Vladimir Putin.

 The President of the Russian Federation (Russian: Президент Российской Федерации, tr. Prezident Rossiyskoy Federatsii), is the head of state of the Russian Federation, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Russian Armed Forces. It is the highest office in Russia.

In 1991, the office was briefly known as the president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic until 25 December 1991. According to the 1978 Russian Constitution, the president of Russia was head of the executive branch and headed the Council of Ministers of Russia. According to the current 1993 Constitution of Russia, the president of Russia is not a part of the Government of Russia, which exercises executive power.

In all cases where the president of the Russian Federation is unable to fulfill their duties, they shall be temporarily delegated to the prime minister of Russia, who becomes acting president of Russia.

The power includes execution of federal law, alongside the responsibility of appointing federal ministers, diplomatic, regulatory and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers with the advice and consent of the State Duma and the Federation Council. The president is further empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn the Federal Assembly under extraordinary circumstances. The president also directs the foreign and domestic policy of the Russian Federation.

The president is elected directly through a popular vote to a six-year term. The law prohibits anyone from ever being elected to the presidency for a third consecutive term. In all, three individuals have served four presidencies spanning six full terms. In May 2012, Vladimir Putin became the fourth president; he was re-elected in March 2018 and inaugurated in May to a six-year term.

History

After the fall of monarchy in 1917, the All-Russian Constituent Assembly, elected later that year, planned on establishing a democratic presidential or semi-presidential federal republic, proclaiming the Russian Democratic Federal Republic in January 1918. The President of the RDFR would have been the head of state, elected for a one-year term by a majority vote in parliament involving the deputies of both chambers.^[7] Due to the dissolution of the Assembly by the Bolsheviks and establishment of their one-party dictatorship, no person was ever elected to this office.

Boris Yeltsin came to power with a wave of high expectations not long before the Soviet Union's collapse. In May 1990, he was elected Chairman of the Supreme Soviet (Parliament) of the Russian SFSR - the highest state office and thus became the head of state. As a result of the creation of the post of President of the Soviet Union, the Union republics also began to introduce the post of President. To do this, a referendum was held in the Russian SFSR, in which 71% of voters voted for the creation of the post of President, elected in direct elections. On 12 June 1991 Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic with 57% of the vote, becoming the first popularly elected president.^[8] But Yeltsin never recovered his popularity after a series of economic and political crises in Russia in the 1990s. The Yeltsin era was marked by widespread corruption, economic collapse, and enormous political and social problems.By the time he left office, Yeltsin had an approval rating of two percent by some estimates.

Throughout his presidential terms and into his second term as the Prime Minister, Putin has enjoyed high approval ratings amongst the Russian public. During his eight years in office, the economy bounced back from crisis, seeing GDP increase sixfold (72% in PPP),poverty cut more than half^[ and average monthly salaries increase from $80 to $640, or by 150% in real rates. At the same time, his conduct in office has been questioned by domestic dissenters, as well as foreign governments and human rights organizations, for his handling of internal conflicts in Chechnya and Dagestan, his record on internal human rights and freedoms, his relations with former Soviet Republics, and his relations with the so-called oligarchs: Russian businessmen with a high degree of power and influence within both the Russian Government and economy. This was seen by the Kremlin as a series of anti-Russian propaganda attacks orchestrated by western opponents and exiled oligarchs.

Medvedev was appointed First Deputy Prime Minister on 14 November 2005. Formerly Vladimir Putin's chief of staff, he was also the Chairman of Gazprom's board of directors, a post he had held, for the second time, since 2000. On 10 December 2007, he was informally endorsed as a candidate for the forthcoming presidential elections by the largest Russian political party, United Russia, and officially endorsed on 17 December 2007. Medvedev's candidacy was supported by former President Vladimir Putin and pro-presidential parties.As technocrat and political appointee, Medvedev - Putin's former Chief of Staff and one-time rival to Sergey Ivanov - had never held elective office before 2009. Medvedev chose Putin as his Prime Minister; in 2012, Putin ran for the Presidency, won, and appointed Medvedev as Prime Minister.