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Boris Yeltsin: vice, virtue and legacy |
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Written by Barry Renfrew, asap
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Monday, 23 April 2007 |
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Boris Yeltsin seemed to be on the verge of death at least once a week for much of the mid-1990s, keeping the world quivering with worry and dread.
Any hint Yeltsin was unwell set the phones of foreign correspondents in Moscow ringing with calls from frantic editors demanding to know when the Russian leader would die. Stock markets declined, currencies seesawed and worried Western officials urged calm.
The fact that he lived for seven years after stepping down was typical of a man who usually outfoxed everyone. Yeltsin bluffed fate and his own erratic nature, including his enormous appetite for hard drinking. Russia’s first elected president passed away Monday at the age of 76 after suffering from heart trouble for many years.
A historic figure who played a key role in ending the Soviet Union, Yeltsin was legendary for outrageous behavior. His antics ranged from fondling a squealing secretary during a live televised event to grabbing the conductor’s baton and taking over the performance of a military band during a visit to Germany, creating chaos.
Frantic to keep the president sober at a time when the country seemed on the brink of collapse, Yeltsin’s bodyguards reportedly were given orders to keep the booze away from the boss. Nobody seems to have explained how to survive saying no to the most powerful man in a country where rulers habitually sent flunkies to Siberia -- or worse -- for displeasing them.
Whatever his guards and doctors tried, Yeltsin found ways to indulge his thirst. Flying back from the United States in 1994, Yeltsin was to meet Irish leaders at an airport event broadcast live on local TV. After a long delay and repeated knocking at the plane door, a minor Russian official, looking very hung over, came out to say the president was too tired to meet anyone.
Reports suggested Yeltsin and virtually the entire Russian delegation had passed out after a riotous trans-Atlantic party.
It seems hard to believe, given his flaws and weaknesses, but people woke up around the world worrying that Yeltsin might not wake up because they thought that only he could control his turbulent country. Bulletins on the Russian leader’s health routinely led news broadcasts around the globe.
“Yeltsin’s still alive, thank goodness!” I remember a worried American college professor saying to colleagues after scanning a newspaper for news of the Russian leader.
Yeltsin disappeared for weeks at a time, only to show up in a hospital or at a state event, growling that he was perfectly fine. Eventually he had heart surgery, but the world didn’t stop worrying until he suddenly resigned at the end of 1999 -- as usual, catching everyone by surprise.
The only people who didn’t worry much about Yeltsin were the Russians, most of whom came to abhor him as the country crumbled under runaway inflation, soaring crime, corruption and war. Even his local admirers admitted that the president wasted the opportunity to transform the country and establish democracy.
Which may be why most Russians seem happy with the man who succeeded Yeltsin: the prim and very strict Vladimir Putin.
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asap contributor and former AP Moscow bureau chief Barry Renfrew is the AP’s vice president for global business in Europe and Africa, based in London. | Only registered users can write comments.
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