Vladimir Putin moved to Moscow in 1996 and joined President Boris Yeltsin's administration, where he rose quickly through the ranks, becoming acting president on December 31, 1999 when Yeltsin resigned. Putin then went on to win the subsequent 2000's presidential election (52% to 30%) against his communist opponent, who later became the president in 2004. Because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was unable to run for a 3rd consecutive term but was assigned to prime minister by Dmitry Medvedev after he won the 2008 election. Vladimir is now the president yet again after he won the 2012 presidential election.