 After the success of political forces close to Putin in the December 1999 parliamentary elections, Yeltsin evidently felt confident enough in Putin that he resigned from the presidency on December 31, six months before his term was due to expire.This made Putin acting president and gave Putin ample opportunity to position himself as the frontrunner for the Russian presidential election held on March 26, 2000, which he won.The Chechen War figured prominently in the campaign.