In The Driver's Seat

It could have happened to anybody, anytime, but for Tadeusz Mazowiecki the moment was rich with irony. The tall Solidarity official had just wound up meetings with President Jaruzelski and Jozef Cardinal Glemp last week when his car sputtered to a halt. When questioned by reporters about the difficulties he would face as Poland's new Prime Minister, Mazowiecki answered, "My biggest problem is that I ran out of gas."

The comment was a rare flash of public humor from a man who at times has been perceived as taciturn, even dour. No one, however, questions Mazowiecki's integrity or the depth of...

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