presidential blunders

Here's a great way to get a foreign nation to take you seriously: joke about wiping them off the map. That's what Ronald Reagan did on April 11, 1984, when, during a sound check prior to recording his weekly Saturday radio address, he said, "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." While the joke wasn't broadcast, some sneaky mole leaked the sound bite to the media. Apparently, the Kremlin didn't get the joke; the Soviet army was placed on alert. (Photo courtesy Ronald Reagan Library)