George Bush's High-Wire Act

On a mission to Poland and Hungary, the President walks a line between pushing reform and making too many promises

When General Wojciech Jaruzelski had spoken and returned to his seat beside George Bush in the Polish Parliament, Bush reached over and patted the Communist boss's forearm. A little later, clustered with some newly chartered Polish Little Leaguers, he scooped up the grinning kids and pulled them close for the ritual team picture.

Next day, standing below the soaring Workers Monument in Gdansk, the President wrapped his arm around Solidarity leader Lech Walesa and held the portly electrician next to him. At the Westerplatte Memorial, which marks the site of the first gunfire of World War II, Bush, draped in a...

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