Lech Wałęsa is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the president of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democratically elected president of Poland since 1926 and the first-ever Polish president elected by popular vote. A shipyard electrician by trade, Wałęsa became the leader of the Solidarity movement, and led a successful pro-democratic effort, which in 1989 ended Communist rule in Poland and ushered in the end of the Cold War.
Wałęsa in 2019
Wojciech Harasiewicz with Lech Wałęsa
Wałęsa during the strike at the Lenin Shipyard, August 1980
Wałęsa signs autographs during the strike in August 1980.
The president of Poland, officially the president of the Republic of Poland, is the head of state of the Republic of Poland. Their rights and obligations are determined in the Constitution of Poland. The president heads the executive branch. In addition, the president has the right to dissolve parliament in certain cases, can veto legislation, represents Poland in the international arena, and is the commander-in-chief.
President of Poland
The Presidential Palace in Warsaw. It serves as the official seat of presidency.
The Belweder Palace, often known simply as 'Belvedere', is the traditional (now secondary) official residence of the president.
The office of the president at the Presidential Palace in Warsaw
