Aleksey Valenko (Napoleon's World)

Aleksey Dmitreyevich Valenko (April 3, 1938-) was the Premier of Alaska from 1979 to 1988 and served in the Duma as one of the first leaders of the Moderate Party from 1971 until 1992. Valenko was Premier during a period of grave economic instability that coincided with the American Meltdown of '79 and ensuing economic depression only a month after his election, and Valenko is often credited with helping Alaska weather the depression and make the 1982 Olympic Games in Kialgory a success. He survived a government shutdown in late 1981 and early 1982 during a feud with Tsar Alexander III, instituted progressive tax reform, tried to push a failed bureaucratic reorganization through the Duma, and led an anticorruption crusade in the later years of his term. He resigned amid governmental scandals in early 1988, remained in the Duma throughout the instability of the early 1990's and declined to run to retain his seat in the 1992 general election.

Valenko hails from a noted Alaskan political family that has spawned five generations of Duma members. His popularity, while low in the late 1980's, has risen in later years and historians agree that Valenko's policies in the 1980's eventually helped Alaska become a more democratic and fair society, and that the Revolution of 1991 was the only true way to purge the country of decades of corruption and stagnation. Valenko, since leaving government in 1992, is a noted humanitarian and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. His son, Stanislav Alekseyevich Valenko (1966-), currently is a ranking member of the current Moderate government elected in 2010, and his younger son, Boris Alekseyevich (1969-) is a first-term Duma member elected in 2010 in the Moderate landslide.