He co-founded the Solidarity trade-union, whose membership rose to over ten million. Released from custody, he continued his activism and was prominent in the establishment of the Round Table Agreement that led to the semi-free Polish legislative election and a Solidarity-led government.
He presided over Poland's transition from Marxist—Leninist state socialism into a free-market capitalist liberal democracy , but his active role in Polish politics diminished after he narrowly lost the Polish presidential election. He was named the Time Person of the Year and one of Time's most important people of the 20th century In , Lech graduated from primary and vocational school in nearby Chalin and Lipno as a qualified electrician.
Only some people spoiled the name of socialism". He also complained about and criticized the government. We can take corn, fertilizer, anything is okay. I told Mr. Kania before that I would take everything from the enemy.
The more the better, until the enemy was weakened no more". On many of these occasions, Danuta—who was even more anti-Communist than her husband—was known to openly taunt Security Service agents when they picked Lech up. After months of strikes and political deliberations, at the conclusion of the 10th plenary session of the Polish United Workers' Party PZPR, the Polish Communist party , the government agreed to enter into Round Table Negotiations that lasted from February to April Solidarity took all the seats in the Sejm that were subject to free elections, and all but one seat in the newly re-established Senate.
In August , he persuaded leaders of parties formerly allied with the Communist party to form a non-Communist coalition government—the first non-Communist government in the Soviet Bloc.
