Tsakhiagiin Elbegdorj

Early life and education

Elbegdorj was born into a nomadic herding family in Zereg sum, Khovd province, on 8 March 1963. He was the youngest of eight sons. Elbegdorj spent most of his early childhood herding livestock through the high mountains of Zereg sum. His father, Mongolyn Tsakhia, was a veteran of Mongolia's border conflict with the Empire of Japan that resulted in the 1939 Battle of Khalkhyn Gol. Elbegdorj finished the sum's eight-year school (Primary & middle school) in 1979. Afterwards, his family moved to Erdenet city, and he finished Erdenet's No. 1 ten-year school (High school) in 1981.

Army and studies in the USSR

In 1981–82, Elbegdorj worked in copper ore mining and processing plant Erdenet Concern (currently Erdenet Mining Corporation) as a machinist. In 1982, he was drafted into military service. For submitting poems to the army newspaper Ulaan Od (Red Star), which impressed army authorities, and heading a Revolutionary Youth Unit in the army, he was awarded with the possibility to study military journalism and Marxism–Leninism at the USSR's Military Political Institute (present day - Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy) under the umbrella of Lviv Polytechnic National University in Lviv, Ukraine from 1983 on. He graduated from the academy in 1988 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and then began working for the newspaper Ulaan Od.

Harvard Kennedy School

After his first term as prime minister, he spent a year at the University of Colorado Boulder's Economic Institute. Then Elbegdorj studied with a full scholarship at Harvard University and graduated from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government with a Master of Public Administration (MPA) in 2002.

Early political activism

During his studies in the USSR, Elbegdorj learned about Glasnost, the concepts such as freedom of speech and economic liberties. After returning to Mongolia, he met other like-minded people and tried to present those ideas to a wider audience, despite attempts of repression from the Politburo-authority of the government, and threats by his employer to lose his job. At the end of a speech at the Young Artists' Second National Congress on 28 November 1989, Elbegdorj said that Mongolia needed democracy and appealed to youth to collaborate to create democracy in Mongolia. He told the audience "We consider that Perestroika is a timely and brave step. Youth's contribution to this revolutionary matter is not by supportive talks but by certain work. Our contribution is our objectives to be fulfilled. Our objectives are: ... following democracy and transparency and contributing to glasnost, ... and supporting fair progressive power ... These are the objectives of an initiatives' group-an organization that shall work. After the congress I hope we will gather and discuss with you about it in this (newly forming group). The organization shall be based on public, voluntary and democratic principles."

The chairman of the congress stopped Elbegdorj's speech and warned him not to say such things. It was 1989 and Mongolia had been a communist country for 68 years. At that time, it was alleged that every other person was an unofficial communist party spy who would report people who expressed opinions other than socialism and communism. During the break of the congress, two young individuals met Elbegdorj and the three agreed to found a democratic movement and to secretly spread the news to other young people. Later the three met and united with ten other individuals, colloquially known now as the First Thirteen of Democracy. On his return from Congress, his boss at the newspaper Ulaan Od warned Elbegdorj that he would be fired if he participated further in any activities out of work or engaged in any conduct inconsistent with communist and socialist ideology. Despite the warning, Elbegdorj and his friends met secretly with other young people in the circle auditorium of the National University of Mongolia and discussed democracy, free market economic policy, and other prohibited subjects of the time, and began to draft a plan to organize a democratic movement. They met many times and brought new friends and new supporters to join them secretly. One night they placed ads for their open demonstration in the streets.

On the morning of 10 December 1989, the first open pro-democracy demonstration met in front of the Youth Cultural Center in Ulaanbaatar. There, Elbegdorj announced the creation of the Mongolian Democratic Union. The Mongolian Democratic Union founders publicly petitioned the government for a real implementation of perestroika, including allowing a multi-party system, and the total implementation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in all party and government affairs. In subsequent months activists led by Elbegdorj and others continued to organize demonstrations, rallies, protests and hunger strikes, as well as teachers' and workers' strikes. Activists had growing support from Mongolians, both in the capital and the countryside, and the union's activities led to other calls for democracy all over the country.

Journalism career

Elbegdorj worked as a correspondent at Ulaan Od-newspaper of the Mongolian Armed Forces and as a chief of an army literature unit between 1988 and 1990. While in these positions, Elbegdorj wrote articles disclosing all the good and bad in the army units and suggested improvements for the army prior to democratic movement's beginning.

Elbegdorj founded Mongolia's first independent newspaper Ardchilal (Democracy) and worked as its first editor-in-chief in 1990. The newspaper played a major role in completing the country's democratic revolution. He co-introduced freedom of the press in the country by co-initiating the Law on Press Freedom and playing a key role in passing the law in 1998.

Elbegdorj also helped to create Mongolia's first independent TV station Eagle TV in 1994. It was run by the former Mongolian Broadcasting Company, a joint venture of the U.S. Christian missionary organization AMONG Foundation, and the Mongolia Media Corporation.

Political ascent (1990-1998)

Elbegdorj was elected to the State Great Khural four times, in 1990, 1992, 1996 and 2008. As a Member of the People's Congress, Elbegdorj co-drafted and co-adopted Mongolia's new Constitution on 13 January 1992. The new Constitution guaranteed human rights, democracy, freedom of religion, and free speech. An international intellectual once referred Elbegdorj as "Mongolia's Thomas Jefferson". Elbegdorj, as the chairman of the Democratic Party, co-led the Democratic Union Coalition to its historic victory in the 1996 parliamentary elections. He served as the Majority Leader of the State Great Khural in 1996–2000 and as the Deputy Chairman of the State Great Khural in 1996–1998.

Elbegdorj founded and worked as the head of Mongolia's first Entrepreneurs Association in 1991 as well. The association helped to privatize livestock for free to their herders from the socialist collective farms. As a result, the first private property was given to almost half of Mongolia's entire population. He supported the privatization of state-owned properties and assets and land.

While as the chairman of the State Commission on Rehabilitation, Elbegdorj initiated and brought the state to apologize for the victims and families of over 36,000 people who had been persecuted and massacred during the years of Mongolian People's Party's communist rule. He played a key role in the approval of the Rehabilitation Law, which provided rehabilitation and compensation to the survivors and families of political victims, and recovery from the Stalinist purges and prohibited future violation of human rights. In addition, the law established a Memorial Day for Political Victims.

Furthermore, Elbegdorj was a member of the National Counseling Committee of the Democratic Party in 1994–2009; leader and chairman of the Mongolian National Democratic Party (MNDP) in 1996–1999, and April 2006 – September 2008 respectively; and chairman of the Democratic Union Coalition of the MNDP and Mongolian Social Democratic Party in 1996–2000.

First premiership (1998)

In 1998, a clause in the constitution was removed that prohibited members of parliament from taking cabinet responsibility. Thus on 23 April 1998, the Parliament elected (61–6) Elbegdorj as the prime minister. During his first term, Elbegdorj attempted to solve looming economic, structural and political issues through several policy initiatives such as co-initiating Law on Press Freedom and playing a key role to pass the law in 1998. Based on this law, another law was passed that changed all daily state newspapers into public newspapers without direct control and censorship from the government.

Elbegdorj's most significant achievement during his first term as prime minister was to collect tax and create tax income. The biggest taxpayer and only significant income contributor to the government's budget at the time was the copper ore mining and processing Erdenet Mining Corporation(EMC) – a joint stock company owned by the governments of Mongolia and the Russian Federation. EMC hadn't paid due tax, income and royalty to Mongolia's government between 1997 and 1998 which resulted in the financial crumbling of the government. Because of it, previous prime minister Enkhsaikhan stepped down due to pressure from the opposition party, MPRP. After becoming prime minister, Elbegdorj ordered an audit of EMC. The audit result revealed that the state-due income did not enter the state account, instead, it went to dubious accounts of directors at EMC. This embezzlement case was reported in detail in investigative series "Swindle of the Century" on Eagle television. Elbegdorj dismissed the EMC's chairman. As a result, the government began to receive due tax, royalty and income from the EMC.

In addition, at the recommendations of international financial institutions such as the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank – aid granters to Mongolia, and discount interest rate loan giver Asian Development Bank, Elbegdorj made a decision to sell state-owned Reconstruction Bank which became illiquid and was experiencing tremendous loss, the biggest financial burden to the economy since its establishment in 1997. Golomt Bank was the only one that offered to buy Reconstruction Bank.

In response to this and the change of EMC's chairman, the minority group at the Parliament MPRP demanded Elbegdorj to resign and thus resulted Elbegdorj to lose confidence vote at the Parliament. The Parliament had prevented Elbegdorj's government from selling the bank. Elbegdorj's decision to sell the Reconstruction Bank was proven to be correct. The bank bankrupted soon after Elbegdorj's first term as prime minister was over and the bankruptcy led the government to suffer a gigantic amount of financial loss. Moreover, Elbegdorj made a decision to financially assist from a tight budget to complete the construction of Mongolia's first Wrestling Palace which was half built for a long time. He stayed in office until Janlavyn Narantsatsralt replaced him on 9 December 1998.

Post first premiership

Elbegdorj served as the chairman of the Majority Group of the Parliament and the leader of the Democratic Union Coalition and a Member of Parliament respectively from 1996 to 2000.

In 2000–2001, he studied at the University of Colorado Boulder's Economic Institute, and earned a diploma. Then he studied with a full scholarship of Harvard University at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government and graduated with a Master of Public Administration (M.P.A.) in 2002.

Then he worked as a consultant at the Millennium Development Goal Project, United Nations Headquarters in New York City and as a consultant at Radio Free Asia in Washington, D.C. in 2002–2003. Afterwards, he returned to Mongolia and made series of public speeches touring in Mongolian provinces inspiring the people and the youth sharing his new ideas and perspectives based on his knowledge from Harvard University and the United States in combination with Mongolian way of life in 2003–2004. His lectures played a significant role to make Democratic Party get majority seats in 2004 Mongolian Parliamentary elections.

Second premiership (2004–2006)

On 20 August 2004, Elbegdorj became the prime minister of Mongolia for the second time. This time, he headed a grand coalition government after the vote in the parliamentary elections had been evenly split between the two major political forces – Democratic Coalition and the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party.

U.S. president George W. Bush highlighted about Elbegdorj as one of the country's democratic leaders to have been serving as the prime minister in his speech in Ulaanbaatar on 21 November 2005. "The world needs more people such as yourself who are willing to admire liberty," President Bush wrote to Elbegdorj immediately after his visit to Mongolia.

During Elbegdorj's term, on 27 January 2005, the government-controlled National State Television and Radio were converted into formally independent public organisations with increasingly smaller control by the government. Also, legal provisions that prohibited demonstrations on Ulaanbaatar's Sükhbaatar Square were abolished on 17 November 2005.

In his second term as prime minister, Elbegdorj proclaimed a fight against corruption and poverty, which he saw as the biggest challenges to Mongolia's economic development. Elbegdorj's government signed the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in April 2005 and ratified it in January 2006. His administration revealed the Customs chairman's corruption case amounting to millions of dollars from which the ex-chairman donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to the MPRP in 2005.

Elbegdorj attempted to support domestic businesses by eliminating excessive regulations, many licensing requirements, and import taxes for key category products. Mongolia was accepted into the European Union's GSP+ system, which allows Mongolian exporters to pay lower customs tariffs when exporting to the European Union during Elbegdorj's term as prime minister.

To promote affordable computers and internet access, Elbegdorj established the Information and Communication Agency under the government. He subsidized and supported technical schools and specialized professions to reduce unemployment. By a decision of his government English replaced Russian as the first foreign language to be taught in public schools. In addition, Elbegdorj initiated the erection of the Genghis Khan memorial complex in front of Mongolia's government house for the 800th Anniversary of the Great Mongol Empire. Besides, Elbegdorj initiated a "Green Wall" environmental project to plant trees in barren areas and desert zones to prevent from massive sandstorms from Mongolia reaching to North America and to reduce air pollution.

Presidential elections

2009 presidential election

At the Democratic Party's convention on 3 April 2009, Elbegdorj defeated Erdeniin Bat-Üül in a contest for the party's nomination for the presidency of Mongolia. Elbegdorj won with 65.3% of the total vote. After Elbegdorj was announced as the candidate, the Civil Will Party and the Mongolian Green Party endorsed Elbegdorj's presidential candidacy.

Elbegdorj won the 2009 Mongolian presidential election on 24 May 2009 with 51.21% of the votes. Defeating incumbent president Enkhbayar, who got 47.41%, Elbegdorj was sworn into office as President of Mongolia on 18 June 2009.

2013 presidential election

The Democratic Party's National Consultative Committee held its convention on 7 May 2013 and decided to re-nominate Elbegdorj as a presidential candidate with 100% votes. And the Congress of Democratic Party, with 7,000 participants in Ulaanbaatar plus participants in all provincial centers connected via live internet video conference voted 100% for Elbegdorj's nomination from the Democratic Party for the 2013 presidential election on 8 May 2013. Civil Will-Green Party and Mongolian National Democratic Party – which have seats at both the parliament and the government cabinet – endorsed Elbegdorj's presidential candidacy. The Republican Party and the Motherland Party expressed their full support for Elbegdorj's candidacy also.

Elbegdorj won the 2013 Mongolian presidential election on 26 June 2013 with 50.23% of total votes while opposition Mongolian People's Party's candidate Badmaanyambuugiin Bat-Erdene received 41.97%, and Natsagiin Udval, candidate of Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party got 6.5% of total votes.

Elbegdorj is also the third Mongolian president to be reelected.

Presidency (2009–2017)

Elbegdorj won the Mongolian presidential elections twice: on 24 May 2009 and 26 June 2013. Elbegdorj was sworn into office on 18 June 2009 for his first term, and on 10 July 2013 for his second term as President of Mongolia. Elbegdorj is Mongolia's first president to never have been a member of the former communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party and the first to obtain a Western education.

Inauguration

Elbegdorj was sworn into office for his first term as President of Mongolia in State House in front of the Parliament and guests on 18 June 2009. His inauguration ceremony included his address to the nation and a military parade on Sükhbaatar Square. The United States Senate passed Resolution Number 192 supporting Mongolia's democracy and economic development and noting Elbegdorj's election victory on the day he was sworn in on 18 June 2009.

For his second term as President of Mongolia, Elbegdorj was sworn into office in front of the Chinggis Khaan (also referred as Genghis Khan) monument, Nine White Banners of Mongolia, the Parliament and public on Sükhbaatar Square on 10 July 2013. This is the first time a Mongolian president made an oath in front of public in the country's history. After making an oath, he addressed to the nation, and a military parade followed. Nobel Peace Laureate, co-founder of the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union Solidarity, former Polish president Lech Wałęsa attended Elbegdorj's second inauguration as president.

Democracy and human rights

Elbegdorj served as a chair of the Community of Democracies from 2011 to 2013, an intergovernmental coalition of democratic countries of which Mongolia is a participating member. Under his presidency, Mongolia successfully organized the VII Ministerial Conference of the Community of Democracies with democracy icon guest speakers namely chairperson of the National League for Democracy in Burma and Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, "Mother of the Revolution" of 2011 Yemeni uprising and Nobel Peace Laureate Tawakkol Karman, Elbegdorj, Thailand's prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra and others, on 27–29 April 2013. The conference had over 1300 participants from more than 100 countries and issued Ulaanbaatar Declaration "Community's Attainments and Global Challenges."

Within the coalition, Elbegdorj led initiatives such as Zero Tolerance of Corruption and Education for Democracy and spoke on behalf of the initiatives at the 66th session of the General Assembly of the United Nations on 21 September 2011. He worked with the coalition members to form an agenda to consolidate civil society and strengthen democracy.

Elbegdorj is a frequent lecturer on democracy and human rights, both domestically and abroad. Elbegdorj said in his speech "It is a human desire to live free that is an eternal power" at Kim Il Sung University in North Korea. Elbegdorj remarked "I truly believe in freedom for each and every individual" at the Bundestag. One of his latest public speeches is "Myanmar and Mongolia: On the Road to Freedom and Democracy" made jointly with Nobel Peace Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi in Ulaanbaatar on 30 April 2013. Aung San Suu Kyi publicly expressed her appreciation in person to Elbegdorj for having been a strong voice in Asia for her release from house arrest in Myanmar (Burma) until her release. At the ASEM8 Summit on 3 October 2010, Elbegdorj openly called on Myanmar's authorities to free Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi from house arrest, and not long after she was released. In June 2016 President Elbegdorj visited the newly elected State Counsellor and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Aung San Suu Kyi "in honor of the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic ties between Mongolia and Myanmar". During the same visit he addressed a full house audience of civil servants sharing the values of democratic societies, urging them to fight against corruption.

In 2012, following his talks at the Parliament of Kyrgyzstan and meeting with Kyrgyz NGO leaders and students to share Mongolia's experience towards democracy for two decades, Elbegdorj began the establishment of the Democratic Transition Assistance Foundation of Mongolia. The new initiative calls for the allocation of certain funds from the Mongolian budget to be used to support democratic transitions in Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan along with economic reforms in countries such as North Korea and Myanmar while using Mongolia's democratic reform and consolidation as a model. In the summer of 2012, the foundation hosted several delegations from Kyrgyzstan, North Korea and Myanmar to study Mongolia's experience of judicial reform and mineral legislation.

Foreign policy

Under the leadership of Elbegdorj, Mongolia hosted the 11th Asia–Europe Meeting (ASEM 11) in Ulaanbaatar, on 15 and 16 July 2016, for the first time. Leaders, heads of state, prime ministers, and delegates from 51 countries, the European Commission, and ASEAN participated in the summit under the theme "20 Years of ASEM: Partnership for the Future through Connectivity."

About foreign policy, "Mongolia shall remain an active member of the international community and shall actively cooperate in addressing regional and global challenges," Elbegdorj emphasized in his inaugural address for his first term as President of Mongolia on 18 June 2009. Moreover, he noted that Mongolia shall foster and expand cooperation with the country's two neighbours and "third neighbours," in the same address. "Mongolia shall consistently continue her traditional foreign policies enriched with new content and dimensions," he stated in the same speech.

To strengthen relations with the countries of the European Union, President Elbegdorj addressed the European Parliament in Strasbourg, in June 2015. In his speech, Elbegdorj defines Mongolia as a strategic anchor for the EU in the East: "The EU is the world’s premier invention for advancing global prosperity, peace and harmony. Mongolia will be a strategic anchor for the EU in the East, helping advance our shared values and interests, and for building peace, democracy and engagement in Asia." In a documentary film titled "Mongolia – Democratic Anchor of the East" Elbegdorj was interviewed about the third-neighbour policy and foreign affairs.

Elbegdorj reiterated "Mongolia shall continue her open and pro-active engagement and cooperation at the regional and international fora," "Mongolia shall continue her constructive cooperation with other countries and international organizations. We shall work to promote mutually beneficial and constructive decisions in bilateral relations with our neighbours in infrastructure, investment, trade, transit transport and other pending issues," in his inaugural address for his second term as president on 10 July 2013. Elbegdorj praised the choice of the Kyrgyz people for parliamentary governance and their resolute struggle for freedom and justice in his speech at the Kyrgyz Parliament in April 2012. Following traditional friendly relations with North Korea, 50,000 North Korean football fans cheered Elbegdorj in a stadium for his football kick during his official visit to North Korea in October 2013. Elbegdorj gave a lecture titled "It is the human desire to live free that is an eternal power," as the first foreign Head of State to read a lecture on this topic at the Kim Il Sung University.

Domestic policy

Elbegdorj's presidential actions have focused on advocating anti-corruption measures. "I sincerely believe that the true enemy of democracy and freedom is corruption ... The worst theft is corruption which damages people's common rights and liberties ... I am convinced that fighting corruption must be one of the most important duties of the Mongolian State today," Elbegdorj noted. Previously, during his two terms as a prime minister, he worked to uncover and eliminate several corruption scandals including his handling of the Erdenet Mining Corporation's embezzlement scandal in 1998, and his administration dug out the Customs chairman's corruption case in 2005. In September 2009 Elbegdorj replaced the Community Council of Independent Authority Against Corruption (IAAC) formed by former president Nambaryn Enkhbayar which included sports and music stars and supreme clergy while expressing his dissatisfaction with its investigation of petty corruption instead of political level corruption. He then reorganized the council with professional lawyers.

To create a dialogue among different stakeholders in the natural resources and mining community to stop corruption Elbegdorj opened a roundtable in Ulaanbaatar in collaboration with the World Economic Forum's Partnering Against Corruption Initiative (PACI) in March 2011. The meeting brought together top executives of Mongolian industries and NGOs to discuss anti-corruption initiatives in Mongolia. Moreover, he encouraged the parliament to take actions to prevent from corruption and jointly organized with the parliament's State Standing Committee and the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance "Policy Reform and the Funding of Political Activities" forum.

Elbegdorj sees Chinggis Khaan (also referred to as Genghis Khan) as a leader from whom to learn for anti-corruption efforts. He said that Genghis Khan sought equal protection under the law for all citizens regardless of status or wealth. "Chinggis ... was a man who deeply realized that the justice begins and consolidates with the equality of law, and not with distinctions between people. He was a man who knew that good laws and rules lived longer than fancy palaces," Elbegdorj highlighted in his speech on the 850th anniversary of Chinggis Khaan's birth.

"The crime called corruption is committed by public servants, and not citizens," Elbegdorj pointed out at the High-Level Meeting on the Rule of Law of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly on 24 September 2012. "Today we put an end to ... amorality. We cannot afford to let Mongolia's future be tortured by corrupt officials for another year, another decade ... We must put an end to this," Elbegdorj pointed out in his first inaugural address. Thus under Elbegdorj's presidency, embezzlement and corruption cases amounting from millions to hundreds of millions of dollars, ranging from misappropriation of state properties and assets such as a printing factory, buildings, funds and taxes have been tried and the courts convicted high level statesmen including a former president of Mongolia, a former chairman of Mineral Resources Authority, ex-chairmen of state owned Mongolian Airlines MIAT and their allies. In addition, big scale corruption cases involving suspects such as former health and education ministers, former deputy chairman of Tax Authority are under investigation.

Post-presidency

On 23 September 2022, during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and following the start of the Russian mobilization, Elbegdorj published a video address in YouTube, where he criticised the invasion and urged Russian president Vladimir Putin to "stop this senseless killing and destruction." He honoured Russians protesting against their government and instructed Russian draftees not to "shoot Ukrainians" and "kill that country". Elbegdorj also claimed that Buryats, Tuvans, and Kalmyks are "used as nothing more than cannon fodder", and that Mongolia is ready to shelter refugees fleeing Russia to avoid the military draft. He praised the "brave people" of Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

In response to Vladimir Putin's usage of former administrative boundaries as a justification of the Russo-Ukrainian War, Elbegdorj tweeted "After Putin's talk, I found [a] Mongolian historic map", linking maps of modern-day Russia being included in the lands of the Mongol Empire. Included in his tweet was a humorous clarification that Mongolia would not invade Russia, because Mongolia is "a peaceful and free nation."

On 24 January 2023 in Washington, D.C., US, Elbegdorj participated in setting the Doomsday Clock at 90 seconds to midnight due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation. The Doomsday Clock's time is set by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ Science and Security Board and the Bulletin's Board of Sponsors including 10 Nobel Laureates. Elbegdorj said: "Today our world faces multiple crises. A common thread runs through them all: failure of leadership. We need a collective response rooted in the spirit and values of the UN Charter that can put us back on a pathway to peaceful co-existence and sustainable development."

On 31 August 2020, following the protests by Inner Mongolians against the Chinese authorities’ decision to replace their native Mongolian language in some school subjects with Chinese Mandarin in the Chinese autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, Elbegdorj voiced his support in media, and social media and YouTube.com. and wrote a letter to Chinese president Xi Jinping.

Since stepping down from the presidency, Elbegdorj has been vocal about Mongolia's future of democracy and a market economy.

Family and personal life

Elbegdorj met Khajidsuren Bolormaa at a Mongolian students' party in Lviv, Ukraine when they were students. After their marriage in Ulaanbaatar, their first son was born in Lviv, Ukraine. They helped over 300 orphans through their Bolor Foundation. They adopted twenty children from the state-run Orphan Care Center (orphanage) in Ulaanbaatar after being the children's patrons for some time. Now they have twenty-five children: four sons of their own and twenty-one adopted children.

Elbegdorj became the first president to dive to the bottom of the world's deepest lake, Baikal, in the Mir-1 mini-submersible on 16 July 2010.

Due to being president, in 2012 Elbegdorj asked his elder brother Arslandorj to give up his new position as a director of City Landscaping Department of Ulaanbaatar City though Arslandorj had worked there for more than 20 years before his brother's presidency. Long-time Democratic Party member Arslandorj quit his career at his brother's request. Arlsandorj is upset about stopping his professional career due to his brother's top political position. Arslandorj said: "As a brother, I followed to protect and helped Elbegdorj in difficult times, when Elbegdorj was facing life threatening risks during his co-organizing and co-leading the 1990 Mongolian democratic revolution." Arslandorj said that he would establish a private company specialized in his profession in future.

After Elbegdorj tweeted his job search in Mongolia for his eldest son Orgil (who had gotten a PhD. in medicinal chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University in the United States), the son got a job at a private pharmaceutical company in Mongolia later. Elbegdorj's second son Erdene works in the Mongolian Armed Forces and served in the United Nations peacekeeping mission in South Sudan from March to November 2013.

Awards and honors