Born April 17, 1894
Kalinovka, Russia
Died September 11, 1971
Petrovo-Dalneye, Soviet Union

Soviet premier and first secretary of Communist Party

Nikita Khrushchev was the most colorful Soviet leader during the Cold War. After being a loyal supporter of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin (1879–1953; see entry) through his early political career, Khrushchev denounced Stalin's policies when he assumed Soviet leadership in the mid-1950s. Khrushchev had a loud and blunt personality that took other leaders by surprise. His efforts to introduce major domestic reforms within the Soviet Union during his long period of leadership while fending off pressures from old guard Soviet communists led to erratic foreign policies that confounded U.S. leaders, including presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969; served 1953–61; see entry) and John F. Kennedy...