Yeltsin's Strong Russian Bride

Boris Yeltsin had a problem with alcohol. That said, it's not impossible for such people to be much more functional than Yeltsin ended up by the 1990s. But it can be very difficult, and is best done with the support of family and friends.

So how might Yeltsin do if he was, if not a teetotaler, then very abstemious?

Getting there is obviously hard, so here's a suggested POD: In the 50s or early 60s, Yeltsin's wife dies after being struck by a car. The driver was drunk but unfortunately is either highly placed in the Party or has strong connections, and thus escapes serious punishment.

A year or two after that, Boris meets a young woman he falls madly in love with, and she reciprocates the feeling. She's very strong willed, and Yeltsin is utterly devoted to her. She helps a great deal in keeping him (relatively) sober and stable throughout his career in politics. Presumably, Yeltsin ITTL is able to rise at least as far and as fast in the Party ranks by the 1980s.

Without going crazy with the butterflies, how does Sober-Boris handle himself in the final decade of the USSR? If he ends up leading an independent Russia afterwards, how might his more capable leadership change the situation?
 
Boris The Sober? Sounds more like a name for a Tsar than a President:D.

Maybe, though there are far worse appellations for any leader to have, royalty or not. :D

One thing I'm not sure of is whether Boris the Sober would fit in well with the Soviet political class at the time, or if he'd be considered 'strange' for not drinking.
 
Boris the Sober would have performed a hell lot better than Boris the not-so-sober of OTL, in terms of political turmoil that would have gripped Russia after the collapse of communism.
 
Boris the Sober would have performed a hell lot better than Boris the not-so-sober of OTL, in terms of political turmoil that would have gripped Russia after the collapse of communism.

Yes, but would Boris-the-sober have had the right personality or temperament to develop a populist appeal in the late soviet era? In other words, can a sober Yeltsin even become the man who is able to lead Russia when and if the USSR collapses?
 

The Sandman

Banned
He doesn't have to be sober all the time, though; he just has to separate business from pleasure such that he only gets blitzed on his days off.
 

whitecrow

Banned
What is preventing Sober Boris from robing the country and selling out to the New Russians like Drunk Boris did?
 
A sober Boris wouldn't have to be the subject of ridicule among the western nations, though sober Boris could have been better than OTL Putin in terms of civil liberties and its promotion.
 

abc123

Banned
Maybe Boris the Sober wouldn't have the courage to stand against Red Army tanks?
:D
Did you think about that butterfly?
 
Maybe Boris the Sober wouldn't have the courage to stand against Red Army tanks?
:D
Did you think about that butterfly?

IIRC when the coup plotters sent someone over to Yeltsin to tempt him with a very attractive offer to step down, he was too drunk to see visitors so by the time he had sobered up the time limit on the ultimatum had expired and he was subsequently forced to stay his course.
 
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