Boris Yeltsin joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) in 1961. He was named first secretary of Sverdlovsk Oblast by General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev; quickly gained a reputation as an aggressive reformer in1976. He became first secretary of the Moscow city committee of the CPSU; worked to speed the flow of consumer goods … Continue reading Who was Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin?