View source for We begin bombing in five minutes

{{short description|Joke made by Ronald Reagan in 1984}}
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{{use American English|date=June 2025}}
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{{listen
| filename    = ReaganBeginsBombingRussia.ogg
| title       = We begin bombing in five minutes
| description = The audio leaked to the public
| image       = [[File:Seal of the President of the United States.svg|50px]]
}}

"'''We begin bombing in five minutes'''" is the last sentence of a controversial, off-the-record joke made by [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] in 1984, during [[Cold War (1979–1985)|the Cold War]].  While preparing for a scheduled radio address from his [[vacation 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 the [[1984 United States presidential election]], [[Walter Mondale]].

==Speech==
[[File:President Ronald Reagan during a radio address to the nation from Rancho del Cielo (cropped).jpg|thumb|Reagan recording the August 11, 1984 address at Rancho del Cielo]]
At 9:06{{spaces}}a.m. on August 11, 1984, [[President of the United States|U.S. President]] [[Ronald Reagan]] made [[weekly address of the president of the United States|his weekly radio address]] from [[Rancho del Cielo]], his ranch near [[Santa Barbara, California]].  The live address began with the president announcing his signature on the [[Equal 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."<ref name="1984-08-11 speech" /><ref name="2011-02-07 Deseret News" />

Before the speech, while Reagan was joking with [[NPR]]'s [[audio engineer]]s during a [[soundcheck]], 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."<ref name="2011-02-07 Deseret News" />  This sort of levity was common for Reagan; he injected his humor into soundchecks, [[outtake]]s, and [[downtime]] throughout his careers in [[show business]] and politics.<ref name="2017-02-13 Ozy" />

===Leak===
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.<ref name="1984-08-14 Guardian" />

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 [[permanent normal trade relations|most favored nation]] status (in retaliation for suppression of the Polish [[trade union]] [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarity]]), Reagan called the military government "a bunch of no-good, lousy bums."<ref name="1984-08-14 Guardian" />  This was later aired by the [[American Broadcasting Company]] and [[NBC News]].<ref name="1984-08-13 NYT" />  Because of this leak, members of the [[White House Correspondents' Association]] agreed not to publish such unprepared, [[off the record (journalism)|off-the-record]] presidential remarks in the future.<ref name="1984-08-14 Guardian" />

[[File:Portraits of Assistants to President Ronald Reagan (cropped5).jpg|thumb|Speakes in September 1983]]
Both [[CBS News]] and [[CNN]] 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 as [[Gannett]].  The [[White House Press Secretary]], [[Larry Speakes]], declined to comment that same day, saying, "I don't talk about off-the-record stuff."<ref name="1984-08-14 Guardian" />

==Reactions==
===Soviet===
<!-- poltically -->On August 13, the deputy minister of [[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Soviet Union)|Soviet foreign affairs]], Valentin Kamenev, told reporters, "I have nothing to say."<ref name="1984-08-14 Guardian" />  The next day, President Reagan's leaked comments were denounced by the [[government of the Soviet Union|Soviet government]], ''[[Pravda]]'', ''[[Izvestia]]'', and [[TASS]] as "unprecedentedly hostile", evidence of the United States' insincerity at trying to improve [[Soviet Union–United States relations]], and as [[abuse of power|abuse of the office of the president]].  Western diplomats described the Soviet response as over the top, suggesting that it was an effort to give themselves more collateral at the negotiating table with the United States.<ref name="1984-08-16 PPG" />  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."<ref name="2010-08-11 Politico" />  In 2003, ''[[Moskovskij Komsomolets]]''{{'}} Mikhail Rostovsky said that "[[propaganda in the Soviet Union|Soviet propaganda]] then squeezed the maximum possible out of this joke of the state leader."<ref name="2003-09-30 Moskovskij Komsomolets" />

<!-- militarily -->By August 14, the recording of Reagan's joke had become world news.  On August 15, someone, whom the [[National Security Agency]] described to [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. Representative]] [[Michael D. Barnes]] as "a wayward operator in [[Far Eastern Military District|the Soviet Far Eastern command]]", sent a coded message from [[Vladivostok]] 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 the [[alert state]] in that part of the world; [[Soviet Navy|Soviet naval]] vessels in the [[North 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.<ref name="NBC Nightly News" />

===Domestic===
Reagan's [[opinion poll|poll numbers]] took a hit from the [[political gaffe]], temporarily raising the hopes of [[Walter Mondale]]'s supporters in the [[1984 United States presidential election]] campaign.<ref name="2010-08-11 Politico" />  Mondale said of Reagan's joke, "A [p]resident has to be very, very careful with his words."<ref name="1984-08-14 Guardian" />  However, in the analysis of Reagan historian [[Craig Shirley]], the leak of Reagan's joke was poorly used by the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic 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."<ref name="2017-02-13 Ozy" />

<!-- analysis -->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."<ref name="2010-08-11 Politico" />  In 2011, the ''[[Deseret News]]'' listed Reagan's [[microphone gaffe]] as his sixth-best quote, expressing surprise that it was leaked only 87 days before the election.<ref name="2011-02-07 Deseret News" />

==Other uses==
[[Jerry Harrison]], of the American rock band [[Talking Heads]], obtained a copy of the recording and used it in the 1984 song "[[Five Minutes (Bonzo Goes to Washington song)|Five Minutes]]", which he performed under the name Bonzo Goes to Washington.<ref name="2001 Bowman" />

==See also==
* {{annotated link|Bushism}}

==References==
{{reflist |refs=

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<ref name="1984-08-11 speech">{{cite speech |last=Reagan |first=Ronald |author-link=Ronald Reagan |title=Radio Address to the Nation on Congressional Inaction on Proposed Legislation |date=1984-08-11 |location=[[Rancho del Cielo]] |url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/81184a.htm |access-date=2018-10-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307121209/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1984/81184a.htm |archive-date=2016-03-07 |url-status=dead |publisher=[[NPR|National Public Radio]]}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1984-08-13 NYT">{{cite news |date=1984-08-13 |title=Reagan Said to Joke Of Bombing Russia Before Radio Speech |work=[[The New York Times]] |language=en |page=A16 |issn=0362-4331 |oclc=1645522 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/13/us/reagan-said-to-joke-of-bombing-russia-before-radio-speech.html |access-date=2020-07-04 |archive-date=2020-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200318083704/https://www.nytimes.com/1984/08/13/us/reagan-said-to-joke-of-bombing-russia-before-radio-speech.html}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1984-08-14 Guardian">{{cite news |last1=Jackson |first1=Harold |date=1984-08-14 |title=Storm as Reagan bombing joke misfires |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/ronald-reagan-bombing-russia-joke-archive-1984 |url-status=live |work=[[The Guardian]] |issn=0261-3077 |oclc=60623878 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180917150154/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/aug/14/ronald-reagan-bombing-russia-joke-archive-1984 |archive-date=2018-09-17 |access-date=2024-01-14 |quote=An off-air joke by Ronald Reagan causes consternation as the US president announces Russia will be bombed}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="1984-08-16 PPG">{{cite news |date=1984-08-16 |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/145202325/ |title=Soviets assail Reagan for 'monstrous' joke |work=[[Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]] |location=[[Moscow]] |agency=[[Associated Press]] |pages= 1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/145202377/ 2] |issn=1068-624X}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2001 Bowman">{{cite book |last=Bowman |first=Dave |title=fa fa fa fa fa fa: The Adventures of Talking Heads in the 20th Century |publisher=[[Bloomsbury Publishing]] |year=2001 |isbn=0-7475-4586-3}}{{verify source|date=January 2022}}</ref>

<ref name="2003-09-30 Moskovskij Komsomolets">{{cite news |last1=Ростовский |first1=Михаил |date=2003-09-30 |title= |script-title=ru:Полет "кукурузника" |trans-title=Flight of the "corn" |url=https://www.mk.ru/editions/daily/article/2003/09/30/126327-polet-kukuruznika.html |url-status=live |work=[[Moskovskij Komsomolets]] |language=ru |issn=1562-1987 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221014155611/https://www.mk.ru/editions/daily/article/2003/09/30/126327-polet-kukuruznika.html |archive-date=2022-10-14 |access-date=2023-03-06}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2010-08-11 Politico">{{cite news |last1=Glass |first1=Andrew |date=2010-08-11 |title=Reagan jokes about bombing Russia, August 11, 1984 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2010/08/reagan-jokes-about-bombing-russia-august-11-1984-040921 |url-status=live |publisher=[[Politico]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161017024545/https://www.politico.com/story/2010/08/reagan-jokes-about-bombing-russia-august-11-1984-040921 |archive-date=2016-10-17 |access-date=2018-10-22}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2011-02-07 Deseret News">{{cite news |last1=De Groote |first1=Michael |date=2011-02-07 |title=Ronald Reagan's 10 best quotes |url=https://www.deseretnews.com/top/103/5/We-begin-bombing-in-five-minutes-Ronald-Reagans-10-best-quotes.html |url-status=dead |work=[[Deseret News]] |issn=0745-4724 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923141733/https://www.deseretnews.com/top/103/5/We-begin-bombing-in-five-minutes-Ronald-Reagans-10-best-quotes.html |archive-date=2018-09-23 |access-date=2018-10-22}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

<ref name="2017-02-13 Ozy">{{cite magazine |last1=Braswell |first1=Sean |date=2017-02-13 |title=The Cold War Joke that Had the Soviets on High Alert |url=https://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/the-cold-war-joke-that-had-the-soviets-on-high-alert/75326 |url-status=dead |magazine=[[Ozy (magazine)|Ozy]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014031732/https://www.ozy.com/politics-and-power/the-cold-war-joke-that-had-the-soviets-on-high-alert/75326 |archive-date=2017-10-14 |access-date=2018-10-30 |quote=Because when you are president, every word matters.}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

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<ref name="NBC Nightly News">{{citation |title=NBC Nightly News |last1=Kalb |first1=Marvin |author1-link=Marvin Kalb |last2=Barnes |first2=Michael |author2-link=Michael D. Barnes |last3=Brokaw |first3=Tom |author3-link=Tom Brokaw |url=https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/2016-12-22-msna943276 |access-date=2023-07-10 |via=''[[The Rachel Maddow Show]]'' |language=en |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220221171837/https://www.msnbc.com/transcripts/rachel-maddow-show/2016-12-22-msna943276 |archive-date=2022-02-21 |url-status=live}}</ref><!-- exhausted -->

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{{Ronald Reagan|state=collapsed}}
{{Soviet Union–United States relations|state=collapsed}}

[[Category:1984 controversies in the United States]]
[[Category:1984 in American politics]]
[[Category:1984 in California]]
[[Category:1984 in international relations]]
[[Category:1984 in radio]]
[[Category:1984 quotations]]
[[Category:anti-Russian sentiment]]
[[Category:August 1984 in the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War broadcasting]]
[[Category:Cold War history of the United States]]
[[Category:diplomatic incidents]]
[[Category:jokes]]
[[Category:mass media-related controversies in the United States]]
[[Category:political quotes]]
[[Category:quotations from radio]]
[[Category:Reagan administration controversies]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States relations]]