Michael, these aren't perceptions, they're the truth. When did the Berlin Wall fall? Think about it. Now when did George Bush Sr take office? The Fall of the Wall was the culmination of a long series of events that began before Bush had ever taken office.
Reagan was the architect of the policy that led to the Soviet Union's collapse. Reagan was in power before Gorbachev ever came along. Before Kohl ever came along. When Gorbachev attained power in the Soviet Union, the Soviet economy was already too far gone for him to do anything about it.
Think about it. When Gorby came to power, Reagan's policies had already been at work for over 4 years. Reagan's policies broke the Soviet Bank. Leading to the series of changes in the Eastern European nations. The Soviets were by that time too weak to do anything about it. No, I would never take credit away from Bush Sr, Kohl etc but it is just willfull ignorance to claim that Reagan wasn't the major player in all that. It was after all Reagan's Star Wars program that scared the Soviets. It was Reagan that told Gorby 'No' in Reykavik. It was Reagan's arms build up that forced the Soviets to try to keep up- even though they could not (which is eventually what broke them). Germany had no great military to build up in an arms race. The German military was never much of a threat to the Soviets. Even the American military that we had stationed in Germany during the Cold War was considered only a 'speed bump' for the Soviet Army. Our job was to slow them down long enough for us to start flying in reinforcements to Rhein-Main airport. Those guys manning the Fulda Gap were only supposed to last a matter of hours (if that).
It was our military that posed the threat to the Soviets not yours- with all due respect to yours of course.
Reagan was a giant even among great men. A candidate for the best American president of all time. Certainly the greatest modern president. Kennedy couldn't carry Ronnie's jockstrap.