Aleksander Kwaśniewski (Polish pronunciation: [alɛˈksandɛr kfaɕˈɲɛfskʲi]; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served as the President of Poland from 1995 to 2005. He was born in Białogard, and during communist rule he was active in the Socialist Union of Polish Students and was the Minister for Sport in the communist government in the 1980s. After the fall of communism he became a leader of the left-wing Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland, successor to the former ruling Polish United Workers' Party, and a co-founder of the Democratic Left Alliance.