Yeltsin's Grocery Store Visit

Date: September 16, 1989 • Location: Moscow, Russia

During a tour of the United States, Soviet politician Boris Yeltsin visited a grocery store in Texas that had a major impact on his views regarding the Soviet Union's economic system.

Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was a Soviet and Russian politician who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999, having previously served as Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR from 1990 to 1991. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to 1990. He later stood as a political independent, during which time he was viewed as being ideologically aligned with liberalism.