ABSTRACT
October and November 1989 marked the height of Lech Walesa's popularity in Poland and around the world. In international circles he was regarded as Poland's foremost citizen and a great symbol of the struggle against totalitarianism. But in the months that followed, Lech Walesa's popularity at home started to slip as his myth was placed under close scrutiny. Suddenly he was no longer a political arbitrator but the fomenter of conflict. In the minds of many he was no longer the architect of a new democratic order but its devastator. The new slogan that Lech Walesa's put on the banners addressed the struggle with the monopoly of Solidarity. Poles should be able to view a multifaceted portrait of their president, one without blank spaces or touch-ups.
