Former President Ronald Reagan made it clear that he was against walls.
He is known for challenging then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev to "tear down that wall" in 1987. Two years later, the Berlin Wall crumpled, reuniting East and West Berliners and all Germans.
"He played a significant role in breaking down the wall," said Rob Crouse, director of media and public relations at Westminster College.
To a smaller extent, Reagan also is known for is a speech he made in Fulton on Nov. 9, 1990, where he again decried walls between people. He made the trip to dedicate the Berlin Wall sculpture "Breakthrough" by Edwina Sandys, granddaughter of Sir Winston Churchill.
Before the eight Berlin Wall panels and a crowd of 7,000 spectators, Reagan declared: "In dedicating this magnificent sculpture, may we dedicate ourselves to hastening the day when all God's children live in a world without walls. That would be the greatest empire of all."
It was one year to the day after the original Berlin Wall fell. Sandys persuaded German officials to donate the eight 4-foot sections of the wall from which she created "Breakthrough" and brought to Westminster as a monument to her grandfather.
Fulton resident and past president of the Kingdom of Callaway Chamber of Commerce Dale LaRue said his duties for the day included escorting Bob Cummings to events. Cummings had appeared with Ronald Reagan in the Warner Brother's film "Kings Row," written by a man with Fulton connections and supposedly set in this city.
"I was in charge of taking Mr. Cummings around," LaRue said. "I didn't really get to hear a lot of (Reagan's speech)."
Crouse said Reagan addressed Westminster students near the conclusion of his remarks.
"Before you leave this place, do not forget why you came. You came to Westminster to explore the diversity of ideas and (to) experience what we call civilization. Here you discover that so long as books are kept open, minds can never be closed. Here you develop a sense of self, along with the realization that self alone is never enough for a truly satisfying life. For while we make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give."