which he won. Reelected in 2004 Putin served his second term as Russian President. Due to term restrictions in 2008 he was forced to leave the presidency. He secured his office position when he appointed his protégé Dmitry Medvedev as the next acting President. Putin did not give up his power entirely however. Putin became the Prime Minister of Russia which would allow him to stay in political dominance. After four years Dmitry Medvedev announced that he would not be running again. Though the Russian Constitution only allows two six-year terms of presidency Putin found a loophole. Russias Constitution states that a president can only serve two consecutive terms allowing him to run again for the third term in 2012. As President Vladimir Putin changed the constitutional law on presidency terms enabling him to stay in office until being overthrown.
