"Madeleine Albright on Vaclav Havel's 'Massive Moral Authority, Great Courage'" PBS Newshour 12/19/2011
Excerpt
JUDY WOODRUFF (Newshour): Thousands of Czechs braved the freezing cold in Prague today to pay their respects to former President Vaclav Havel, who died Sunday at age 75. A renowned playwright who fought Soviet rule of the former Czechoslovakia for more than 20 years, Havel went from dissident to leader almost overnight, after the so-called Velvet Revolution of December 1989, when Czechs and Slovaks took to the streets to demand an end to communist rule.
The communist government fell. And on Dec. 29, 1989, Vaclav Havel was elected president. Four years later, his country split in two, forming the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Havel served as president of the independent Czech Republic for 10 more years, retiring in 2003.
After news of Havel's death spread, thousands gathered at the monument of the Velvet Revolution in downtown Prague to lay flowers and light candles.
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