Putin previously served as Prime Minister from 1999 to 2000. Putin won the subsequent 2000 presidential election and was re-elected in 2004. He was President till 2008 before being appointed as the Prime Minister by Dmitry Medvedev.
In 2008, because of constitutionally mandated term limits, Putin was ineligible to run for a third consecutive presidential term. Dmitry Medvedev won the 2008 presidential election and appointed Putin as Prime Minister. During his last term as Prime Minister, he was also the Chairman of United Russia, the ruling party.
In September 2011, following a change in the law extending the presidential term from four years to six, Putin announced that he would seek a third.
