Paul Kengor (political scientist at Grove City College) argues that the extraordinary untold story of the twentieth century was the heroic collaboration between a pope and a president which brought about the death of Soviet communism. Much has been written about the crucial roles of John Paul and Reagan in causing the collapse of the “Evil Empire.” But the “untold” story is the nature of the partnership between these two men. The bond between them arose after each was shot in early 1981. Both came perilously close to death and both believed that they had been saved by divine providence so that they could accomplish a sacred mission—the defeat of atheistic communism. (Reagan even had a code name for it. In private conversations he frequently spoke of the “DP”—the divine plan to take down communism.) Inflamed by this shared belief, they worked tirelessly to defeat communism primarily by revealing to the world its utter evil. They undermined its legitimacy in the minds and hearts of those living on both sides of the Iron Curtain—strengthening the resolve of anti-communists in the West as well as those living under its yoke in the East, but also weakening the resolve of the taskmasters who had imposed the yoke. These ideas fanned a gale that ultimately blew down the rickety communist structure.
A POPE AND A PRESIDENT - PAPERBACK John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th Century Acclaimed scholar, author and Cold War historian Paul Kengor writes about the untold story of the partnership between Pope John Paul II and Ronald Reagan and how their singular bond drove them to confront the great evil of the twentieth century: Soviet communism. This congeniality included a spiritual connection between the Catholic pope and the Protestant president, both of which took bullets from would-be assassins, just 6 weeks apart. Read Paul's tireless archival digging and years of research. Paperback. 648 pages.
A Pope and a President: John Paul II, Ronald Reagan, and the Extraordinary Untold Story of the 20th
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