On this day in 1983, Ronald Reagan stood before the 41st Annual Convention of the National Association of Evangelicals in The Sheraton Twin Towers in Orlando and made history. In his speech Reagan referred to the Soviet Union as an “Evil Empire” and “the focus of evil in the modern world”. Staffers repeatedly cut the phrase from his speech leading up to the keynote address, however, Reagan left in it and the rest is history. Courage under fire.