Lech Walesa — "I leaped over a wall and they made me president."
I leaped over a wall and they made me president.
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More from Lech Walesa
"My life has been a struggle, but it has been worth it."
"History is made by people, not by governments."
"I am not a saint, and I am not a prophet."
"We must not be afraid of the future. We must build it."
"I am a man of faith."
About Lech Walesa (born 1943)
Polish electrician who founded Solidarity in 1980, won the 1983 Nobel Peace Prize, and became the first post-communist president of Poland (1990-1995). Closely associated with Václav Havel (fellow Eastern-bloc dissident-turned-president) and Pope John Paul II (the Polish pope whose 1979 visit catalyzed Solidarity). For an intellectual contrast, see Wojciech Jaruzelski, Polish general and Communist leader — Jaruzelski imposed martial law in 1981, banned Solidarity, and interned Wałęsa. He represented the Soviet-backed institutional power Solidarity's nonviolent labor movement was organized to displace — they ultimately signed the 1989 Round Table Talks together that ended Polish communism.