia forever. We begin bombing in five minutes."[2] This sort of levity was common for Reagan; he injected his humor into soundchecks,outtakes, anddowntime throughout his careers inshow business and politics.[3]
In the minutes before Reagan gave his speech, a live feed from Rancho del Cielo was being transmitted to radio stations around the United States. Many rebroadcasters were already recording the feed to be ready for the official transmission, and thus recording Reagan's pre-speech joke. Many in the media heard Reagan's impromptu remarks as he gave them, but they were not broadcast live.[4]
In October 1982, President Reagan had made similarly impolitic remarks about thePolish People's Republic. As he prepared to announce his cancellation of Poland'smost favored nation status (in retaliation for suppression of the Polishtrade union,Solidarity), Reagan called the military government "a bunch of no-good, lousy bums."[4] This was later aired by theAmerican Broadcasting Company andNBC News.[5] Because of this leak, members of theWhite House Correspondents' Association agreed not to publish such unprepared,off-the-record presidential remarks in the future.[4]
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BothCBS News andCNN recorded the 1984 joke, but they kept Reagan's remarks under wraps in accordance with the White House agreement. However, rumors of the joke quickly spread, and by August 13 the quotation had been published by outlets such asGannett. TheWhite House Press Secretary,Larry Speakes, declined to comment that same day, saying, "I don't talk about off-the-record stuff."[4]
On August 13, the deputy minister ofSoviet foreign affairs, Valentin Kamenev, told reporters, "I have nothing to say."[4] The next day, President Reagan's leaked comments were denounced by theSoviet government,Pravda,Izvestia, andTASS as "unprecedentedly hostile", evidence of the United States' insincerity in trying to improveSoviet–American relations, and as an abuse of the office of president. Western diplomats described the Soviet response as over the top, suggesting that it was an effort to give themselves more leverage in negotiations with the United States.[6] U.S. officials were compelled to mollify the Soviet Union and assure the United States' Cold War adversary that "Reagan's offhand remark did not reflect White House policies or U.S. military intentions."[7] In 2003,Moskovskij Komsomolets' Mikhail Rostovsky said that "Soviet propaganda then squeezed the maximum possible out of this joke of the state leader."[8]
By August 14, the recording of Reagan's joke had become world news. On August 15, someone, whom theNational Security Agency described toU.S. RepresentativeMichael D. Barnes as "a wayward operator inthe Soviet Far Eastern command", sent a coded message fromVladivostok that said, in part, "We now embark on military action against the U.S. forces." Japanese and U.S. intelligence decoded the message and raised thealert state in that part of the world;Soviet naval vessels in theNorth Pacific contacted Vladivostok in confusion. The U.S. never saw any evidence of Soviet attack preparations, and the alert status as promulgated by Vladivostok was canceled within 30 minutes.[9]
Reagan'spoll numbers took a hit from thepolitical gaffe, temporarily raising the hopes ofWalter Mondale's supporters in the1984 United States presidential election campaign.[7] Mondale said of Reagan's joke, "A [p]resident has to be very, very careful with his words."[4] However, in the analysis of Reagan historianCraig Shirley, the leak of Reagan's joke was poorly used by theDemocratic Party: "[criticism of the joke] actually worked against the Democrats and for Reagan […] as they came across as hypersensitive, and Reagan as calm, cool and collected."[3]
In 2010,Politico journalist Andrew Glass wrote, "Most commentators dismissed the joke as, at worst, poor taste. Nonetheless, it got geopolitical traction because it came at a time of heightened Cold War tensions between Washington and Moscow — which largely dissolved during Reagan's second term."[7] In 2011, theDeseret News listed Reagan'smicrophone gaffe as his sixth-best quote, expressing surprise that it was leaked only 87 days before the election.[2]
Jerry Harrison, of the American rock bandTalking Heads, obtained a copy of the recording and used it in the 1984 song "Five Minutes", which he performed under the name Bonzo Goes to Washington.[10]
Because when you are president, every word matters.
An off-air joke by Ronald Reagan causes consternation as the US president announces Russia will be bombed
