Boris Yeltsin

Russian born Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin served as the President of the Russian Federation from 1991 until 1999. It was Yeltsin's vow to take Russia into a capitalist economy by implementing different economic reforms, including price freedom and denationalization programs. Unfortunately must of the Russian wealth fell into a small group of party members. Yeltsin's terms were marked by corruption, inflation, political and social problems bringing Russia and other former states to their knees.
In 1993 (October) Yeltsin illegally ordered the collapse of parliament who then attempted to remove him from office. The military sided with Yeltsin and in 1993 Yeltsin introduced a constitution with stronger presidential powers. In 1999 Yeltsin resigned his presidency leaving the office to Vladimir Putin. By the time Yeltsin left office his approval rating was at 2% of the Russian population.
Born on February 1, 1931 in Butka, Yeltsin attended Pushkin High School where he played sports. He majored in construction at the Ural Polytechnic Institute and graduated in 1955. He served in the Communist Party from March 1961 to July 1990 and was awarded the Order of Lenin for service to the Party and the Soviet State.
Yeltsin was elected General Secretary of the PSU by the Politburo after Konstantin Chernenko passed away. He tried to fix the Soviet economy, but found it was impossible without reforming the political structure of Russia. He gathered an energetic governing team and became popular among the people due to his sacking dishonest Moscow party officials.
In 1994 Yeltsin ordered the invasion of Chechnya. Two years later he withdrew his forces from a destroyed Chechnya under a 1996 peace agreement. The invasion of Chechnya angered those in the west who at one time viewed Yeltsin as a friend to capitalism and the West. Yeltsin's second term was one of misguided decisions and threats. He threated Clinton who was President of the U.S. with nuclear weapons if the U.S. did not stop the criticism on the Chechnya invasion.
At the age of 76 on April 23, 2007, Boris Yeltsin died of heart disease. Naina Iosifovna Yeltsina, his wife and two daughters survive him.