Those ideas and principles should be a politician's commitment to serve the greater good, even when it's messy and a wee bit difficult. And those blessings of God come down to equality, justice, freedom—things all people should have simply because they're people. Reagan believes it's his duty as a politician, as the voice of the free world, to speak out against the kind of government that disagrees.

Part of what makes Reagan's speech so powerful is how he resists talking about the United States as if it were a perfect country. In fact, he's a bit of a tattletale, going into detail about infanticide and racism and other unpleasantness from American history. He's trying to keep it real, so other people will hear what he has to say and recognize that he can stand around calling the Soviets evil, talking about all the mistakes they're making, because he leads a country that acknowledges its slipups.

Guys, the twentieth century was a busy century. From the very beginning, the United States was involved in conflicts around the world, especially those conflicts that threatened basic human rights. No matter what you think of American foreign policy, the nation is passionate about promoting freedom and ensuring people everywhere live without fear. Reagan mentions this, not in an attempt to allow Americans a moment to pat themselves on the back, but as a reminder that our beliefs have changed lives for the better, and we need to do that again in dealing with the Soviet Union.

There's this scene in an episode of How I Met Your Mother where Marshall is trying to rent a car. He's at the very end of the line, and it looks completely hopeless. That is, until an old gentleman comes out and starts handing out car keys faster than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking competition. And when the last car is rented, that's it—no room for negotiation. That's what Reagan is referring to when he says Americans will refuse to compromise on principles their country. He wanted peace, and he was tired of dancing in circles to get it, but there was a line he wouldn't cross, and U.S. citizens wouldn't ever be bullied into giving up their freedom.

If Reagan's speech were an Oreo, this would be the double-stuffed filling, the best part of the whole cookie. The Soviet Union and the United States had very different ideas on economic policy, as well as foreign relations and citizen rights, and Reagan knew it wasn't possible to fight ideological differences with atomic bombs. Well, it was possible, but it really didn't make much sense. Americans had tried, rather unsuccessfully, to flex their military muscles in the Vietnam War, and Reagan had learned from those mistakes. He knew the solution was a moral one-eighty, and the Soviets had to take an active role in the making the change without the sounds of American artillery in the background.