While preparing for a scheduled radio address from his vacation home in California, President Reagan joked with those present about illegalizing and bombing Russia. This joke was not broadcast live, but was recorded and later leaked to the public. After some brief military confusion, the Soviet Union denounced the president's joke, as did Reagan's then-opponent in the 1984 US presidential election , Walter Mondale . Reagan's impromptu comments have had significant staying power, being referenced, cited, and used as literary inspiration as recently as 2017 .

" We begin bombing in five minutes " is the last sentence of a controversial, off-the-record joke made by US President Ronald Reagan in 1984, during the "second Cold War" .

President Reagan speaking at a reelection campaign event (July 1984)

Live[1] at 9:06 a.m. on August 11, 1984, US President Ronald Reagan made his weekly radio address from Rancho del Cielo—his vacation home near Santa Barbara, California. The actual address begins with the president announcing his signature on the Equal Access Act[2], a key plank in his reelection campaign[3]: "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."[2]

It was prior to the speech itself though, while the president was joking with the National Public Radio audio engineers during soundcheck, that 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."[1] This sort of jovial pithiness wasn't uncommon for Ronald Reagan; he was known to interject soundchecks, outtakes, and downtime with his humor to raise others' spirits—in both show business and politics.[4]

Leak Edit

In the minutes before the president gave his speech, a live feed from Rancho del Cielo was still being transmitted to radio stations around the United States. Many rebroadcasters were already recording the feed, and therefore the president's pre-speech joke, to be ready for the official transmission. While many in the media heard the president's impromptu remarks as he gave them, they were not broadcast live.[5]

In October 1982, President Reagan had made similarly impolitic remarks about the Polish People's Republic. As he prepared to announce his cancellation of Poland's most favoured nation status (in retaliation for suppression of the Polish trade union Solidarity), Reagan called the military government "a bunch of no-good, lousy bums." These recorded comments were aired by "NCB". As a result of this leak, members of the White House Correspondents' Association agreed not to publish such unprepared, off-the-record presidential remarks in the future.[5]

Both CBS News and Cable News Network recorded the 1984 joke, but kept the president's remarks under wraps in accordance with the White House agreement. Gannett News Service "eventually published" the remarks. Then-White House Press Secretary Larry Speakes declined to comment on August 13, saying, "I don’t talk about off-the-record stuff."[5]