Famous Presidential Speeches Overseas

The public's reactions were on opposite ends of the spectrum between Jimmy Carter’s trip to Iran and John F. Kennedy’s trip to Berlin. Carter received such negativity that it forced him out of office. Kennedy’s crowd praised him and cheered as he discussed what Communism was compared to freedom.

When Jimmy Carter visited Iran in January 1978, he made a toast to the dictating Shah of Iran stating, “An island of stability in a turbulent corner of the world.” He went on to praise the Shah for attempting modernity in Iran. Iranians who originally supported Carter in his talks about human rights were outraged. Shortly after Carter’s toast, the Shah and his family were run out of Iran and student radicals, supported by the new regime, seized the American embassy in Iran. Once Ronald Reagan took over the Presidency, the hostages were released. This unfortunate chain of events followed Carter’s legacy.

John F. Kennedy said to a Berlin crowd in June 1963 he knew of people who couldn’t see a difference between Communism and freedom. His famous line was, “Let them come to Berlin.” Each time he said this, the crowd cheered. Kennedy became even more popular by saying, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” meaning “I am a Berliner.” Kennedy gave hope to Berliners that Communism would not prevail.

Lastly, President Barak Obama visited Cairo, Egypt and spoke to Muslims about fixing the perception Muslims had of the United States. He mentioned he would pull American troops from Iraq by 2012 leaving Iraqis’ to their country. Some Americans feel Obama’s speech will help strengthen relations between Muslims who have had an ill view of the U.S. since the beginning of the war in Iraq. However, according to Campbell Robertson of the New York Times, Iraqis were unimpressed by Obama’s speech. Iraqi politicians resented Obama for thinking he can change the U.S.’s and Israel’s relationships’ with Iraq and Iran with one speech.

However, Muslim-Americans seemed to relate to and agree with many things the President mentioned. One Muslim-American said Obama was able to show the accomplishments and Americanism of Muslim-Americans stating, “This is a 180-degree turn from the Bush Administration.” I think Americans and Muslims can agree the Presidency of Barak Obama will be an immense difference from that of Bush’s.