A DEMONSTRATOR POUNDS AWAY THE BERLIN WALL IN THIS FILE PHOTO, 1989-11-11 (photo)

A demonstrator pounds away the Berlin Wall as East Berlin border guards look on from above the Brandeburg Gate in this November 11, 1989 file photo. In Berlin in 1987, former U.S. President Ronald Reagan challenged Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down this wall," but later developed a warm relationship with the reformer. Even in his relations with the "evil empire" of the former Soviet Union, which earned him almost universal praise for helping end the Cold War, Reagan was pushing for nuclear arms reductions and a better relationship before the end of his first term, more than a year before Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev came to power. REUTERS/David Brauchli/FILES JDP