Poles honour ‘Cold Warrior’ Ronald Reagan

By Guest Column —— Bio and Archives July 23, 2008

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By Rawstory.com Polish authorities have erected a monument to US president Ronald Reagan, feted for his crusade against communism and seen by some as having hastened the collapse of the Soviet bloc, reports said Tuesday.

Officials in the south-west city of Wroclaw unveiled the monument to the Hollywood actor-turned-president, apparently the first of its kind in Europe, Poland's centrist Dziennik daily reported Tuesday. "To Ronald Reagan for his struggle against totalitarianism -- from the residents of Wroclaw," reads the caption on the relief plaque erected at an intersection in the city bearing Reagan's name. During his two terms as president between 1981-1989, Reagan earned the reputation of a 'Cold Warrior' for engaging in an arms race with the Soviet Union and for supporting anti-communist movements like Poland's independent Solidarity trade union. Under the leadership of the iconic shipyard electrician Lech Walesa, Solidarity negotiated a peaceful end to communism in Poland in 1989. Reagan suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died aged 93 in 2004. More...