Title: Ex-Russian Leader Boris Yeltsin Dies - CBS News
Headings: Ex-Russian Leader Boris Yeltsin Dies
Ex-Russian Leader Boris Yeltsin Dies
Content: He retreated regularly to his country residence outside Moscow and stayed away from the Kremlin for days, even weeks at a time. As the country stumbled from crisis to crisis, its leader appeared increasingly absent. Yet Yeltsin's debut as Russian president was stunning. He laid the foundation for what many hoped would later become a modern democracy — guaranteeing the rights to free speech, private property, multiparty elections, and opening the borders to trade and travel. Though full of bluster, he revealed more of his personal life and private doubts than any previous Russian leader. "The debilitating bouts of depression, the grave second thoughts, the insomnia and headaches in the middle of the night, the tears and despair ... the hurt from people close to me who did not support me at the last minute, who didn't hold up, who deceived me — I have had to bear all of this," he wrote in his 1994 memoir, "The Struggle for Russia." Yeltsin pushed through free-market reforms, creating a private sector and allowing foreign investment. In foreign policy, he assured independence for Russia's Soviet-era satellites, oversaw troop and arms reductions, and warmly embraced Western leaders. Throughout his nearly decade-long leadership, he remained Russia's strongest bulwark against Communism. "What set him apart was that he very often defeated his opponents, but he never trampled on them," said Grigory Yavlinsky, the head of Russia's marginalized liberal Yabloko party. "