Mikhail Gorbachev, a Soviet reformer, continued to innovate even after leaving the Kremlin, becoming the first head of state in modern Russian history to hold public office.
Tsars and Soviet leaders had traditionally passed away in the office or, in the case of General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev, had been forcibly removed from power and spent the remainder of their lives in obscurity.
Here is how Gorbachev charted his own trajectory after leaving office over a period of over three decades:
Notorious appearances
Against the advice of people close to him, Gorbachev participated in Western brand advertisements to collect money for his newly established charity.
The most well-known of these appearances was a Pizza Hut commercial in which the former USSR leader entered an American chain’s restaurant after crossing Red Square.
While discussing the impact of Gorbachev’s reforms, the diners present eventually stand to thank the former leader for introducing Pizza Hut to Russia.
An advertisement for the upscale clothing company Louis Vuitton from 2007 featured Gorbachev peering out of a car at the Berlin Wall while holding a monogrammed bag with the tagline, “A journey brings us face to face with ourselves.”
Comeback attempt
In the 1996 presidential election, Gorbachev ran on a centrist platform but garnered fewer than 1% of the vote.
Despite having low polling numbers in the months prior to the election, his longtime foe Boris Yeltsin easily won thanks to the support of media oligarchs.
The humiliation of the former general secretary may have ultimately helped him since it demonstrated to Yeltsin—who had been trying to control Gorbachev—that he was no longer a political threat.
At the turn of 2000, Gorbachev assisted in establishing a short-lived social democratic party, although he never again sought for politics.
Green causes
With lucrative international lecture tours, a collection of memoirs, and a foundation in his honour, the former president followed in the footsteps of many Western heads of state.
Gorbachev also established the global environmental NGO Green Cross in 1992. He kept meeting with foreign leaders long after he left office to advance environmental interests.
In 2011, he turned 80, and to honour the occasion, Sharon Stone and Kevin Spacey staged a marathon charity event at London’s Albert Hall. Bill Clinton and Bono among others paid tribute to him.
Free press
The person who started the movement of “glasnost,” or openness, invested early in the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta in the 1990s.
During President Vladimir Putin’s administration, the publication served as a forum for dissident voices, and several members of its employees, notably the investigative journalist Anna Politkovskaya, have been killed for their work.
Till the end of his life, Gorbachev gave interviews and offered commentary on world events.
The publishing of Novaya Gazeta, whose chief editor Dmitry Muratov received the Nobel Peace Prize the previous year, was halted in late March until Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine came to a conclusion.
In July, the Russian communications watchdog demanded that the licences for Novaya Gazeta’s website and print edition be revoked.
Final days
The loss of Gorbachev’s wife Raisa, who passed away from leukaemia in 1999 at the age of 67, was the greatest sadness of his life after leaving office.
The final Soviet leader lived out his days in a humble country home west of Moscow, where he and Raisa had previously resided after relocating there years before.
According to newspaper profiles and documentaries, he maintained home with a cleaner and a small security team while frequently travelling to Moscow for functions and foundation visits.
(with inputs from agencies)
