A leader, and sometimes a fool

In celebration of Boris Yeltsin's, the former president of Russia, life, here's a write-up in The Independent about him.

Leading article: He shaped our world, for better or worse
Published: 24 April 2007

With the death of Boris Yeltsin, an era has ended - an era of as many contrasts and contradictions as the man himself. From the repressions of Stalin, through the deprivation of the Second World War, through the post-Stalin thaw, the Brezhnev stagnation and Gorbachev's perestroika, to the collapse of the Soviet Union, Mr Yeltsin lived through it all. But he was also a leader, whose disillusionment with Communism hastened the collapse of the regime and presaged his own elevation to be Russia's first elected president.

In his later years, Yeltsin's popular image degenerated into that of a drunken buffoon who made a fool of himself on state visits. He deserves to go down in history as an infinitely more serious figure. One compelling reason is his bravery at times when bravery really mattered. When opponents of reform mounted a coup against President Gorbachev in 1991, Yeltsin defied them. When he stood on the tank outside the Russian parliament and addressed the crowd, he was taking a life-or-death risk. This was the action that foiled the coup; it was the making of him as Russia's leader. ... more