Aleksandr Lebed - The General Who Stood Firm Against Communism and Democracy

Mr. Lebed vowed to continue in political life. The night after his dismissal from the cabinet, he attended a production of the play "Ivan the Terrible" so he could "find out how this country was meant to be run". Rising popularity and Mr. Yeltsin's perceived ungratefulness towards Mr. Lebed for his assistance in winning the re-election campaign and briefly ending the war in Chechnya served significantly to Mr. Lebed's benefit. The extent to which he intended to capitalize on those attributes were on his hands alone.

Mr. Lebed eventually won election as the Governor of Kras-Nodar Region. Soon after he took office, his government gained a reputation as one of the least effective and most corrupt Russian regional governments. That did not worry the General; it seemed he cared very little about conditions in Kras-Nodar; he was more interested in enhancing his role as a member of the Russian Federal Council. There was one bit of consistency throughout his life: He remained a self-promoting, quasi-populist, quasi-nationalist until the end. Mr. Lebed was laid to rest in Moscow on 30 April 2002 and received full military honors. He was fifty-two years old.

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