Southwest Orlando in Orange County, Florida — The American South (South Atlantic)

Ronald Reagan’s Evil Empire Speech Memorial

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, April 9, 2026

1. Ronald Reagan’s Evil Empire Speech Memorial Marker

Inscription.
On this site on March 8, 1983, President Ronald Reagan gave a speech to the National Association of Evangelicals in which he described the Soviet Union as an "evil empire." Given at the height of the Cold War, President Reagan knew that victory against Soviet communism had as much to do with words as weapons. In what became known as the "Evil Empire" speech, he made his case for freedom with a moral clarity that galvanized victims of communism across the world. In the years that followed the speech, the Soviet Union came to the negotiating table, the Berlin Wall was taken down, the Iron Curtain fell, and the Soviet empire crumbled. In 1988, when asked whether he thought the Soviet Union was still an "evil empire," President Reagan responded that he no longer did, and that when he used the term it was "another time, another era."
A Florida Heritage Site

Erected 2023 by The Evil Empire Speech Memorial Foundation and the Florida Department of State. (Marker Number F-1212.)

Topics. This historical marker and memorial is listed in this topic list: War, Cold. A significant historical date for this entry is March 8, 1983.

Location. 28° 28.818′ N,

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81° 27.451′ W. Marker is in Orlando, Florida, in Orange County. It is in Southwest Orlando. It can be reached from Kirkman Road (Florida Route 435) 0.1 miles north of Major Boulevard. Marker located along the front of the Double Tree Hotel on the north end of the building. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 5780 Major Blvd, Orlando FL 32819, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker and memorial is in Central Florida.

It is also in the American South.

Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region,

North America,

a Gulf of Mexico state,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain,

the territory of the Mississippian Culture,

one of the Confederate States of America,

and the Antebellum South.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within one mile of this marker, measured as the crow flies: Historical Hollywood Landmark (approx. 0.6 miles away); The DeLorean Time Machine (approx. 0.7 miles away); Lew R. Wasserman (approx. ¾ mile away); The Hemisphere Dancer (approx.

Ronald Reagan’s Evil Empire Speech Memorial image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, April 9, 2026

2. Ronald Reagan’s Evil Empire Speech Memorial

0.8 miles away); Shingle Creek Trail (approx. 0.9 miles away); The Historic Arms of Spain & Portugal (approx. one mile away); The Historic Arms of Ireland (approx. one mile away); The Historic Arms (approx. one mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Orlando.

More about this marker. At the time of the speech, the hotel was a Sheraton.

Also see . . . Evil Empire Speech - March 8, 1983. (Submitted on April 12, 2026, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida.)

Photographed by Tim Fillmon, April 9, 2026

3. Ronald Reagan’s Evil Empire Speech Memorial

Credits. This page was last revised on April 12, 2026. It was originally submitted on April 12, 2026, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida. This page has been viewed 36 times since then. Photos: 1, 2, 3. submitted on April 12, 2026, by Tim Fillmon of Webster, Florida.