The former press secretary of President Boris Yeltsin, documentary filmmaker Sergei Yastrzhembsky, called the famous phrase “the president works with documents”, which is associated with the alleged drinking bouts of the first head of the Russian state, accurate.
Yastrzhembsky spoke about the origins of this formulation in an interview published on the RTVI Entertainment YouTube channel.
“As for this meme, I think it’s very successful, “the president is working with documents,” Yastrzhembsky said. – A large amount of various kinds of information went through me through embassies, special services, bills for signature and so on. And when you see – no matter how he feels, you communicate with him anyway, and I saw when … [Не важно,] in what condition is he, but he must sign some law today (…). And like it or not, he is obliged to sign this document. Therefore, working with documents is the same as having breakfast, the same as breathing clean air. Yes, on any given day, in any case, at least with some document, at least with one, he worked.
For this reason, Yastrzhembsky considers the formula “the president works with documents” to be “absolutely accurate.”
This phrase became famous during the reign of Yeltsin, who often disappeared from the public field, and, according to eyewitnesses, abused alcohol. The phrase “the president works with documents” was perceived by many as the wording that was used during the drinking bouts of the first Russian leader.
