List of leaders of the Soviet Union

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An approximately chronological list of leaders of the Soviet Union (heads of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and President of the Soviet Union).

The formal structure of power in the Soviet Union consisted of three main branches that gave rise to three top positions.

The first position of importance was that of the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, informally translated as President of the Soviet Union. Theoretically it was the highest position, since the Supreme Soviet was an interim organ of the Congress of Soviets, the latter being the supreme power of people, according to the Constitution of the Soviet Union.

The head of the government was the Premier of the Soviet Union. This was the most important position in Lenin's time.

After Lenin's death the most important position ultimately became the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union who headed the Politburo.

In practice, the leader of the Communist Party used to occupy another position, which led to confusion in the West as to who the number one person in the USSR was: Lenin, Stalin, Malenkov and Khrushchev preferred the post of the premier, while Brezhnev and his successors preferred that of the president.

Image:Soviet leaders timeline.png

Name	Title	Period	Supreme Ruler
Vladimir Lenin	Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars<ref>The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was only created in 1922. From August 1917, after the February Revolution, the state name was the Russian Republic, and after the October Revolution from 1918 to 1922 its name was the Russian Socialist Federated Soviet Republic (the RSFSR continued after 1922 as one of 15 republics in the USSR).</ref>. Informally, leader of the Bolsheviks since the very beginning.	October 26, 1917 - January 21, 1924	December 30, 1922 - January 21, 1924
Joseph Stalin	General Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks	April 3, 1922 - March 3, 1953	1924 - March 5, 1953
Joseph Stalin	Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR	May 6, 1941 - March 5, 1953	1924 - March 5, 1953
Georgy Malenkov	Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union	1952 - March 14, 1953	March 5, 1953 - September 7, 1953
Georgy Malenkov	Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR	March 5, 1953 - February 8, 1955	March 5, 1953 - September 7, 1953
Nikita Khrushchev	First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union	September 7, 1953 - October 14, 1964	September 7, 1953 - October 14, 1964
Nikita Khrushchev	Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR	March 27, 1958 - October 14, 1964	September 7, 1953 - October 14, 1964
Leonid Brezhnev	First Secretary of the CPSU	October 14, 1964 - April 8, 1966	October 14, 1964 - November 10, 1982
	General Secretary of the CPSU	April 8, 1966 - November 10, 1982
	Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR	May, 1960 - October 14, 1964 and<center>June 16, 1977 - November 10, 1982
Yuri Andropov	General Secretary of the CPSU	November 12, 1982 - February 9, 1984	November 12, 1982 - February 9, 1984
Yuri Andropov	Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR	June 16, 1983 - February 9, 1984	November 12, 1982 - February 9, 1984
Konstantin Chernenko	General Secretary of the CPSU	February 13, 1984 - March 10, 1985	February 13, 1984 - March 10, 1985
Konstantin Chernenko	Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR	April 11, 1984 - March 10, 1985	February 13, 1984 - March 10, 1985
Mikhail Gorbachev	General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union	March 11, 1985 - August 24, 1991	March 11, 1985 - December 25, 1991
	Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR	October 1, 1988 - May 25, 1989
	Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR<ref>Office of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet renamed to Chairman of the Supreme Soviet.</ref>	May 25, 1989 - March 15, 1990
	President of the Soviet Union<ref>On March 15, 1990 the office of the President of the Soviet Union was created and executive power was transferred from the office of the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet. Although the Chairman's office remained, it was now that of a parliamentary speaker, not a head of state.</ref>	March 15, 1990 - December 25, 1991
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The post of General Secretary was created in April 1922 but did not come to signify the party leader or leader of the country until after Stalin won the struggle with Trotsky to succeed Lenin. The title was First Secretary between 1952 and April 1966. The "Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet" was the equivalent of President of the state while "Chairman of the Council of Ministers" and "Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars" were equivalent to Premier or Prime Minister.

On March 14 1990, the newly created (1989) Congress of People's Deputies voted to end the Communist party's control over the government and elected Gorbachev President of the Soviet Union.