Freedom is like that. It's like air.

When you have it you don't notice." Boris Yeltsin

Yeltsin, Boris Nikolayevich, president of Russia, elected shortly before the breakup of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1991. Yeltsin, who was elected to a second term 1996, is a central figure in the transition away from communism in the former USSR and has dominated Russian politics in the last decade.

In 1930, Ignaty Yeltsin, a well-off peasant of Butka village was declared "kulak". His mill and other valuables were seized by the state. Rumors have it that Ignaty either fled the village, or was sent to internal northern exile. 1931, Ignaty's grandson, Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin, was born in Butka. Soon afterwards Boris's family moved to the city of Kazan, where his father, Nikola, worked at a construction site of a machine-building factory. On May 23, 1934, Nikola Yeltsin was convicted of anti-socialist agitation. He served three years in Stalin' infamous labor camps of GULAG. After his release, Nikolai Yeltsin remained unemployed for awhile, then worked in construction, and Boris's mother Klavdiya Vasilyevna Yeltsina was a seamstress.

Boris has had many problems in the last few years. The first would be, the fall of the Asian economy in 1998, which spread fear through out the world; this economic blunder caused the Russians feeble economy to collapse and the Ruble to skyrocket. Second would be, Boris's which has gotten worse and worse, he has had a number of heart attacks and surgery. Third would be Russia's military, which has become very dependent on scavenging for food, clothes, and the corruption that has become very commonplace within "the ranks." Fourth would be the Russian space program, which has taken budget, cut after budget cut. Fifth and most recent is the resurgence of violence in Chechnya that has caused the invasion of Russian troops. Sixth are the poverty and crime levels of Russia that have grown exponentially.

In the first democratic election in the history of Russia held on June 12, 1991, Boris captured nearly sixty percent of the vote to defeat five other candidates. President of the USSR Gorbachev attended the inauguration and congratulated Boris. President Gorbachev, the heads of the soviet republics and Boris were scheduled to sign the Union Treaty on August 20, 1991. Gorbachev, Boris, and the President of Kazakhstan had an informal meeting on July 29, where they talked of replacing KGB chief Vladimir Kryuchkov, Minister of Defense Dmitri Yazov, and Prime Minister Valentin Pavlov. Never the less the KGB were taping the conversation. These tapes stroke fear into many members of the Communist Party and these members plotted a coup. On August 18, 1991, President Gorbachev was detained at his summerhouse in Crimes, by the coup plotters. The next day, they announced the takeover of Gorbachev's power, by the vice president. After hearing this Boris rushed to "The White House" of Russia and condemned the coup and called for resistance. On the orders of the State Committee on the Emergency Situation, a group formed by coup leaders ordered the military to protect the coup. A tank division latter switched sides and Boris delivered a speech on top of one of the tanks. The coup collapsed latter that day, because of the swift action of Boris and the resistance of the people. Gorbachev was let free, but found it hard to regain his power. On December 8, 1991, Boris teamed up with the leaders of the Ukraine and Belarus, "to hammer the final nail into the USSR's coffin." The three presidents declared that the USSR had ceased to function and that they would establish a voluntary Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). On December 25, 1991 President Gorbachev resigned, and the USSR ceased to exist.

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Approximate Word count = 2119
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)