 Prior to the dissolution of the USSR, Boris Yeltsin had been elected President of Russia in June 1991 in the first direct presidential election in Russian history.This ensured that Yeltsin would be the political leader of the Russian successor state following dissolution.This situation resulted in political turmoil as the Soviet and Russian leadership wrestled for control, which culminated in the 1991 August coup, where the Soviet military attempted to overthrow Mikhail Gorbachev.