Boris Yeltsin is an historic figure who governed the Russian Federation between 1991-1999. He lived from 1931-2007.
Boris Yeltsin has died. The former president of the Russian Federation was long known to be in poor health - depression, alcoholism, and heart problems made his presidency especially difficult, and many people wondered if he would live through his term. Yeltsin apparently attempted to stay dry after Putin took power, but he appeared rarely in the news after his presidency was over.
Yeltsin's initial popularity and swift slide into incoherency both contributed to, and were contributed by, the state of the former Soviet Union. Promises that Yeltsin couldn't keep (for example, to fight corruption), quickly disillusioned people about his ability to usher Russia into a new era. No doubt poor health contributed to poor leadership, and the stress of his mistakes and inability to lead promoted his decline in health. Yelstin resigned in 1999, once a man of character who embodied hope, but one who, in a short time, became the target of many jokes both in Russia and abroad.
Yeltsin was born February 1, 1931. He is known for opposing Gorbechev and promoting Putin, the two leaders whose terms flanked his own. Putin's Russia is very different from Yeltsin's Russia, just as Yeltsin's was very different from Gorbechev's. This dynamic transition of power, grand shifting of priorities, and false starts and stops has left Russians and the global community wondering - still - what Russia will become. It invariably seems to be tottering between its potential strength and its visible weakness . . . sort of like the "likeable" Yeltsin with his big smile, big talk, and big drinking problem.
