In 1996, it was hard to believe that Boris Yeltsin had ever been a popular leader. Years of economic devastation, corruption, and war tarnished the image of Russia's first president, leaving him with an approval rating in the single digits, and little chance of winning re-election. Miraculously, Yeltsin would go on to win a second term that year--with a little help from the U.S. government and the International Monetary Fund.
SOURCES:
The Tragedy of Russia's Reforms: Market Bolshevism Against Democracy by Peter Reddaway and Dmitri Glinski
https://www.usip.org/publications/2001/02/tragedy-russias-reforms
Russia Without Putin by Tony Wood
https://www.versobooks.com/books/3040-russia-without-putin
Clinton Digital Library: Declassified Documents Concerning Russian President Boris Yeltsin
https://clinton.presidentiallibraries.us/items/show/57569
PRESS SOURCES
Election meddling in Russia: When Boris Yeltsin asked Bill Clinton for help by David Shimer
https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/06/26/russian-election-interference-meddling/
The Harvard Boys Do Russia by Janine R. Wedel
https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/harvard-boys-do-russia/
Bearing Gifts, Yeltsin Gains Ground by Lee Hockstader
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/russvote/main/art2.htm
IMF Approves $10.2 Billion Loan For Russia by Michael Dobbs
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1996/03/27/imf-approves-102-billion-loan-for-russia/6820c3ac-496a-482f-a01e-500c2e6a7d40/
Yeltsin drunk, near-naked, outside White House --AFP wire story
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-09-23/yeltsin-drunk-near-naked-outside-white-house/1438342
Rewriting Russian History: Did Boris Yeltsin Steal the 1996 Presidential Election? by Simon Shuster
http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2107565,00.html
