SPECIAL EDITION: CRISIS IN THE KREMLIM : Soviet Union’s Succession of Power Brokers

Vladimir I. Lenin (1917-1924)

Leader of the Bolshevik Revolution and founding father of the modern Soviet state. Died in office, Jan. 21, 1924.

Josef Stalin (1924-1953)

Pushed aside or liquidated all competitors for power and reigned as unquestioned dictator, installing through bloody purges and forced collectivization the highly centralized economic structure that has characterized the Soviet Union through most of its Communist history. Died in office March 5, 1953.

Nikita S. Khrushchev (1953-1964)

After defeating such political rivals as Georgi M. Malenkov and Nikolai A. Bulganin, denounced Stalin’s crimes in so-called “Secret Speech” to party leaders on Feb. 24, 1956. But maintained tight party control and rivalry with West. Ousted Oct. 15, 1964, after Soviet humiliation in the Cuban missile crisis. Died Sept. 11, 1971.

Leonid I. Brezhnev (1964-1982)

Oversaw an extraordinary military buildup that made the Soviet Union the military equal of the United States while simultaneously presiding over a period of profound political, economic and cultural stagnation at home. Died in office Nov. 10, 1982.

Yuri V. Andropov (1982-1984)

Guided Soviet Union through one of chilliest periods of Cold War with the United States before dying, after a long illness, on Feb. 9, 1984.

Konstantin Chernenko (1984-1985)

Former Brezhnev aide left little imprint on Soviet history before dying in office on March 10, 1985, just 13 months after taking power.

Mikhail S. Gorbachev (1985-1991)

The youngest man to take charge of Soviet Union since Stalin, he launched period of reform which ended Cold War and won nearly universal acclaim as a peacemaker abroad but which met mixed reaction at home amid growing economic and nationalist strife. Ousted in a conservatives’ coup, Aug. 19, 1991.

Gennady I. Yanayev Acting President

Short-time Soviet vice president named chairman of the “State Committee on the Emergency Situation in the U.S.S.R.” and president. It is unclear whether he wields power or is only a figurehead for Kremlin hard-liners.