Boris Yeltsin

Some of the key events about Boris Yeltsin

• 1961

  Joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and began his political career
• 1977

  Became First Secretary of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee
• 1985

  Appointed First Secretary of the Moscow City Committee by Mikhail Gorbachev
• 1989

  Elected to the newly created Congress of People's Deputies
• 1989

  Fell from a bridge into a river during a drunken episode
• 1990

  Elected Chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet
• 1991

  Led resistance against the August Coup attempt by Soviet hardliners
• 1991

  Became the first democratically elected President of Russia
• 1991

  Signed decrees that banned the Communist Party and seized its property
• 1992

  Launched economic reforms to transition Russia to a market economy
• 1993

  Oversaw the adoption of a new Russian Constitution
• 1993

  Ordered tanks to shell the Russian White House during a constitutional crisis
• 1994

  Launched a brutal military campaign in Chechnya
• 1995

  Suffered a heart attack, raising concerns about his health and leadership
• 1996

  Won re-election as President of Russia in a competitive election
• 1996

  Underwent quintuple heart bypass surgery, further questioning his fitness for office
• 1998

  Abruptly dismissed his entire government, including Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin
• 1999

  Oversaw a period of economic crisis and the devaluation of the ruble
• 1999

  Unexpectedly resigned as President, handing power to Vladimir Putin
• 2000

  Granted immunity from prosecution for himself and his family after leaving office

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