The office of the president of Russia is the highest authority in the Russian Federation. The holder is the federation's head of state and has formal presidency over the State Council as well as being the commander in chief of the Russian Armed Forces. The office was introduced in 1918 after the February Revolution with the current office emerging after a referendum of 1991.[1] During the Soviet period of history, Russia was de jure headed by collective bodies such as the All-Russian Central Executive Committee and the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, since the Soviet theory of government denied the very necessity of the presidential office. The office of the President of the Soviet Union was introduced in 1990 during Mikhail Gorbachev's unsuccessful reforms of the Soviet Union's one-party communist state. Gorbachev became first and last president of the Union.[2] His tenure was marked by the legal and political confrontation with Russia and other republics of the USSR which eventually led to their full independence in late 1991.
Presidents
| Nonpartisan CPSU NDR OVR Unity United Russia Acting PMs | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | President | Term of office | Term | Previous office | Prime Minister | |||
| 1 | _(cropped).jpg) |
Boris Yeltsin Борис Ельцин 1931–2007  |
10 July 1991 – 31 December 1999 (resigned from office) (8 years, 174 days) |
1 (1991) [note 1] |
Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Russia (1990–1991) |
Ivan Silayev | ||
| Himself | ||||||||
| Yegor Gaidar | ||||||||
| Viktor Chernomyrdin | ||||||||
| 2 (1996) | ||||||||
| Sergei Kiriyenko | ||||||||
| Viktor Chernomyrdin | ||||||||
| Yevgeny Primakov | ||||||||
| Sergei Stepashin | ||||||||
| Vladimir Putin | ||||||||
| 2 |  |
Vladimir Putin Владимир Путин Born 1952 (age 72)  |
7 May 2000 – 7 May 2008 (acting from 31 December 1999) (8 years, 128 days) |
3 (2000) |
Prime Minister of Russia (1999–2000) | |||
| Mikhail Kasyanov[note 2] | ||||||||
| Mikhail Fradkov | ||||||||
| 4 (2004) | ||||||||
| Viktor Zubkov | ||||||||
| 3 |  |
Dmitry Medvedev Дмитрий Медведев Born 1965 (age 59)  |
7 May 2008 – 7 May 2012 (4 years, 0 days) |
5 (2008) |
First Deputy Prime Minister of Russia (2005–2008) |
Vladimir Putin | ||
| (2) | _(cropped).jpg) |
Vladimir Putin Владимир Путин Born 1952 (age 72) |
7 May 2012 – present (12 years, 163 days) |
6 (2012) |
Prime Minister of Russia (2008–2012) |
Viktor Zubkov | ||
| Dmitry Medvedev | ||||||||
| 7 (2018) | ||||||||
| Mikhail Mishustin | ||||||||
| 8 (2024) | ||||||||
Acting presidents
| Portrait | Acting President | Term of office | Main post | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
Alexander Rutskoy Александр Руцкой Born 1947 (age 77) |
22 September – 4 October 1993 | Vice President | Acting president during the 1993 constitutional crisis. His powers were not recognized by Boris Yeltsin. | |
_1.jpg) |
Viktor Chernomyrdin Виктор Черномырдин 1938–2010 (aged 72) |
5–6 November 1996 | Prime Minister | Acting president during Boris Yeltsin's heart surgery. | |
.jpg) |
Vladimir Putin Владимир Путин Born 1952 (age 72) |
31 December 1999 – 7 May 2000 | Acting president after Yeltsin's early resignation. | ||
Timeline
Subsequent public service
Two presidents held other high offices after leaving the presidency.
| President | Presidency | Subsequent service |
|---|---|---|
| Vladimir Putin | 2000–2008 | Prime Minister (2008–2012) |
| President (2012–present) | ||
| Dmitry Medvedev | 2008–2012 | Prime Minister (2012–2020) |
| Deputy Chairman of the Security Council (2020–present) |
See also
Notes
- Elected as President of the Russian SFSR shortly before the collapse of the Soviet Union. Continued to serve his first term until 1996 despite adopting a new constitution after a military conflict with the parliament in 1993.
- Acting Prime Minister until 17 May 2000.
References
External links
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