soviet union - Who were the first two democratically elected leaders of Russia? - History Stack Exchange Who were the first two democratically elected leaders of Russia? up vote 3 down vote favorite On Boris Yeltsin's page in Wikipedia there's the fact that on 12th June, 1991, he was elected by popular vote to the newly created post of President of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (SFSR) and became the third democratically elected leader of Russia in history. Before Yeltsin at the times of Soviet Union leaders were elected by Soviet Party and before Russian Revolution there was ruling of Tsars in Russia. So who were the first two democratically elected leaders of Russia? Those are yet to come, as Russia has never been a democracy, ever. – Bregalad Sep 28 '16 at 19:04 How can you count Lvov and Kerensky without counting en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mikhail_Rodzyanko as Chariman of the Fourth Duma? – Pieter Geerkens Jan 12 '14 at 14:29 @PieterGeerkens The word "leader" here is a little ambiguous.

Here I considered "leader" to mean "Head of State". – Arani Jan 12 '14 at 19:00 1 Okay; add a paragraph or two summarizing events between Feb. 1917 and October 1917 (old style) and you will get my upvote. Otherwise I will be tempted to do it myself. ;-) – Pieter Geerkens Jan 12 '14 at 19:07 up vote 6 down vote I guess this depends on how far you want to go back in time, on how wide must be the suffrage for you to accept the election as "democratic", on whether the elected official would have a time limit for his rule, and on whether the next rule was expected to be elected as well. Arani's answer about Kerensky is correct as undisputed (except by Bolsheviks) democratic election. On the other hand, if you accept election of the next Czar by Zemsky Sobor as "democratic" then notice that the 1st Romanov was elected.

First democratically elected Russian president dies at 76 / LJWorld.com Advertisement Dima Donskoi/AP File Photo Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin, surrounded by his supporters, acknowledges the cheers of some 70,000 demonstrators who gathered March 28, 1993, in Moscow's Red Square. Yeltsin, who engineered the final collapse of the Soviet Union and pushed Russia to embrace democracy and a market economy as the country's first post-Communist president, has died, a Kremlin official said Monday. He was 76. Alexander Zemlianichenko/AP File Photo Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin dances at a rock concert on June 10, 1996, in Rostov, Russia. Part of the late leader's legacy will be his bizarre stunts. Moscow  Boris Yeltsin was a courageous fighter, an instinctive democrat who helped dismantle the vast totalitarian apparatus of the Soviet state and its monolithic Communist Party, freeing millions in Asia and Europe. Yet when he died Monday, at age 76, many Russians regarded their nation's first freely elected president as a failure, or worse.

Yeltsin "was a revolutionary leader at a revolutionary moment," said Andrew Kuchins, an analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. But that moment, it seems, has long passed. Yeltsin's successor, President Vladimir Putin, has muzzled the media, restricted the independence of parliament and governors, effectively crippled opposition political parties and filled many high state offices with veterans of the Soviet and Russian secret services. A pollster recently measured his approval rating here at more than 80 percent. Yeltsin's death Larger than life during his tenure, Yeltsin shrank from public view following his retirement on New Year's Eve 1999 and in recent years has rarely given interviews. Only after his death was the big, bumptious politician with the soft pink features and wave of white hair seen again in file footage on Russian television. Putin spoke to the nation four hours after the announcement of Yeltsin's death to praise his predecessor - and one-time patron - as a man "thanks to whom a whole new epoch has started." "New democratic Russia was born, a free state open to the world; a state in which power truly belongs to the people," Putin said.

Yeltsin will be buried Wednesday in Moscow's historic Novodevichy cemetery, the resting place of such diverse figures as writer Anton Chekhov and former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Putin postponed his annual state of the state address from Wednesday to Thursday in deference. Legacy Kuchins said Yeltsin was a reformer who battled the Communist Party from the inside, an exultant wrecker of the U.S.S.R.'s totalitarian regime. But as president of Russia, he seemed too willing to use force, too tolerant of corruption, too eager to trust his gut - even when it led to disaster. He stood on top of a tank during the 1991 coup attempt by Communist hard-liners like a big-game hunter celebrating his kill, but two years later, he ordered tanks to shell upstart members of parliament. He broke up the old Soviet Union, but then invaded Chechnya when the region joined the rush for independence. He abolished the old KGB, but then named a KGB veteran - Putin - as his heir apparent.

But what angered many Russians was how Yeltsin the crusader against Soviet corruption presided over a fire sale of state-owned industries to Kremlin insiders, a move that created a small cadre of Russian billionaires overnight. Meanwhile, during his tenure, many ordinary Russian citizens saw their savings wiped out, their jobs evaporate, the society their parents and grandparents had created disintegrate. "He was one of us," said Galina Alexandrovna, a Moscow resident, recalling the heady days after the Soviet collapse. "When we elected him, we all shouted, 'Hurrah for Boris Yeltsin,' but then Russia started selling itself off, and we the simple people didn't like what was happening." Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet president, eulogized Yeltsin - both a comrade and a nemesis - as one "on whose shoulders are both great deeds for the country and serious errors," according to the news agency Interfax. Highs and lows Perhaps frustrated by Russia's stumbling out of the gate after the Soviet era, Yeltsin increasingly concentrated power in his own hands - and finally handed the president's enormous powers over to Putin, whose loyalty impressed Yeltsin.

After Putin took power, he was careful to cultivate the image of the anti-Yeltsin. The second Russian president always appears sober, where Yeltsin often was not; Putin is decisive where Yeltsin waffled, firing Cabinet after Cabinet. And Putin appears calculating where Yeltsin could be spontaneous to the point of being impulsive. Yeltsin's greatest moments, in fact, came during fitful flashes of inspiration and surges of energy. From atop the tank, he led resistance to the attempted coup against Gorbachev in August 1991, and spearheaded the peaceful end of the Soviet state on Dec. 25 of that year. Ill with heart problems, and facing possible defeat by a Communist challenger in his 1996 re-election bid, Yeltsin somehow sprinted through the final weeks of the campaign. The challenge transformed the shaky convalescent into a spry, dancing candidate. When he boogied onstage with two miniskirted women during that campaign, some Russians laughed, while others rolled their eyes. His career, in fact, was often punctuated by bizarre behavior that the public chalked up to drinking.

Red-faced pranks, missed appointments, and inarticulate and contradictory public comments were blamed by aides on jet lag, medication or illness. Yeltsin was not one to apologize. "A man must live like a great, bright flame and burn as brightly as he can," Yeltsin has been quoted as saying. "In the end, he burns out. But this is better than a mean, little flame." Widgets Magazine Get short URL 0 56 0 0 Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first ever democratically elected leader (1991-1999), has died at the age of 76 of cardiac arrest. MOSCOW, April 23 (RIA Novosti) -- Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first ever democratically elected leader (1991-1999), has died at the age of 76 of cardiac arrest. Yeltsin was born in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) in 1931 and trained at the local Urals Polytechnic Institute. Yeltsin began his career in the construction business (1953-1968).

He joined the Communist Party in 1961 and became first secretary of the party in the Sverdlovsk Region in 1976 and a member of the party's central committee in 1981. In 1985, then Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev appointed Yeltsin to head the Communist Party's Moscow branch, and in 1986 made him a non-voting member of the party's ruling Politburo. In October 1987, he was forced to resign from the party leadership and in 1988 from the Politburo after he challenged hardliners and criticized Gorbachev's reforms. He was appointed a deputy construction minister. In 1989, Yeltsin won elections to the Supreme Soviet (parliament), was elected Russian president by that body, and resigned from the Communist Party. He retained the presidency in the popular election in 1991, when he became Russia's first democratically elected president and Gorbachev's main liberal opponent. In August 1991, Yeltsin led the resistance to the coup by Communist hard-liners, when Gorbachev was detained at his country house.

The success of opposition to the coup shifted power to reformers. In December 1991, he helped found the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a new alliance in which Soviet republics were declared independent. Thereby, Yeltsin helped end attempts to preserve the Soviet Union. Gorbachev resigned as president December 25. In September 1993, Yeltsin issued a decree to dissolve the Supreme Soviet and hold parliamentary elections. A month later, he ordered the armed suppression of a coup by former Supreme Soviet members led by Vice-President Alexander Rutskoi. As president, Yeltsin moved to end state control of the economy and oversaw sweeping privatization deals, which brought fortunes to a handful of Kremlin-connected businessmen. Economic difficulties and political opposition slowed the reform. In 1994, Yeltsin ordered the suppression of Dzhokhar Dudayev's separatist regime in Chechnya. The military campaign in the breakaway republic ended in September 1996 when Russia withdrew all its troops from the republic, thereby, de facto granting Chechnya independence.

In June 1996, he ran for the presidency again and defeated his main communist contender Gennady Zyuganov in the runoff elections in July. In November 1996, Yeltsin underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery and was confined to the hospital for months and appeared in public less frequently. Moreover, in the late 1990s, Russia was hit by a series of economic crises and frequent cabinet reshuffles. On New Year's Eve in 1999, Yeltsin surprised the nation by announcing his resignation and appointing then Prime Minister Vladimir Putin acting president. He is survived by his wife, daughter, grandchildren and great grandchildren. ... Vladimir Putin | president of Russia | Britannica.com president of Russia Alternative Title: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin Vladimir Putin Vladimir Aleksandrovich Kryuchkov Vladimir Putin, in full Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born October 7, 1952, Leningrad, Russia, U.S.S.R. [now St.

Petersburg, Russia]), Russian intelligence officer and politician who served as president (1999–2008, 2012– ) of Russia and also was the country’s prime minister (1999, 2008–12). Vladimir Putin, 2005. Sergei Zhukov—AFP/Getty Images Early career Putin studied law at Leningrad State University , where his tutor was Anatoly Sobchak , later one of the leading reform politicians of the perestroika period. Putin served 15 years as a foreign intelligence officer for the KGB (Committee for State Security), including six years in Dresden , East Germany. In 1990 he retired from active KGB service with the rank of lieutenant colonel and returned to Russia to become prorector of Leningrad State University with responsibility for the institution’s external relations. Soon afterward Putin became an adviser to Sobchak, the first democratically elected mayor of St. Petersburg . He quickly won Sobchak’s confidence and became known for his ability to get things done; by 1994 he had risen to the post of first deputy mayor.

In 1996 Putin moved to Moscow , where he joined the presidential staff as deputy to Pavel Borodin, the Kremlin’s chief administrator. Putin grew close to fellow Leningrader Anatoly Chubais and moved up in administrative positions. In July 1998 Pres. Boris Yeltsin made Putin director of the Federal Security Service (FSB; the KGB’s domestic successor), and shortly thereafter he became secretary of the influential Security Council. Yeltsin, who was searching for an heir to assume his mantle, appointed Putin prime minister in 1999. Although he was virtually unknown, Putin’s public-approval ratings soared when he launched a well-organized military operation against secessionist rebels in Chechnya . Wearied by years of Yeltsin’s erratic behaviour, the Russian public appreciated Putin’s coolness and decisiveness under pressure. Putin’s support for a new electoral bloc, Unity, ensured its success in the December parliamentary elections. First and second terms as president of Russia On December 31, 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly announced his resignation and named Putin acting president.

Promising to rebuild a weakened Russia , the austere and reserved Putin easily won the March 2000 elections with about 53 percent of the vote. As president, he sought to end corruption and create a strongly regulated market economy. Putin quickly reasserted control over Russia’s 89 regions and republics , dividing them into seven new federal districts, each headed by a representative appointed by the president. He also removed the right of regional governors to sit in the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament. Putin moved to reduce the power of Russia’s unpopular financiers and media tycoons—the so-called “ oligarchs ”—by closing several media outlets and launching criminal proceedings against numerous leading figures. He faced a difficult situation in Chechnya , particularly from rebels who staged terrorist attacks in Moscow and guerilla attacks on Russian troops from the region’s mountains; in 2002 Putin declared the military campaign over, but casualties remained high. Britannica Stories Obama Acts to Protect the Arctic Putin strongly objected to U.S. Pres. George W. Bush ’s decision in 2001 to abandon the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty .

In response to the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, he pledged Russia’s assistance and cooperation in the U.S.-led campaign against terrorists and their allies, offering the use of Russia’s airspace for humanitarian deliveries and help in search-and-rescue operations. Nevertheless, Putin joined German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and French Pres. Jacques Chirac in 2002–03 to oppose U.S. and British plans to use force to oust Saddam Hussein ’s government in Iraq . Overseeing an economy that enjoyed growth after a prolonged recession in the 1990s, Putin was easily reelected in March 2004. In parliamentary elections in December 2007, Putin’s party, United Russia , won an overwhelming majority of seats. Though the fairness of the elections was questioned by international observers and by the Communist Party of the Russian Federation , the results nonetheless affirmed Putin’s power. With a constitutional provision forcing Putin to step down in 2008, he chose Dmitry Medvedev as his successor. Putin as prime minister Ovechkin or Putin?

Soon after Medvedev won the March 2008 presidential election by a landslide, Putin announced that he had accepted the position of chairman of the United Russia party. Confirming widespread expectations, Medvedev nominated Putin as the country’s prime minister within hours of taking office on May 7, 2008. Russia’s parliament confirmed the appointment the following day. Although Medvedev grew more assertive as his term progressed, Putin was still regarded as the main power within the Kremlin . While some speculated that Medvedev might run for a second term, he announced in September 2011 that he and Putin would—pending a United Russia victory at the polls—trade positions. Widespread irregularities in parliamentary elections in December 2011 triggered a wave of popular protest, and Putin faced a surprisingly strong opposition movement in the presidential race. On March 4, 2012, however, Putin was elected to a third term as Russia’s president . In advance of his inauguration, Putin resigned as United Russia chairman, handing control of the party to Medvedev.

He was inaugurated as president on May 7, 2012, and one of his first acts upon assuming office was to nominate Medvedev to serve as prime minister . Third presidential term Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies Putin’s first year back in office as president was characterized by a largely successful effort to stifle the protest movement. Opposition leaders were jailed, and nongovernmental organizations that received funding from abroad were labeled as “foreign agents.” Tensions with the United States flared in June 2013, when U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) contractor Edward Snowden sought refuge in Russia after revealing the existence of a number of secret NSA programs. Snowden was allowed to remain in Russia on the condition that, in the words of Putin, he stop “bringing harm to our American partners.” After chemical weapons attacks outside Damascus in August 2013, the U.S. made the case for military intervention in the Syrian Civil War . In an editorial published in The New York Times , Putin urged restraint, and U.S. and Russian officials brokered a deal whereby Syria’s chemical weapons supply would be destroyed.

Putin commemorated the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the post-Soviet constitution in December 2013 by ordering the release of some 25,000 individuals from Russian prisons . In a separate move, he granted a pardon to Mikhail Khodorkovsky , the former head of the Yukos oil conglomerate who had been imprisoned for more than a decade on charges that many outside Russia claimed were politically motivated. In February 2014, when the government of Ukrainian Pres. Viktor Yanukovych was overthrown after months of sustained protests, Yanukovych fled to Russia . Refusing to recognize the interim government in Kiev as legitimate , Putin requested parliamentary approval to dispatch troops to Ukraine to safeguard Russian interests. By early March 2014 Russian troops and pro-Russian paramilitary groups had effectively taken control of Crimea , a Ukrainian autonomous republic whose population was predominantly ethnic Russian. In a popular referendum held on March 16, residents of the Crimea voted to join Russia, and Western governments introduced a series of travel bans and asset freezes against members of Putin’s inner circle.

On March 18 Putin, stating that the Crimea had always been part of Russia, signed a treaty incorporating the peninsula into the Russian Federation. Over subsequent days still more of Putin’s political allies were targeted with economic sanctions by the U.S. and the EU . After ratification of the treaty by both houses of the Russian parliament, on March 21 Putin signed legislation that formalized the Russian annexation of Crimea. Unidentified soldiers accompanied by Russian military vehicles patrolling Sevastopol, Ukraine, on … Andrew Lubimov/AP Images Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest In April 2014, groups of unidentified gunmen outfitted with Russian equipment seized government buildings throughout southeastern Ukraine , sparking an armed conflict with the government in Kiev . Putin referred to the region as Novorossiya (“New Russia”), evoking claims from the imperial era, and, although all signs pointed to direct Russian involvement in the insurgency, Putin steadfastly denied having a hand in the fighting. On July 17, 2014, Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, carrying 298 people, crashed in eastern Ukraine, and overwhelming evidence indicated that it had been shot down by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile fired from rebel-controlled territory.

Western countries responded by tightening the sanctions regime , and those measures, combined with plummeting oil prices, sent the Russian economy into a tailspin. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) estimated that more than 1,000 Russian troops were actively fighting inside Ukraine when Russian and Ukrainian leaders met for cease-fire talks in Minsk , Belarus , on September 5. The cease-fire slowed, but did not stop, the violence, and pro-Russian rebels spent the next several months pushing back Ukrainian government forces. On February 12, 2015, Putin met with other world leaders in Minsk to approve a 12-point peace plan aimed at ending the fighting in Ukraine. Although fighting slowed for a period, the conflict picked up again in the spring, and by September 2015 the United Nations (UN) estimated that some 8,000 people had been killed and 1.5 million had been displaced as a result of the fighting. On September 28, 2015, in an address before the UN General Assembly, Putin presented his vision of Russia as a world power, capable of projecting its influence abroad, while painting the United States and NATO as threats to global security.

Two days later Russia became an active participant in the Syrian Civil War , when Russian aircraft struck targets near the cities of Homs and Hama. Although Russian defense officials stated that the air strikes were intended to target troops and matériel belonging to the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant , the actual focus of the attacks seemed to have been on opponents of Syrian president and Russian ally Bashar al-Assad . World leaders meeting in Minsk, Belarus, to discuss the terms of a cease-fire in the conflict in … Alexander Zemlianichenko, Pool/AP Images Vladimir Putin - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up) (born 1952). In an announcement that surprised the locals as much as the rest of the world, Russia’s President Boris Yeltsin resigned on December 31, 1999. Yeltsin left in his place a relatively unknown man named Vladimir Putin, whom Yeltsin had elevated to the post of prime minister a scant five months earlier. A career foreign intelligence officer by background, Putin was described as austere, reserved, and disciplined.

A deeply private person, he had the reputation of a man who got things done quietly and efficiently and who inspired respect, even fear, in those with whom he came in contact. Article History Former Russian leader Yeltsin dead - CNN.com Former Russian leader Yeltsin dead Story Highlights • Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin dies aged 76, Kremlin confirms • Russian news agencies report Yeltsin died of heart failure Monday afternoon • National day of mourning, funeral to take place on Wednesday • Former Soviet leader Gorbachev says Yeltsin suffered a "tragic fate" Adjust font size: MOSCOW, Russia (CNN) -- Former Russian President Boris Yeltsin has died at the age of 76, the Kremlin said on Monday. Yeltsin, who had suffered health problems since resigning from office on December 31, 1999, suffered sudden heart failure, medical sources told Russia's Interfax news agency. The Kremlin said his funeral would take place amid a day of national mourning on Wednesday, The Associated Press reported. Yeltsin became the first democratically elected president of Russia in 1991 and two months later put down a coup attempt against Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev.

( Gallery ) Former Soviet President Gorbachev said Monday: "I express my deep condolences to the family of the departed. He did a lot for this country, even though he committed serious errors. A tragic fate." Russian President Vladimir Putin, who Yeltsin nominated as his successor, has called Yeltsin's widow, Naina, to express his condolences, Interfax reported. One of the images most associated with Yeltsin is that of him sitting on a tank during the raucous street rallies that marked the coup attempt. "I think that is the image that he would like people to have forever," former Yeltsin adviser Alexander Nekrassov told CNN Monday. But just two years later, he ordered tanks to storm the Russian White House to oust barricaded deputies who dug in after Yeltsin dissolved parliament, accusing it of blocking reforms. (Full story) In a later interview, Gorbachev accused Yeltsin of "trampling on democracy." Yeltsin was both loved and hated by fellow Russians, said Matthew Chance, CNN's senior international correspondent in Moscow.

( Watch why Yeltsin's legacy is likely to be mixed ) "[Many] Russians who lived under his power didn't think much of him," Chance said. A large part of the population blamed him for the overall demise of Russia, Chance said. In December 1994, Yeltsin sent tanks to stop the fighting in Chechnya in what would become a 21-month conflict. Later he said he couldn't tolerate the "disintegration of Russia," and acknowledged his actions might have been a mistake. "I feel the pain of every mother's family," Yeltsin said. "My heart bleeds for every victim. It makes me sleepless at night, and no one can help me with that." Chance said Yeltsin talked about the war in Chechnya as his biggest regret adding that Yeltsin said he felt responsible for the deaths of the Russian soldiers in Chechnya. Other people remember the more positive aspects of Yeltsin's reign. He played a large part in the demise of the Soviet Union and promoted democratic reform in Russia. While he was an ideological man who took positive steps to reform his country, Chance said Yeltsin was an inconsistent reformer.

"He was a totally imperfect statesman and certainly had many failings," Chance said. Yeltsin favored privatization but sweeping corruption put the vast majority of wealth in the hands of a few individuals who "wielded enormous political power." Chance said this upset and angered many Russians who were left with nothing. Yeltsin's image on the international stage was very different, said CNN's Jill Dougherty, who served as the network's Moscow bureau chief during Yeltsin's presidency. Dougherty said everything about Yeltsin was larger than life. "He was oversized, he was huge, everything about him -- he was physically a giant, a big-barrel chest of complete charisma," she said. "When you met him or were around him he was absolutely charismatic." While Yeltsin may have been a failed statesman, Dougherty said he had a unique ability to connect with people. "He was able to -- in the late 1980s, early 1990s -- tap into something that was afoot in Russia. He was able to emotionally connect with people in a way few politicians have ever been able to do." From Washington, President Bush and first lady Laura Bush also offered their sympathies.

"President Yeltsin was an historic figure who served his country during a time of momentous change," Bush said in a written statement. "He played a key role as the Soviet Union dissolved, helped lay the foundations of freedom in Russia and became the first democratically elected leader in that country's history. "We offer our sincerest condolences to the Yeltsin family and to the Russian people," the president said. British Prime Minister Tony Blair expressed sadness at Yeltsin's death. "He was a remarkable man who saw the need for democratic and economic reform and in defending it played a vital role at a crucial time in Russia's history," Blair said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel described Yeltsin as a "brave fighter." "Boris Yeltsin was a great personality in both Russian and international politics, a brave fighter for democracy and freedom and a true friend of Germany. His contribution to the development of our relations between our two nations will never be forgotten. We will honor him in our thoughts." (World reacts to Yeltsin's death) Yeltsin had a darker side as well that included embarrassing incidents in which he appeared to be drunk.

In Berlin in 1994, he grabbed a baton from a conductor and tried to direct an orchestra while singing and stumbling. Copyright 2007 CNN. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report. Tools: BBC ON THIS DAY | 13 | 1991: Yeltsin wins first Russian elections 1991: Yeltsin wins first Russian elections Boris Yeltsin is celebrating victory as Russia's first popularly-elected president. The 60-year-old reformer and leader of the group Democratic Russia has inflicted a heavy defeat on the Communist Party which has ruled the country since the 1917 Revolution. Although the result will not be officially confirmed until next week, it is clear Mr Yeltsin has achieved more than the 50% of votes required to avoid a second ballot. His supporters claim he has secured 60 to 70% of the vote in many of the large Russian cities and up to 90% in his native city, Sverdlovsk.

Radical reforms His allies, Gavriil Popov and Anatoly Sobchak, who stood in the mayoral races in Moscow and Leningrad respectively, have also defeated their Communist rivals. But the biggest surprise of all is that the people of Leningrad have voted to change the city's name back to the Tsarist St Petersburg - despite a vigorous opposition campaign. Mr Popov said the elections had been "a great event in Russian history and brought Russia into the family of civilised nations which choose their leaders by direct popular elections". United States presidential spokesman Marlin Fitzwater said the election was a "historic step for the Russian people and the Soviet Union". President Yeltsin's mandate, as head of three quarters of the Soviet land mass and 150 million people, could now force President Mikhail Gorbachev to embark on more radical reforms. He remains President of the Soviet Union, but unlike President Yeltsin he was not elected by the people. Mr Yeltsin resigned from the Soviet Communist Party last year. He had been a trenchant critic of Mr Gorbachev for not pressing ahead fast enough with political reform and his departure left the Communist Party in disarray.

One of Mr Yeltsin's first tasks as Russian President will be to maintain the delicate political balance between himself and Mr Gorbachev. Speaking on the eve of the ballot, Mr Yeltsin said his relations with Mr Gorbachev were "businesslike and low-key". For his part, Mr Gorbachev told reporters that he was prepared to co-operate with anyone the Russians elected. Mr Yeltsin has chosen as his deputy a former Afghan war hero, Colonel Alexander Rutskoi. He will also have to improve his shaky international image - beginning with a visit to Washington and President George Bush on 20 June. Presidents of Russia ∙ President ∙ Structure ∙ President of Russia Vladimir Putin was born in Leningrad on October 7, 1952. 1975 In 1975, he graduated with a degree in law from Leningrad State University. He later earned a Ph.D. degree in economics. 1985–1990 After graduation, Mr. Putin was assigned to work in the KGB. From 1985 to 1990, he worked in East Germany.

1990 In 1990, he became assistant to the rector of Leningrad State University responsible for international affairs. His next position was an advisor to the chairman of the Leningrad City Council. 1991, 1994 In June 1991, he became chairman of the St. Petersburg City Council’s International Relations Committee and, starting with 1994, he combined this post with the position of First Deputy Chairman of the St. Petersburg City Government (First Deputy Mayor). 1996 In August 1996, he was appointed deputy head of the President’s Administrative Directorate (Property Management Directorate). 1997 In March 1997, he became deputy head of the Executive Office of the President (Presidential Administration) and head of the Central Supervision and Inspections Directorate. 1998 In May 1998, he was promoted to first deputy head of the Presidential Administration.

1998, 1999 In July 1998, he was appointed director of the Federal Security Service and, as of March 1999, he combined this position with that of Secretary of the Security Council. 1999 In August 1999, he was appointed Prime Minister. 1999 On December 31, 1999, he became acting President. 2000 On March 26, 2000, he was elected President of Russia and was inaugurated on May 7, 2000. 2004 On March 14, 2004, he was elected President of Russia for the second term. 2008 Since May 8, 2008, Vladimir Putin is a Prime Minister of Russia. 2012 Born September 14, 1965, in Leningrad. 1987, 1990 Graduated from the Faculty of Law of Leningrad State University in 1987 and completed his post-graduate studies at Leningrad State University in 1990.

Holds a PhD in law and the title of associate professor. 1990–1999 Lectured at St Petersburg State University. 1990–1995 At the same time was an adviser to the Chairman of the Leningrad City Council and an expert consultant to the St Petersburg City Hall’s Committee for External Affairs. 1999 Deputy Government Chief of Staff. 1999–2000 Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office. 2000–2003 First Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office. 2000–2001 Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Gazprom, in 2001 – Deputy Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Gazprom, from June 2002 – Chairman of the Board of Directors of OAO Gazprom. 2003–2005 Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office. 2005 In November, appointed First Deputy Prime Minister. 2008 March 2, Elected President of the Russian Federation.

2012 Mr Yeltsin was born on February 1, 1931, in Sverdlovsk Region. 1955–1985 After graduating from the Urals Polytechnic Institute in 1955, Mr Yeltsin worked for 30 years in the Sverdlovsk Region, eventually becoming first secretary of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee of the Soviet Communist Party. Mr Yeltsin was then transferred to Moscow, where he headed the Soviet Communist Party Central Committee's construction department. He became secretary of the Central Committee, and then first secretary of the Moscow City Communist Party Committee. 1987 In 1987, Mr Yeltsin was dismissed from his posts and returned to the political scene only in March 1989, when he won more than 80 percent of the vote in the country's first democratic elections and was elected a Soviet people's deputy. In 1990, he was elected chairman of the Russian Supreme Council and that same year declared that he was leaving the Communist Party.

1991 On 12 June Mr Yeltsin was elected first president of the Russian Federation in a national election, winning more than 50 percent of the vote in the first round. 1996 Mr Yeltsin was re-elected president on July 3 winning almost 54 percent of the vote in the second round. 1999 On December 31, Mr Yeltsin signed a decree announcing that he was stepping down from his post as president. 2007 Boris Yeltsin - President (non-U.S.) - Biography.com Boris Yeltsin Boris Yeltsin was the first freely elected President of Russia. He voluntarily resigned from the post after nine years, leaving the job to Putin. IN THESE GROUPS Famous People Who Died on April 23 quotes “A man must live like a great brilliant flame and burn as brightly as he can. In the end he burns out. But this is far better than a mean little flame.” Boris Yeltsin Boris Yeltsin - Full Episode (TV-14; 45:01) The full biography of Boris Yeltsin.

Synopsis Boris Yeltsin, Russian born February 1, 1931, was the first freely elected President of Russia. Once Yeltsin took power, he moved to reform the newly capitalist and democratic country, but occasionally used force to quell dissent. After nine years as President, he decided Russia needed new leadership and resigned the position to Vladimir Putin. Entry into Politics Russian president (1991-9). Born on February 1, 1931, in Bukta, Russia. Boris (Nikolayevich) Yeltsin was the first freely elected president of Russia. Growing up in the rural Sverdlovsk region, he studied at the Urals Polytechnic, and began his career in the construction industry. Boris Yeltsin joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in 1961, and was appointed first secretary of the Sverdlovsk region in 1976. He was inducted into the Central Committee in 1981 by Mikhail Gorbachev, and briefly worked under the new secretary for the economy, Ryzhkov, before being appointed Moscow party chief in 1985.

A blunt-talking reformer, he rapidly set about renovating the corrupt "Moscow machine," and was elected a candidate member of the Politburo in 1986. Boris Yeltsin's political fortunes reversed in 1987 after he had bluntly criticized Gorbachev at a party meeting, saying that his reforms were moving too slowly. As a result, he was downgraded to a lowly administrative post. But Yeltsin was not down for long; he returned to public attention in 1989 by being elected to the new Congress of USSR People's Deputies, and in June 1991 he was elected president of the Russian Federation. President of Russia Following the attempted coup to oust Gorbachev in August 1991, Boris Yeltsin's political standing greatly increased when he led the protesters who defeated the coup, and following the break-up of the Soviet Union in December 1991 he remained in power as president of the Russian Federation. He continued to press for reform, but met increasing resistance from more conservative elements in the parliament.

In 1993 he called for a referendum to measure his support, received a firm vote of confidence, and proposed a new constitution for Russia. For all of his interest in reform, Boris Yeltsin wasn't afraid to put democracy on hold or use force when needed. In September 1993, he suspended the Russian parliament during a clash with conservatives. The next month, he ordered troops to shell the Moscow parliament building to resolve the political crisis. Yeltsin also used troops to quell rebellion in the breakaway republic of Chechnya in 1994; the lingering effects of this conflict have reverberated for years. Facing growing opposition as a result of ongoing economic problems and the war in Chechnya, Boris Yeltsin experienced a decline in his popularity, but not enough to remove him from power. Although successful in the 1996 elections, Yeltsin was plagued continuing ill health. He underwent a quintuple heart bypass operation in November of that year. In addition to his heart, Yeltsin had respiratory problems and reportedly suffered from bout of depression and alcohol abuse.

Surprise Resignation On New Year's Eve in 1999, Boris Yeltsin surprised the world by announcing his resignation. He selected Vladimir Putin to be the acting president until the next elections, believing that he would carry on Yeltsin's agenda for reform. No one expected Yeltsin to leave before the end of his second term. President for nearly nine years, he decided Russia needed a new leader to usher in the new millennium. Mixed Legacy Boris Yeltsin left behind a complicated legacy as Russia's president. He pushed for democratic reforms, such as free speech, the right to own property, and hold elections. But his haste to advance economic reforms had disastrous effects on the Russian people. Prices for goods dramatically increased, leaving many to struggle to survive. Other economic missteps led to workers waiting months to be paid. Yeltsin also had a mixed record in terms of his dealings with his own government, firing one after another of his prime ministers over the years as well as his government several times in 1998 and 1999. Critics also noted that he was slow to act against corruption and that the privation of businesses created great wealth in the hands of a few.

After leaving office, Boris Yeltsin stayed out of the public eye except for a few scattered appearances. He lived quietly with his wife Naina; the couple had two daughters as well as several grandchildren. Boris Yeltsin died at the age of 76, on April 23, 2007, in Moscow, Russia. He will be remembered as a significant contributor in the dismantling of the Soviet Union and as an important shaper of the post-Communist Russia. Fact Check We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us ! Citation Information

Question: Who was the first democratically elected President of Russia?
Answer: Boris Yeltsin