He was "a man of crown" as O. Poptsov said about him. He used peoples' interests and gained great authority, he was popular and moved society to resist the coup. That was not difficult - people blamed Communists for bad life and in every bad thing in the state, so, "Yeltsin had a great support and managed strengthening his power" (Gorbachev, M. Shriver, G. (translator) Gorbachev p. 121). But Yeltsin was not only supported by Soviet citizens, he was considered as the main acting person in that situation by leading Western politicians and they supported his actions. Here are the words of Western leaders about events in Moscow:

President. BUSH: It seems clearer all the time that contrary to official statements out of Moscow, that this move was extra- constitutional, outside of the constitutional provisions for governmental change. Clearly, it's a disturbing development. There's no question about that. And it...
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