On This Day : Reagan declares: “We begin bombing in five minutes”circa 1985: American president Ronald Reagan makes an announcement from his desk at the White House, Washington DC. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)On this day in 1984, a lighthearted quip from Ronald Reagan nearly sparked World War Three, writes Eliot WilsonRonald Reagan was an old pro. A week before the 1964 presidential election, Reagan had delivered an electrifying television address in support of Republican candidate Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona. In March 1982, Rusher had written an article for Universal Press Syndicate entitled “Let’s Have ‘Fireside Chats’ by Ronald Reagan”, in which he explicitly linked Reagan to Roosevelt, and called him “a man of great personal charm and powerful qualities of leadership”. He was due to begin his weekly radio address at 9.05 am and would talk about the Equal Access Act which he had signed into law that day.