Yeltsin blew through Wichita

Boris Yeltsin, who died Monday at age 76, was an erratic statesman. But as Russia’s first freely elected leader, Yeltsin presided over a time of hope and excitement in Russia sharply at odds with the rollbacks of democracy being undertaken by Yeltsin’s handpicked successor, Vladimir Putin. It’s hard to forget that inspiring image of Yeltsin in a tank in August 1991, rallying thousands against communist hard-liners trying to topple Soviet reformer Mikhail Gorbachev. Wichita has its own vivid memories of the ebullient Yeltsin from June 1992, when he visited a pork processing plant, a family farm and Wichita State University, and praised the state for its populist history, pioneer heritage, role in abolition and agricultural legacy.
Posted by Rhonda Holman

6 Comments

  1. Steven Davis
    Posted April 23, 2007 at 2:25 pm | Permalink

    Yeltsen also went to Shepler’s and got a western belt that had “Boris” tooled in the back of it. It was the perfect mixed metaphor – a Russian cowboy.

  2. political_mom
    Posted April 23, 2007 at 4:03 pm | Permalink

    Shameful that Putin is destroying all that Gorbachev and Yeltsen had done. I wonder if Putin didn’t knock him out.

  3. Bill
    Posted April 23, 2007 at 4:24 pm | Permalink

    I hope they do not cremate that sucker…with all the booze, he’ll burn for 2 weeks

  4. Jed
    Posted April 24, 2007 at 12:21 am | Permalink

    Yeltsin was a man who was absolutely necessary for his country’s transition away from Marxism. His idealism, courage and sense of humor saved Russian democracy at a time when everything hung in the balance. Unfortunately, as a head of state, he was far out of his depth and his mistakes allowed Putin to succeed him.We can’t complain; we’ve elected famous generals and war heros to office over and over, only to see them fail miserably. It’s a whole different set of talents.

  5. Doug
    Posted April 24, 2007 at 1:21 am | Permalink

    Yelstin wasn’t the only one in town. MC Hammer and Randall Terry were too but only their careers are dead.

  6. Mary
    Posted April 24, 2007 at 9:15 pm | Permalink

    It was quite a sight to watch Yeltsin’s motorcade speed south on Hillside before Yeltsin’s speech at WSU. I think Yeltsin’s big, black car had been brought from Russia. There was a swarm of law enforcement vehicles around Yeltsin’s car.

    I heard from people attending Yeltsin’s speech that Mr. Yeltsin was surprised to have people laugh at his jokes before they were translated. Several WSU students from Russia were in the audience, including the son of a Russian Pizza Hut owner.

    Buttons were passed out for people to wear to welcome Yeltsin at WSU. The rumor around campus later was that the Russian on the buttons said something like, “Hit you over the head with a baseball bat.”

    Kirby’s Bar posted a welcome sign in Russian for Mr. Yeltsin, too.

    The first time many Wichitans heard of Chechnya would have been during Yeltsin’s visit–a few protesters held signs about Russian actions in the region as Yeltsin greeted spectators.