Vladamir Putin -- The World's Most Interesting Man

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

In 2008, Russian President Vladamir Putin surprised many Russia observers by stepping aside after two consecutive terms in office instead of "requesting" a special set aside of Russia's Constitutional limitation on anyone holding the office for more than two CONSECUTIVE terms. It was less surprising that Putin protege Dmitri Medvedev succeeded him in office, and it was even less surprising when Putin won the office of Prime Minister, leading to the "tandem rule" of Russia's top offices.

President Medvedev's first term in office is up in 2012, and he has indicated that he will run for a second term. But complicating this are strong signals that Putin intends to stand for President again -- as is allowed by Russian law. Putin has cultivated quite an image for himself since he came into the public eye, and he has an extensive portfolio of photographs speaking to that image that he can use in an upcoming election in March of 2012:



Putin, test driving a Formula 1 race car:



Putin, and a Siberian tiger:



Putin, knowing Kung Fu:



Putin, on an archeological dive in Greece:



Putin, surfacing with ancient artifacts:



Putin, Bond Villain:



Putin, bending a frying pan with his bare hands:



Putin, shooting a crossbow....AT A WHALE



Putin, concert pianist:



Putin, piloting a submarine to 1400 feet below:



Putin, hugging a Bulgarian shepherd dog...possibly the nicest thing any Russian politician has done for anyone from Bulgaria:





The complete archive can be found at The Atlantic magazine.

Now, let me be clear: Americans are certainly not immune to being swayed by images of the macho man of action. Theodore Roosevelt made much of his subsequent career, including the Presidency, on The Battle of San Juan Hill. In more recent memory, Americans were treated to many photo ops of President Ronald Reagan chopping wood:



President George W. Bush clearing brush:



And the need for SOME manly credentials disasterously put Army veteran (but not combat veteran) Michael Dukakis into a tank for a photo op in his failed bid for President in 1988:



Looks like a Muppet, right?

On the other hand, the sheer vastness of Putin's photo stories and the presentation of him as practically an Ubermensch on par with anything either Nietzsche, Ayn Rand or Hitler could dream up is more than a little jarring to my own sensibilities, raises titters of laughter among American commentators --

-- and seems to work in Russia. The man has approval ratings most Western leaders would personally kill their own grandmothers to get.

Does the Putin phenomenon say something in general about politics around the globe...or something quite specific about Russia?

Comments

[malasadas.livejournal.com]

Which is probably bettercthan him running the country.

[abomvubuso.livejournal.com]

The Russians seem to like how he's running their country, at least the majority of them. Whether he meanwhile poses as a macho or stays at home in his spare time, is another story.