MAXIM MARMUR/AFP
Though he hasn't appeared on the Death List since the year 2000, Russia's first post-Communist president was nonetheless at death's door for many years.
Boris Yeltsin passed away today at the ripe old age of 76, which is pretty good for a raging alcoholic in a country where the average life expectancy has fallen to just over 59 years. He apparently died of heart failure.
It'll be interesting to see how the Russian state and society mourn his death. The Yeltsin years were notable for three things: chaos, looting of state assets, and unparalleled political freedom. By my reckoning, he meant well, but was an incompetent boob who only set the stage for Vladimir Putin's revanchism. That seem to be the verdict of the Russian people, who have embraced Putin's recipe of order, stability, and renewed muscularity abroad with open arms.
I've got Midnight Diaries, Yeltsin's late-night diaries from his second term, in front of me. Naturally they tell a different story—of a man who tried his best to keep Russia together through coup attempts, Chechen wars, and an economic catastrophe. Granted, these were difficult challenges, but a sober, more competent figure might have handled them better.
The book ends with Yeltsin's emotional farewell speech of 1999 to the Russian people. In it lies Yeltsin's explanation of what may be, despite his many failures in office, his lasting legacy:
I have often heard it said that Yeltsin would cling to power by any means possible and would never give it up. That's a lie ... This is very important for Russia. We are creating a most important precedent for a civilized, voluntary transfer of power, power from one president of Russia to another, elected anew. But I have nonetheless made a different decision. I am leaving. I am leaving before the end of my term.
Farewell, Boris. May Russians remember your words in 2008.
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