Yeltsin, Boris Nikolaevich

Yeltsin, Boris Nikolaevich (b. 1 Feb. 1931). President of Russia 1991–9 Born in Butka near Sverdlovsk, he became a construction worker there and in 1955 graduated from the Urals Polytechnic Institute as a construction engineer. He joined the Communist Party in 1961, and made a name for himself as an energetic promoter of new housing as chief of house construction in the party regional committee, 1966–76. He became head of the regional party committee in 1976, and in 1981 became a member of the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party. In 1985 he was one of the first appointments of the new Party Secretary, Gorbachev, as first secretary of the Moscow Communist Party committee (effectively Mayor). He became a candidate member of the Gorbache in early 1986. He applied tremendous industry to his Moscow post. Through populist gestures such as declining many of his predecessors' privileges (e.g. the official limousine), as well as through ambitious anti-corruption drives, he became extremely popular among Muscovites.

Yeltsin's success encouraged him to become an increasingly outspoken supporter of perestroika, outpacing an irritated Gorbachev. His reforms also antagonized most other members of the party hierarchy, and after a heart attack on 9 November 1987, he was ‘persuaded’ to resign from his offices, and was demoted to become deputy chairman of the state construction committee. He staged a spectacular comeback, however, avoiding oblivion through skilful use of the media. Taking advantage of Gorbachev's recent introduction of multi-candidate elections to the Congress of People's Deputies, he was elected Deputy on 27 March 1989 with 89.6 per cent of the popular vote in Moscow. In this position, he increased his popularity by articulating the general dissatisfaction with the progress of Gorbachev's reforms. By 25 May 1990 he had advanced to become Chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet, and was thus effectively Russian Prime Minister.

On 12 June 1991 Yeltsin called a general election, in which he became the first popularly elected President of Russia, with an overwhelming majority. As a popularly elected leader his authority had already eclipsed that of Gorbachev, though this was most evident when he foiled the August coup of 1991. In the wake of the coup, he outlawed the Soviet Communist Party in Russia, while his creation of the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) on 9 December 1991 heralded the breakup of the Soviet Union. Once fully in control, however, his drastic economic reforms failed to show early dividends, and he became prone to the same impatient attacks that he himself had formerly directed against Gorbachev. His economic policies and his constitutional plans were increasingly criticized by the Congress of People's Deputies, whereupon he closed the chamber on 21 November 1993, ordering his troops to storm the obstinate White House, which had been the scene of his own resistance to Gorbachev's coup just two years earlier (October Putsch). He pushed through a new constitution with wide presidential powers, which was only narrowly accepted on 12 December 1993.

As the economy deteriorated further, leading to even greater erosion of his popularity, his economic reforms became even more erratic, as he frequently switched his allegiances between reformers and conservatives. He also lost increasing control of day-to-day policy, incapacitated by excessive drinking and accumulating health problems (in 1994 and 1995 he spent long periods in hospital, possibly because of further heart attacks). Ironically he came to resemble more and more an autocratic leader from the Soviet era, a parallelism that became complete with his idiosyncratic decision to order the catastrophic invasion of Chechnya, in complete disregard of domestic and international opinion. Given this impressive display of incompetence, he fought a remarkable re-election campaign in 1996, recovering his popularity not least through his total control of the media, as well as the lack of a credible challenger. Through promises such as the abolition of conscription, and the drastic reduction in the price of the nation's (and his own) favourite drink, vodka, he did manage to win the elections of 3 July 1996. His rule became increasingly corrupt and erratic, and in 1998 he presided over a collapse of the country's economic finances and a deep economic recession. His political authority was severely compromised thereafter, as a succession of Prime Ministers he appointed were unable to assert his authority against international financial and political pressure on the one hand, and a rebellious parliament on the other. On 31 December 1999 he handed over power to his Premier, Vladimir Putin.