Boris Yeltsin Biography Quotes 24 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was born on February 1, 1931, in the village of Butka in Sverdlovsk Oblast, in the Ural region of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic. His family came from peasant roots and experienced the upheavals of collectivization, repression, and wartime scarcity that marked the era. After a childhood shaped by these hardships, he pursued engineering, enrolling at the Ural Polytechnic Institute (later Ural State Technical University) in Sverdlovsk. He graduated in 1955 with a degree in construction and began work as a site engineer, then foreman, project manager, and eventually director within regional construction trusts. The discipline and organizational skills developed in the construction sector laid a practical foundation for his later administrative style: impatient with delays, focused on visible results, and keen on reshuffling personnel when targets were not met.

Rise Through the Party Ranks
Yeltsin joined the Communist Party and advanced through its regional hierarchy. In 1976 he became First Secretary of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee, effectively the region's top party official. His tenure coincided with vigorous industrial development in the Urals and a series of large infrastructure projects. He also showed a tough streak in carrying out unpopular directives from Moscow, including the 1977 demolition of the Ipatiev House in Sverdlovsk, a sensitive site laden with historical memory. The episode revealed his willingness to enforce central orders even when they risked local controversy.

Move to Moscow and Clash with Party Privilege
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev brought Yeltsin to Moscow and made him a Central Committee secretary responsible for construction. Soon after, he was appointed First Secretary of the Moscow City Party Committee, the capital's powerful post. Initially an ally of Gorbachev's perestroika, Yeltsin went further than many in attacking the privileges of the nomenklatura. In 1987 he publicly criticized the leadership for foot-dragging and elitism. The rebuke cost him dearly: he was removed from the Moscow post, dropped from the Politburo's inner circle, and relegated to a less influential position. Yet the episode broadened his public profile as a blunt reformer willing to confront entrenched interests.

Return via Elections and the Russian Presidency
With the rise of competitive elections in the late Soviet period, Yeltsin reinvented himself as a tribune of popular reform. In 1989 he won a seat in the Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR and used it to champion radical change. In 1990 he became chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, asserting Russian sovereignty within the crumbling union. On June 12, 1991, he was elected the first President of the Russian Federation by direct popular vote, a turning point that gave him an independent mandate separate from the Soviet center.

August 1991 Coup and the End of the USSR
During the August 1991 coup attempt by hardline officials, Yeltsin became the face of resistance, famously addressing crowds from a tank outside the Russian White House. He coordinated with close associates such as Gennady Burbulis and relied on the support of figures who at the time were allies, including Ruslan Khasbulatov and Vice President Alexander Rutskoy. The failure of the coup accelerated the breakup of the Soviet Union. In December 1991, together with Ukraine's Leonid Kravchuk and Belarus's Stanislav Shushkevich, he signed the accords that declared the USSR dissolved and created the Commonwealth of Independent States. He then banned the Communist Party's activities on Russian territory in the aftermath of the putsch.

Shock Therapy, Privatization, and the Emergence of Oligarchs
Yeltsin's government embarked on rapid market reforms to dismantle central planning and stabilize the economy. Acting Prime Minister Yegor Gaidar pursued price liberalization and macroeconomic measures often described as shock therapy, while Anatoly Chubais led mass privatization through vouchers in an effort to create a broad base of private ownership. The program produced mixed outcomes: nascent markets and private enterprise took root, but inflation, unemployment, and a collapse in living standards hit many Russians. As privatization shifted to more targeted schemes, a small group of financial-industrial magnates, including Boris Berezovsky and others, accumulated significant assets and influence, shaping the media landscape and the political arena.

Struggle with Parliament and the 1993 Constitutional Crisis
Tensions between the presidency and the conservative-leaning legislature, led by Speaker Ruslan Khasbulatov and Vice President Alexander Rutskoy, escalated throughout 1992 and 1993. After a protracted standoff over reform and authority, Yeltsin dissolved the Congress and Supreme Soviet in September 1993. The confrontation culminated in armed clashes in Moscow in early October, and on Yeltsin's orders, units loyal to the government, under Defense Minister Pavel Grachev, shelled the White House to suppress the uprising. The crisis ended with a referendum on a new constitution that created a strong presidency and a bicameral Federal Assembly. Viktor Chernomyrdin, a steady technocrat, became prime minister and provided relative stability through much of the mid-1990s.

Chechnya and Internal Security
In late 1994 the federal government launched a military campaign in Chechnya after the region declared de facto independence. The First Chechen War proved far more difficult than anticipated, marked by heavy casualties and controversial tactics. Public discontent mounted as the conflict dragged on. In 1996, after a surge in battlefield setbacks, Yeltsin empowered the retired general Alexander Lebed as Security Council secretary; Lebed helped broker the Khasavyurt accords that ended large-scale fighting and deferred decisions about Chechnya's status.

The 1996 Election, Health Crises, and the Kremlin Team
Facing a strong challenge from Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov in 1996, Yeltsin mounted an intense reelection campaign. Key strategists, including Anatoly Chubais and figures connected to major media outlets, played central roles in shaping the message and securing airtime. Despite languishing polls early in the year, Yeltsin won a second term in a two-round contest. His health, however, deteriorated; he suffered cardiac problems that culminated in major coronary bypass surgery in November 1996 performed by surgeon Renat Akchurin. Day-to-day governance increasingly depended on his inner circle, including his daughter and adviser Tatyana Dyachenko and chief of staff Valentin Yumashev, as well as Prime Minister Chernomyrdin.

Financial Turmoil and a Carousel of Prime Ministers
The Asian financial crisis and structural weaknesses in Russia's economy converged in 1998, prompting a ruble devaluation and a sovereign default. Yeltsin dismissed Chernomyrdin in March 1998 and appointed Sergei Kiriyenko, a young reformer, as prime minister; after the August crash Kiriyenko was removed and Yevgeny Primakov took over, calming markets with a more cautious approach. In May 1999 Primakov was dismissed, and Sergei Stepashin briefly served as prime minister. In August 1999 Yeltsin tapped Vladimir Putin, then head of the security service, as prime minister, signaling a search for a successor with a firm hand and security background.

Foreign Policy and Relations with the West
Yeltsin's foreign policy prioritized strategic arms reductions and integration into global institutions while defending Russia's great-power status. He worked with U.S. presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton on arms control, including the START framework, and supported the 1997 NATO-Russia Founding Act, which established a formal channel for consultation despite disagreements over NATO enlargement. He also signed security assurances connected to nuclear disarmament on the territory of newly independent states, a key step in consolidating post-Soviet stability.

Resignation and Succession
On December 31, 1999, Yeltsin unexpectedly resigned, apologizing to citizens for the hardships of the decade and naming Vladimir Putin acting president. The move cleared the path for early elections and ensured continuity at the top of the state. In stepping down, Yeltsin helped normalize the idea of constitutional transfer of power in post-Soviet Russia while also securing legal guarantees for himself and his family.

Personal Life
Yeltsin married Naina Iosifovna, and the couple had two daughters, Yelena and Tatyana. Tatyana Dyachenko became an influential adviser during his second term, reflecting the importance of trusted confidants as his health fluctuated. Outside politics, Yeltsin was known for his emotional candor, occasionally unguarded public moments, and a taste for the symbolic gesture, traits that endeared him to some and worried others.

Death and Legacy
Boris Yeltsin died on April 23, 2007, in Moscow, from heart failure. He received a state funeral and was buried at Novodevichy Cemetery. His legacy is deeply ambivalent and intensely debated. He oversaw the dissolution of the Soviet empire and the birth of a sovereign Russian state, the establishment of competitive elections and a new constitution, and early steps toward a market economy. Yet his tenure also brought wrenching social dislocation, the rise of oligarchic power, war in Chechnya, and a presidential system with concentrated authority. The leaders around him at pivotal moments, including Mikhail Gorbachev, Yegor Gaidar, Anatoly Chubais, Viktor Chernomyrdin, Alexander Lebed, and ultimately Vladimir Putin, underscore how much his story is intertwined with Russia's tumultuous transformation from late Soviet stagnation to a new, contested political order.

Our collection contains 24 quotes who is written by Boris, under the main topics: Overcoming Obstacles - Live in the Moment - Freedom - Peace - Sarcastic.

Other people realated to Boris: William J. Clinton (President), Warren Christopher (Statesman), Jeffrey Sachs (Economist), Lennart Meri (Statesman), Aslan Maskhadov (Politician), Nursultan Nazarbayev (Politician), Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Businessman), Aleksandr Lebed (Politician), Robert Kocharian (Statesman)

• 1994 The Struggle for Russia (Book)
• 1990 Against the Grain (Book)

• Wikipedia