Without Ronald Reagan, there would be no Volodymyr Zelenskyy

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Remembering Ronald Reagan's life and legacy

John Heubusch, executive director for the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, hosts Bill Hemmer and 'America's Newsroom' at the Reagan Library in Simi Valley, California.

For the last month, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been rallying his people against the vicious brutality of Russia’s Vladimir Putin. Facing near unsurmountable odds, the former comedian has been dodging bullets and bombs – but he’s only been in a position to do so because a former president of another time dodged death from the bullets of would-be-assassin John Hinckley’s gun. 

President Zelenskyy was 3 years old on March 30, 1981, when Ronald Reagan emerged from the Washington Hilton. Reagan had just delivered a speech to the AFL-CIO. As he waved and smiled to those outside on that rainy Tuesday, the 40th president was struck by a single bullet that broke a rib and punctured and collapsed his left lung, lodging itself just one inch from his heart. Miraculously, Reagan survived.

ZELENSKYY WINS RONALD REAGAN FREEDOM AWARD

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks from Kyiv, Ukraine, as he addresses virtually addresses Congress on Wednesday, March 16, 2022. (House Television via AP)

A man of deep Christian faith, Ronald Reagan long attributed his unlikely recovery to a "Divine Plan" – a belief that God had spared him for a very specific purpose.

Recounting the moment in his diary later that day, he wrote, "Whatever happens now I owe my life to God and will try to serve Him in every way I can."

In the weeks and months that followed, President Reagan became convinced he had been spared for a singular purpose: to rid the world of atheistic Soviet communism. To Reagan, there was no greater injustice than preventing access to the Gospel and therefore eternal salvation. 

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Throughout his presidency, Reagan laid the groundwork for the collapse of the Soviet Union. He believed the best defense was a strong offense, but he also appealed and collaborated with another fellow anti-communist – Pope John Paul II. They believed faith was even stronger than all the armies of the world. They also shared a similar animosity for the wicked communist ideology, believing it enslaved and killed millions of innocent people.

During his second term, Reagan also forged a unique and consequential relationship with Mikhail Gorbachev, who served as the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the ill-fated Soviet Union. When Ronald Reagan left office in January of 1989, the pieces were in place for the collapse of communism – though no one suspected it would happen as quickly as it did. 

Soon after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Reagan’s two friends - Gorbachev and Pope John Paul II – met at the Vatican. During their discussions the pope zeroed in on Ukraine, demanding the Catholic Church and religion be made legal in the country.

Moved by the pontiff’s appeal, Mr. Gorbachev promised there would be laws passed to protect freedom of religion – and that’s precisely what happened.

Pope John Paul II shakes hands with Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in the first meeting between a Kremlin chief and a pontiff, at the Vatican on Dec. 1, 1989. (AP Photo/Massimo Sambucetti)

Volodymyr Zelenskyy was thirteen years-old on August 24, 1991 when Ukraine declared its independence from the Soviet Union. In an instant, the youngster was free of communist oppression and free to pursue his dreams. By the age of seventeen, he was an entertainer, traveling as a comedian and actor throughout eastern Europe.

When the now Ukrainian president announced plans to run for office in 2018, he said he was motivated by a desire "to bring professional, decent people to power" and to "change the mood and timbre of the political establishment."

Sound familiar? 

President Reagan speaking at Moscow State University during a summit, May 30, 1988. (Dirck Halstead/Getty Images)

When Governor Reagan announced his campaign on March 31, 1976 to challenge incumbent Gerald Ford for the presidency, he said: "I would like to be president, because I would like to see this country become once again a country where a little six-year-old girl can grow up knowing the same freedom that I knew when I was six years-old, growing up in America."

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Without President Reagan surviving the attempt on his life in 1981, there would have been no independent Ukraine in 1991 – and no President Zelenskyy in 2019. In many ways, Zelenskyy is now following in Ronald Reagan’s footsteps, surviving attempts on his life while battling an ideology that threatens to destroy the lives and freedoms of all Ukrainians. 

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It’s the role of a lifetime – some would even say a "Divine Plan" and one that has been decades in the making.