On December 31, 1999, Boris Yeltsin stepped down as president, marking the beginning of a period of immense change in Russia (“Vladimir Putin”). When Yelstin resigned, Russia was in a state of political and economic turmoil. Vladimir Putin was put into power and he immediately began the struggle of trying to rehabilitate Russia. Putin offered stability and gave the confused country direction and structure. He diligently worked at reducing the concerns and problems presented in the early years after the fall of Communism such as corruption, economic strife and improved foreign relations. His way of leading Russia became a new form of government in and of itself: a unique intermediate leadership between Western style democracy and Communist leadership. Putin found a way to combine ideals of both in a way that was most beneficial for the majority of Russia. Putin’s ideals for Russia offer an extreme change in economy, moving away from the outdated state controlled government and current oligarch system, and towards economic self-sufficiency. When Putin inherited the country from Yelstin, the economy was incredibly unstable. The 1998 financial crisis, the lowest economic point in Russia history, was only one year prior to Putin taking office. In 1999 the gross domestic product (GDP) of Russia was at a record low of $125 million. (“Russian Economy”) In perspective, The United States GDP in 1999 was over nine billion. Under the Putin administration, the GDP more than doubled, putting Russia as the seventeenth highest GDP in 2006 (“Russian Economy”). Putin has taken government owned property and sold it in a more profitable way. Firms were sold evenly and more fairly, which reduced the power of oligarchs. Once companies were sold, there was a much more equal balance of rich and poor: more wealthy and less poor. This spread of wealth helped increase the economic equality