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The East German authorities were not the only ones to struggle with the dilemma posed by the free expression of thought however. As Brian Ladd (The Ghosts of Berlin, p 28) noted, the Occupying Forces tolerance of graffiti on the Western side of the Berlin Wall lasted only as long as the graffiti itself remained critical of the Communists. This famed tolerance quickly disappeared (along with the graffiti) when graffitists sprayed anti-American slogans during President Reagan's 1987 visit to the Brandenburg Gate. Now the writing on both sides of the Wall became invisible for all to see.