It’s Boris Yeltsin’s Birthday. The first freely-elected President of Russia heroically thwarted a military coup, presided over the breakup of the Soviet Union, and laid back truck loads of vodka while doing it. He would have his version of Air Force One lock into a holding pattern around airports so he could sober up a bit before meeting foreign dignitaries. He would attend official events fully loaded. That’s how he rolled. It was his normal state. He did what he liked and liked what he did. True story: Boris was right up front about his drinking from the start. During his presidential campaign, Boris would do multiple shots of vodka on stage to the cheers of his audience. I have to salute the man. He was like, “Hey, I’m on stage, I’m running for president, I’m Russian, so, yeah, I’m going to do some vodka shots. This is me. Drink it in, and while you’re doing that, I’ll drink some more vodka.”
