Just 1 member of heroic
trio left

With the passing of Pope John Paul II, the trio of Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and the pope – an extraordinary triumvirate that worked together to bring down the Soviet Union – has just one of its members left, notes historical analyst and geopolitical expert Jack Wheeler.

In a column on his intelligence website, To the Point, Wheeler states that in future generations the 1980s will be known for these "three giants who together rid the world of one of the great evils of history, the Soviet Union."

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Writes Wheeler of the time immediately following the election of Reagan president in 1980: " A Polish priest, an English woman commoner and an American movie actor were about to confront the most evil power in the world. How off the wall do you want history to get? Truth is not simply stranger than fiction, it is more dramatic and awe-inspiring."

Both John Paul's and Reagan's brushes with death after assassination attempts led to a proposal from president to pope, which began the wheels turning toward the end of Soviet power.

Explains Wheeler: "Both men were convinced that they were saved by the Almighty for a purpose. They met in the Vatican Library on June 7, 1982. Reagan proposed they conduct a clandestine effort to support the recently outlawed Solidarity movement, destabilize the Communist government of Poland, and attempt to bring freedom to all of Soviet-colonized Eastern Europe. It was an incredibly audacious proposal – which the pope accepted.

"The very next day, June 8, 1982, Reagan flew to London to speak to the members of the British Parliament assembled in Westminster Abbey. He first met with Prime Minister Thatcher, told her about the agreement with the pope, and she enthusiastically joined in the effort. He then delivered one the great speeches of the 20th century.

"The speech's most famous line was Reagan declaring: 'The march of freedom and democracy will leave Marxism-Leninism on the ash-heap of history.'"

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Wheeler continues his analysis of the world-changing transformation, which began in Poland, that would culminate with the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.

States Wheeler: "It was the three of them working together that achieved the removal of Soviet evil from history. This uncannily unlikely coalescence of a pope, a president and a prime minister should assure us that Providence is indeed on the side of freedom. Can't you see Pope John Paul II with a gentle smile and nodding his head in agreement?"

To read the entire analysis, subscribe to Dr. Jack Wheeler's To the Point – "the oasis for rational conservatives."