List of leaders of the Soviet Union

Vladimir Lenin was voted the chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the Soviet Union (Sovnarkom) on 30 December 1922 by the Congress of Soviets.[11] At the age of 53, his health declined from the effects of two bullet wounds, later aggravated by three strokes which culminated with his death in 1924.[12] Irrespective of his health status in his final days, Lenin was already losing much of his power to Joseph Stalin.[13] Alexei Rykov succeeded Lenin as chairman of the Sovnarkom and although he was de jure the most powerful person in the country, in fact, all power was concentrated in the hands of the "troika" - the union of three influential party figures: Grigory Zinoviev, Joseph Stalin, and Lev Kamenev. Stalin continued to increase his influence in the party, and by the end of the 1920s, he became the sole dictator of the USSR, defeating all his political opponents. The post of general secretary of the party, which was held by Stalin, became the most important post in the Soviet hierarchy

Stalin's early policies pushed for rapid industrialisation, nationalisation of private industry[14] and the collectivisation of private plots created under Lenin's New Economic Policy.[15] As leader of the Politburo, Stalin consolidated near-absolute power by 1938 after the Great Purge, a series of campaigns of political murder, repression and persecution.[16] Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941,[17] but by December the Soviet Army managed to stop the attack just shy of Moscow. On Stalin's orders, the Soviet Union launched a counter-attack on Nazi Germany which finally succeeded in 1945.[18] Stalin died in March 1953[19] and his death triggered a power struggle in which Nikita Khrushchev after several years emerged victorious against Georgy Malenkov.[20]

Khrushchev denounced Stalin on two occasions, first in 1956 and then in 1962. His policy of de-Stalinisation earned him many enemies within the party, especially from old Stalinist appointees. Many saw this approach as destructive and destabilizing. A group known as Anti-Party Group tried to oust Khrushchev from office in 1957, but it failed.[21] As Khrushchev grew older, his erratic behavior became worse, usually making decisions without discussing or confirming them with the Politburo.[22] Leonid Brezhnev, a close companion of Khrushchev, was elected the first secretary the same day of Khrushchev's removal from power. Alexei Kosygin became the new premier and Anastas Mikoyan kept his office as chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. On the orders of the Politburo, Mikoyan was forced to retire in 1965, and Nikolai Podgorny took over the office of chairman of the Presidium.[23] The Soviet Union in the post-Khrushchev 1960s was governed by a collective leadership.[24] Henry A. Kissinger, the American National Security Advisor, mistakenly believed that Kosygin was the leader of the Soviet Union and that he was at the helm of Soviet foreign policy because he represented the Soviet Union at the 1967 Glassboro Summit Conference.[25] The "Era of Stagnation", a derogatory term coined by Mikhail Gorbachev, was a period marked by low socio-economic efficiency in the country and a gerontocracy ruling the country.[26] Yuri Andropov (aged 68 at the time) succeeded Brezhnev in his post as general secretary in 1982. In 1983, Andropov was hospitalized and rarely met up at work to chair the politburo meetings due to his declining health. Nikolai Tikhonov usually chaired the meetings in his place.[27] Following Andropov's death fifteen months after his appointment, an even older leader, 72-year-old Konstantin Chernenko, was elected to the general secretariat. His rule lasted for little more than a year until his death thirteen months later on 10 March 1985.[28]

At the age of 54, Mikhail Gorbachev was elected to the general secretariat by Politburo on 11 March 1985.[29] In May 1985, Gorbachev publicly admitted the slowing down of the economic development and inadequate living standards, being the first Soviet leader to do so while also beginning a series of fundamental reforms. From 1986 to around 1988, he dismantled central planning, allowed state enterprises to set their own outputs, enabled private investment in businesses not previously permitted to be privately owned, and allowed foreign investment, among other measures. He also opened up the management of and decision-making within the Soviet Union and allowed greater public discussion and criticism, along with the warming of relationships with the West. These twin policies were known as perestroika (literally meaning "reconstruction", though it varies) and glasnost ("openness" and "transparency"), respectively.[30] The dismantling of the principal defining features of Soviet communism in 1988 and 1989 in the Soviet Union led to the unintended consequence of the Soviet Union breaking up after the failed August 1991 coup led by Gennady Yanayev.[31]

The following list includes persons who held the top leadership position of the Soviet Union from its founding in 1922 until its 1991 dissolution.

Note: that † denotes leaders who died in office.

Name (Lifespan)	Portrait	Period	Congress(es)	Political office	Premier	President	Policies
Vladimir Lenin (1870–1924)[32]		30 December 1922[32] ↓ 21 January 1924†[13]	1st–10th[note 1] 11th 12th	Chairman of Sovnarkom	Himself	Mikhail Kalinin	Leninism • Russian Civil War (1917–23) • War communism (1918–21) • New Economic Policy (1921–28)
		Ever since the Bolsheviks' inception, Lenin had served as their de facto leader.[32] After the Russian Revolution, Lenin became leader of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) from 1917 and leader of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) from 1922 until his death.[33]
Joseph Stalin (1878–1953)[13]		21 January 1924[13] ↓ 5 March 1953†[34]	13th 14th 15th 16th 17th 18th 19th	General Secretary of the Communist Party (1922–1952) Chairman of the Council of Ministers	Alexei Rykov Vyacheslav Molotov Himself	Mikhail Kalinin Nikolay Shvernik	Stalinism • Socialism in one country • Collectivization (1928–40) • Forced industrialization (1929–41) • Great Terror (1936–38)
		Following the death of Lenin, Stalin initially ruled as part of a troika alongside Grigory Zinoviev and Lev Kamenev. [35][34] However, by April 1925, this arrangement broke down as Stalin consolidated power to become the Soviet Union's absolute dictator. He also held the post of the Minister of Defence from 19 July 1941 to 3 March 1947 and chaired the State Defense Committee during World War II.[36]
Georgy Malenkov (1901–1988)[37]		5 March 1953[37][38] ↓ 14 September 1953	—	Chairman of the Council of Ministers	Himself	Nikolay Shvernik Kliment Voroshilov
		After Stalin's death, Malenkov ruled as part of a troika alongside Lavrentiy Beria and Vyacheslav Molotov,[39] succeeding Stalin in all his titles, but was forced to resign most of them within a month by the Politburo.[40] The troika would ultimately break down when Beria was arrested later that year. [41] Shortly thereafter, he found himself locked in a power struggle against Nikita Khrushchev that led to his removal as Premier in 1955.[42]
Nikita Khrushchev (1894–1971)[41]		14 September 1953 ↓ 14 October 1964[43]	20th 21st 22nd	First Secretary of the Communist Party	Georgy Malenkov Nikolai Bulganin Himself	Kliment Voroshilov Leonid Brezhnev Anastas Mikoyan	Khrushchev Thaw • De-Stalinization (1956–64) • Anti-religious campaign (1958–64) • Sino-Soviet split (1956–66)
		In September 1953, Nikita Khrushchev emerged as leader of the Soviet Union upon becoming the First Secretary of the Communist Party. He consolidated his power further after becoming Chairman of the Council of Ministers on 27 March 1958. While he was vacationing in Abkhazia, Khrushchev was called by Leonid Brezhnev to return to Moscow for a special meeting of the Presidium to be held on 13 October 1964. At the most fiery session since the so-called "anti-party group" crisis of 1957, he was fired from all his posts but was publicly allowed to retire for reasons of "advanced age and ill health."
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982)[43]		14 October 1964[43] ↓ 10 November 1982†[44]	23rd 24th 25th 26th	General Secretary of the Communist Party	Alexei Kosygin Nikolai Tikhonov	Anastas Mikoyan Nikolai Podgorny Himself	Era of Stagnation • Collective leadership • Kosygin reforms (1965–70) • Brezhnev Doctrine (1968–81) • Cold War détente (1969–79) • 1973 economic reform • 1979 economic reform
		In October 1964, Brezhnev replaced Khrushchev as First Secretary of the Communist Party. Despite being the head of the nation's ruling Party, he initially led the Soviet Union as part of a troika alongside Premier Alexei Kosygin and Presidium Chairman Nikolai Podgorny. However, by the 1970s, Brezhnev consolidated power to become the regime's undisputed leader. In 1977, Brezhnev officially replaced Podgorny as Chairman of the Presidium.[23] At his death in 1982, he received a state funeral.
Yuri Andropov (1914–1984)[45]		10 November 1982[45] ↓ 9 February 1984†[46]	—	General Secretary of the Communist Party	Nikolai Tikhonov	Himself
		General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party[25] and Chairman of the Presidium from 16 June 1983 to 9 February 1984.[47]
Konstantin Chernenko (1911–1985)[48]		9 February 1984[48] ↓ 10 March 1985†	—	General Secretary of the Communist Party	Nikolai Tikhonov	Himself
		General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party[49] and Chairman of the Presidium from 11 April 1984 to 10 March 1985.[50] Due to his health, he initially ruled as part of a troika alongside Andrei Gromyko and Dmitry Ustinov. However, this arrangement broke down when Ustinov died a few months later.
Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022)[51]		10 March 1985[22] ↓ 25 December 1991[52]	27th 28th	President (1990–1991) General Secretary of the Communist Party	Nikolai Tikhonov Nikolai Ryzhkov Valentin Pavlov Ivan Silayev	Andrei Gromyko Himself	Perestroika • Glasnost • Uskoreniye • Democratization • New political thinking • 500 Days program (planned)
		Served as General Secretary from 11 March 1985[50] and resigned on 24 August 1991,[53][54] Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet from 1 October[49] 1988 until the office was renamed to the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet on 25 May 1989 to 15 March 1990[50] and President of the Soviet Union from 15 March 1990[55] to 25 December 1991.[56][52] The day following Gorbachev's resignation as president, the Soviet Union was formally dissolved.[57] Gorbachev was the only head of the USSR to have been born during its existence.

On four occasions—the 2–3-year period between Vladimir Lenin's incapacitation and Joseph Stalin's leadership; the three months following Stalin's death;[38] the interval between Nikita Khrushchev's fall and Leonid Brezhnev's consolidation of power;[23] and the ailing Konstantin Chernenko's tenure as General Secretary[58]—the Soviet Union was governed by a council known as a troika (i.e."triumvirate"),[59] whereby policymaking depended on the consensus of three chief figures within the Politburo.

Members (Lifespan)			Tenure	Notes
			May 1922[60] ↓ April 1925[61]	When Vladimir Lenin suffered his first stroke in May 1922, a troika was formed to temporarily rule in his place consisting of Deputy Premier Lev Kamenev, General Secretary Joseph Stalin and Comintern Chairman Grigory Zinoviev. In March 1923, the three assumed permanent control over the country after Lenin suffered another stroke leaving him unable to govern. However, by April 1925, the triumvirate broke up due to Kamenev's and Zinoviev's opposition to Stalin's "Socialism in One Country" policy. After Stalin consolidated power in the 1930s, Kamenev and Zinoviev were ultimately murdered in the Great Purge.
Lev Kamenev (1883–1936)[62]	Joseph Stalin (1878–1953)[13]	Grigory Zinoviev (1883–1936)[63]
			13 March 1953[38] ↓ 26 June 1953[64]	After Stalin's death on 5 March 1953, a troika assumed power consisting of Council of Ministers Chairman Georgy Malenkov, Minister of Internal Affairs Lavrentiy Beria and Foreign Minister Vyacheslav Molotov.[39] It dissolved after Beria was arrested and dismissed from the leadership on 26 June 1953.[41] Thereafter, a power struggle ensued between Malenkov and the First Secretary of the Communist Party, Nikita Khrushchev, that ended decisively in the latter's favor by 1955.
Lavrentiy Beria (1899–1953)[38]	Georgy Malenkov (1901–1988)[38]	Vyacheslav Molotov (1890–1986)[38]
			14 October 1964[43] ↓ 16 June 1977[23]	Upon Khrushchev's ouster in 1964, he was replaced by a troika comprising Leonid Brezhnev as First/General Secretary, Alexei Kosygin as Premier and CC Secretary Nikolai Podgorny who went on to become Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1965. However, as Brezhnev increasingly consolidated power, the triumvirate's effectiveness as a guarantor of collective leadership steadily declined.[65] It was ultimately dissolved in 1977 after Brezhnev took Podgorny's place as head of state.[23]
Leonid Brezhnev (1906–1982)[43]	Alexei Kosygin (1904–1980)[43]	Nikolai Podgorny (1903–1983)[43]
			13 February 1984[66] ↓ 20 December 1984	Despite succeeding Yuri Andropov as the nominal leader of the Soviet Union, Konstantin Chernenko was unable to consolidate power due to his poor health[67] and lack of popularity among the party elite.[68] This resulted in the formation of a troika representing the Soviet leadership's "Old Guard" that included Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko and Defense Minister Dmitry Ustinov alongside Chernenko.[69][70] This arrangement lasted until Ustinov's death in December 1984 which made way for Mikhail Gorbachev's rise to power in March 1985.
Konstantin Chernenko (1911–1985)[48]	Andrei Gromyko (1909–1989)[71]	Dmitry Ustinov (1908–1984)[72]

• Index of Soviet Union-related articles
• List of heads of state of the Soviet Union
• List of presidents of the Russian Federation
• Premier of the Soviet Union
• Vozhd
• President of Russia

• Succession of Power in the USSR from the Dean Peter Krogh Foreign Affairs Digital Archives
• Heads of State and Government of the Soviet Union (1922–1991)