Anti-Communist Polish Leader Lech Walesa Unveils Reagan Statue in Warsaw
- Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:17pm by
Tiffany Gabbay
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WARSAW, Poland (The Blaze/AP) — Former Polish president and anti-communist leader Lech Walesa unveiled a statue of Ronald Reagan on an elegant Warsaw street on Monday, honoring the late U.S. president for inspiring Poland’s toppling of communism.
Though Reagan’s legacy is mixed in the U.S., across much of central and eastern Europe he is considered the greatest American leader in recent history for challenging the Soviet Union.
The moniker he gave it — the “evil empire” — resonated with Poles, who suffered greatly under Moscow-imposed rule.
“I wonder whether today’s Poland, Europe and world could look the same without president Reagan,” Walesa said. “As a participant in those events, I must say that it’s inconceivable.”
The 3.5-meter (11.5-foot) bronze statue depicts a smiling Reagan in a historic moment — as he stood at a podium at Berlin’s Brandenburg gate in 1987 and said the famous words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall.”
It sits across from the U.S. Embassy on Aleje Ujazdowskie, a street lined with embassies and manicured parks in the heart of the capital.
“Reagan gave us hope,” said Janusz Dorosiewicz, the president of the board of the Ronald Reagan Foundation in Poland. He conceived of the monument and struggled for six years with bureaucracy to secure the prized location for the statue.
Several statues of Reagan have gone up this year, the centennial of Reagan’s birth. Most notably, monuments to him have been erected in London and in Budapest, Hungary, and yet another is to be unveiled later this week in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
“We’ve been joking that there are so many statues that we should do a coffee table book,” said Linda Bond, a representative of the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation, who was in Warsaw for the ceremony.
Below is a video of President Reagan praising Walesa when he was named to receive the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize:
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Comments (86)
bornagaincowgirl
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 12:39amI was 20-years-old when Regan was elected. I worked in downtown D.C. and was there for the ticker-tate parade as the bus full of the Americans released from Iran drove by. The moment presdient Carter was out and Reagan was in there was a palpable exciting hope. May God help us now.
Report Post »PlowMan
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 10:09amAwsome!! We need a Reagan now!
Report Post »the_zazzy
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 11:04amWhy isn’t a statue like that on Capitol Hill???
Report Post »I support God's Israel!
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 11:47amAs Glenn states in one of his previous articles, the 2012 Presidency HAS BEEN HIJACKED ahead of time. OBAMA WILL BE RE-ELECTED (illegally). There are evil powers at work RIGHT NOW that are assuring the re-election of Obama. THERE WILL BE A CIVIL WAR.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 7:23pm… I loved President Reagan. I despise President OBAMMY. May only bad things befall OBAMMY …
Report Post »Lotus503
Posted on November 23, 2011 at 3:57pmI’m posting this in honor of the greatest President in modern times…please watch it.
“A Time for Choosing” by Ronald Reagan
Televised Campaign Address for Goldwater Presidential Campaign – 10/27/64.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXBswFfh6AY
For more information on the ongoing works of President Reagan’s Foundation, visit http://www.reaganfoundation.org
Report Post »mrawfull
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 12:35amLech Walesa is an imbicile that supports the OWS parasites. He is also a traitor and an enemy of the Polish Republicans. I wouldn’t put too much stock into this unveiling ceremony.
Report Post »apollo18
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 1:38amUnderstand they said the same thing in the Kremlin.
Report Post »grayling646
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 2:46amIf you got your information from some source other than biggovernment.com you‘d know this isn’t true. He doesn‘t support OWS and isn’t going to attend any protests. You freakin’ hump.
Report Post »grayling646
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 2:51amoops…biggovernment.com was one source used to inform Lech of what the OWS is really all about.
Report Post »V-MAN MACE
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 8:34amRaygun gave you hope?
Well, isn’t that a ripoff, he gave us 2.1 trillion dollars in national debt after he left.
Raygun was a Liberal Dem posing as a Conservative- the true origin of a Neocon.
Report Post »Tiny280
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 12:31amThere are at least three statues of Ronald Reagan in honored places of three foreign capitals. In thirty years time, who wants to bet there will be even one such of Obama?
Report Post »lukerw
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 12:53amThe Gipper will get more respect over there… than he does here!
Report Post »CatB
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 12:57amMaybe in IRAN …
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 1:23am@. Tiny280
Report Post »There will be a statue of Obama…… Somewher in stannyland ….
apollo18
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 1:25amTiny,
Why do you think Hugo Chavez “bought” his book?
Report Post »BSdetector
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 8:02amNo monuments, but I’m thinking there will be a town in Kenya(or possibly Iran or Somalia) renamed to “Obamastan”
Report Post »texanpatriot
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 12:06amIn this country there has always been a GOP candidate (Mitt this year) and then some decent/good candidates. I voted for the Gipper in the ‘76 primary (he was a GREAT candidate) but he could not break through the anointed choice. Four years later was a different matter.
He is definitely one of the best Presidents in our history and the greatest in the 20th Century. I lived and worked in Europe in the ’80s and they loved the man. He was the only thing standing between them and “the Evil Empire”.
Other than Reagan, Goldwater was the only other candidate I voted for without holding my nose in my life. I have never voted Dem and consider myself Independent.
We need a free thinker next year to reverse the damage of the Clinton/Bush/Obama years and to return us to the glory of our founding. I am an optimist in this regard if we make it to the election.
TEA
Report Post »thepatriotdave
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 12:23amOur inspiration coming from these Eastern European countries is one heck of a turn of events. MESSAGE TO ALL DEMOCRATS… WAKE UP!
Report Post »Rayblue
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:45pmI remember the hatred heaped upon a man.
Report Post »I remember Frank Zappa making fun of policy he didn’t comprehend.
I remember the Ramones making a cartoon out of him.
I remember an hysterical man running down Navigation Blvd. shouting that Reagan had been shot.
And I remember President Reagan waving at me on an evacuated Hwy 45 when I was the only one willing to poke my head up from below deck.
I started my career in state and federal government when Reagan was elected. And it was from his faith in American exceptionalism that I drew my design for a successful future.
May God have mercy on his soul.
Jennifer_D
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 9:33amThank you for sharing your experience. It was very inspiring. We need to return to believing that America is exceptional. Sadly; we have elected leaders who tell us over and over again that it is not. Hopefully; this statue won’t be vandalized like the one in CA recently.
Report Post »tommy_pete
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 11:45amScrolling trolls (like V-ombie) pretend to be something they are not.
Report Post »Semper4everSemper
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:29pmMOST important quote of this GREAT AMERICAN:
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same.
THIS MUST BE THE ONE THING HE SAID WE MUST NEVER FORGET. If we survive this time, we may not get another chance.
Report Post »Anna Fallaxis
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 8:10amWe’ve become so spineless and defeated, do we even deserve another chance? Too late already, the barn door is off the hinges and no leader would be able to rein in the anarchists at this point. Liberalism has destroyed America. All we have left are shreds of our former society, and these are stamped out daily like little fires. Sorry Ronnie, we let you down.
Report Post »rock-n-roll-rebel
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 8:40amDon’t give up yet Anna, all is not lost.
Report Post »teddrunk
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:29pm……..”it’s morning in America………How I wish it were again……..from having a great man fighting Communists…to a weak, wimpish weasel, that is a Communist……look how far we’ve fallen.
Report Post »Gwangi
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:26pmAs a young teen, my first vote was for the peanut man and he was the last dem I’ve ever voted for. Reagan is one of my hero’s and I take his words to heart. It’s a shame how he is belittled by our bias media and praised by a former communist.
Report Post »Gonzo
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 8:26amNo kidding, it’s pretty telling when the polacks understand the root of his greatness better than our media and half our citizens. They‘re erecting statues of Reagan and we’re on the verge of erecting statues of Lennon and Marx.
Report Post »psychokittis
Posted on November 23, 2011 at 4:06pmMy first vote was in ‘84. at the age of 20. It was for the Gipper I never vote D. And since most republicans are now Democrat lite, I doubt that I will ever again vote R.
Report Post »grayling646
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:26pmIn 1980 I had just recently separated from the Navy and was working on a nuclear construction site. During the Carter administration Libya had claimed a 50 mile limit on its coasts which Carter honored. The recognized international limit was 12 miles. One of the workers came into the shop and said that Reagan had ordered a Carrier Task Force inside the 50 mile limit and our fighter pilots had just shot down two Libyan fighters. That story ran through the work site like wildfire. Everybody was talking a little faster, stepping a little lighter, standing a little taller. The entire world knew there was a new sheriff in town. Reagan made us proud to be Americans again. Reagan did a lot of great things but that’s the defining moment for me. The moment he made me proud to be an American again.
Report Post »Rational Man
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:24pmWell whata ya know! A memorial statue erected for a great leaders acomplishments out of gratitude.
Report Post »Instead of being memorialized in spite of the lack of acomplishment.
Like a Peace Prize,…..just in case?
Daveed
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:18pmI love the Polish people. Our Unions in the States are nothing but revenue consuming radical leftist political agencies. Lech spoke the truth and how kind of the Polish people to honor one of our best Presidents, as that honors the American people. I loved President Ronald, he is an American Hero.
Report Post »PATRIOTGRUNT
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 1:05am@DAVEED and others. Know this Lech Walesa is a communist through and through. He and Solidarity are no different then SEIU-AFL-CIO ect . They have a strangle hold on Poland just like all of the other Unions throughout Europe. They are the ones responsible for what is happening in Europe along with the crooked Politicians. Lech is hated in Poland not only by the regular people but also by Solidarity. His rise to fame was engineered by the Western Media.He is nothing but a drunk. Dourning his tenure as President of Poland he basically re negotiated contracts with the Solidarity Union that the Poles are still paying for. His drunken son ran over and killed two people on a sidewalk in iWarsaw and spent one night in jail and was never charged.This fame seeking drunk even won the Nobel Peace Prize. It was the Pope who was responsible for the commie fall along wirh Ronald Reagen. Mostly RR because he backed the anti Commie movement.Poles knew that the US was and would back them. You are right when you said that the Poles love the USA. After all two of its best generals one of whom died here fought with Washington against the British. Kosciuszko and Pulawski. Kosciuszko was wounded and returned to Poland. Pulawski was olso wounded but died here. All of his possessions were sold and the money was used to buy freedom for the slaves. I am sure that they teach this in History classes here in the US. (not0 I learned in Poland though.
Report Post »Skylander Burmaslap
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:04pmI am so proud to be an American voter who twice cast my ballot to elect Ron. I am also proud of Lech Walesa and his electrical union buddies who began the Polish march to freedom. What a wonderful thing! This coming Friday I am introducing two of my Polish American kids ( not mine, but co workers ) to Mitch Garwolinski who was a young Polish American kid that went back to Poland from the States back in the mid 30′s for a visit and wound up having to live under the Nazi AND Russian occupation until the State Department was able to retrieve the family from Communist Poland. I will always admire and love RWR for his tough stance on totalinarism and the resilience of the Czechs, the Jews, the Hungarians and all others who suffered at the hands of the Nazis and the Communists. Here in America, we really don’t know the suffering of war and slavery like many others. My friend Mitch’s book is titled: Silent Screams of a Survivor and co authored by Bob Hoffman. Truely insightful and horrific at the same time. G-d Bless Ronald Regan forever!
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:16pmRon Paul
Report Post »“I want to totally disassociate myself from the policies that have given us unprecedented deficits, massive monetary inflation, indiscriminate military spending, an irrational and unconstitutional foreign policy, zooming foreign aid, the exaltation of international banking, and the attack on our personal liberties and privacy,” he wrote in a letter offering advice to the Republican party: not a letter about the Obama administration — a letter about the Reagan administration.
Rational Man
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:27pmGood find there RepubliCorp!
Report Post »Thanks for posting!
Speaking_my_mind
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 12:39am@REPUBLICORP
Yes good find indeed, however, this was taken a little out of contest.
Ron Paul was very supportive of R.Reagan’s policies of cutting taxes, getting the government out of the way of businesses, less regulations, etc. However, he was against increased federal spending (which hiked up under RR), FRB, inflation caused by money press.
If anything, that should show Ron Paul’s integrity, vision (he predicted the crap we are in right now), and patriotism.
Ron Paul 2012
Report Post »Al J Zira
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 1:10amWell if Ron Paul said it I guess we should all listen!
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 2:58amSPEAKING_MY_MIND
Report Post »“Yes good find indeed, however, this was taken a little out of contest.” Why don’t you put it in context. Or is your comment just more NeoLib spew?
RepubliCorp
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 3:28amPEAKING_MY_MIND
Report Post »” he was against increased federal spending (which hiked up under RR), FRB, inflation caused by money press.” So did the founding fathers ask Paul to put in for 400 million in earmark this year? Laughable.
escape_from_socialism
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 7:40amDidn’t RR complaint, he get cheated, it wasn’t any deficit reduction as agreed with Congress?
Report Post »JMJMX4
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:04pmWhen Germany recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, recognition of President Ronald Reagan’s was no where to be found, but Mikhail Gorbachev was hailed as a hero, and cheered by the crowds. Lech Walesa knows true history, and it’s a greater honor to be honored by such a man, than by the MSM or the ungrateful.
Report Post »Politijack
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:03pmLec Walesa is quite possibly the greatest union activist in modern history.Wonder if any of the American Union leadership would honor him for what he has done for “the movement”.
Report Post »whoisjohngalt11
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:00pmWhat a beautiful man he was, he had a excellent spirit..He’s is watching us BTW to see if we can carry on …
Report Post »Profx72
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:59pmSometimes, I weep for my Country. We have “Youthful Idiots” clamoring on the streets to convert our Nation into something that the people of POLAND are still trying to recover from. They honor Reagan while some of our own destroy his memory and his statue. If only the “Mainstream Media” would take a moment to air the voices of the Polish People instead of propagandizing the uprisings in the Middle East, more Americans would stand against the destruction of “The Last Best Hope on Earth.”
Report Post »http://www.MaverickVoice.com
escape_from_socialism
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 7:52amI moved from Poland 15 years ago. I saw the damage communism have done to not only the people, but social structure as well, and I saw it coming here since 911. But this time I will not run. This time I will stand and fight any tyranny.
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:50pmRonald Wilson Reagan, The last Great Man to occupy the White House.
Report Post »Got2bRoni
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:13pmNuff said right there…
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 2:28amI hope RWR is merely “the most recent Great Man” to serve as President — not the “last” one.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:48pmReagan gave us all hope, but don’t be expecting any from Obama! God help us!
Report Post »Dismayed Veteran
Posted on November 22, 2011 at 10:44amAbby
You are absolutely correct. He gave us hope. We had suffered through Nixon, Ford and Carter and were at a very low ebb.
Report Post »Detroit paperboy
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:47pmReagan was the first president i ever voted for, he inspired me to start my own business, now i feel like closing the doors, its so sad to see how far we have gone, i was so proud of Reagan , and i am so disgusted with our current occupier….
Report Post »RepubliCorp
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:05pmReagan was the first president I voted for too. And look at this POS we have now…sad
Report Post »SilverBlaze
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:46pmThe Libs will have nightmares for years to come.
Report Post »Coyote6
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:45pmExcuse me, but Reagan’s record in the US is not mixed! It’s decisive. Ronald Reagan was a hero in every way and we need someone like him to lead us out of the mess we are in today. God bless Ronald Reagan.
Report Post »geonj
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:43pmwalesa was a polish hero. he had respect for reagan.
Report Post »SERUM
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:36pmGod bless Poland!
Report Post »AshleyTK
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:33pmA fitting monument to a man who hated tyranny.
Report Post »hogtrashhd
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:32pmnow that’s a president to be proud of..
Report Post »planeboy
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 10:50pmIndeed…but the left will say he was just a B movie actor…Haaaa
Report Post »steveh931
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:00pmCould not have said it better myself, thank you!
Report Post »grayling646
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 11:37pm@planeboy
Report Post »That’s what they do now but when he won in 1980 they were saying the reason he won was because he was such a good actor. Then someone asked why he’d never won an Oscar if he was so good.