Title: How Will Boris Yeltsin Be Remembered? : NPR
Headings: How Will Boris Yeltsin Be Remembered?
World
How Will Boris Yeltsin Be Remembered?
Yeltsin, Catalyst for Russian Change, Dead at 76
Read a Yeltsin Timeline
Yeltsin the Writer
In Depth

Content: I mean, for him - for us, he destroyed our enemy of the 20th century. I mean, let's give him credit. He wasn't the only one, and Mr. Gorbachev had a lot to do with that. But this was a person that ultimately, in December of 1991, signed a piece of paper that dissolved the Soviet Union. And then he got rid of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. These two institutions more than others, for us, that was a great, great thing in terms of our security, in terms of our prosperity. For Russians, however, he brought - he was the one that began the very difficult process of moving from a command economy to capitalism, and the very difficult process of moving from an authoritarian regime to a democratic regime, and the very difficult process of going from an empire to an independent state. And all of those things were traumatic for most citizens of Russia. So they - when they hear Boris Yeltsin, they think of that very traumatic transformational time. And, you know, it's great to think about revolutions and write about them as I do academically.