Nikita Khruschev became Soviet General Secretary in 1953. So what?

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The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991. Nearly fifty years before that, on September 14, 1953, a Ukranian named Nikita Khruschev became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He was deposed in 1964, and many of his most noted accomplishments were undone by his successor, Leonid Brezhnev. He finished his life in obscurity, and by some measures would be considered a failed leader. So what?

Following Stalin's death, the Communist Party sought to take back the power that had been lost in the final years of Stalin's life. Khruschev, a pragmatic and cunning politician, positioned himself within the party to take advantage of the situation and succeeded in undermining or eliminating his opponents and getting himself made leader of the Party.

Once Khruschev achieved power, he wasted no time in undermining Stalin's legacy and setting a new tone for the Soviet Union. Within a few years of taking power, he spoke openly of a "peaceful competition" with the western powers and led a series of liberal reforms that dramatically shifted Soviet policy. Khruschev led the Soviet Union through the first part of the space race, including the launch of Sputnik I and traveled to the United States in a highly publicized visit. His relationship with Richard Nixon helped pave the way for the detente of the 1970's, and the early years of his tenure marked a high point in US-Soviet relations.

The election of John F. Kennedy and tensions over the American U-2 spy plane led to a souring of relations between the United States and the Soviet Union. Tensions rose between China and the Soviet Union over what was seen as an unacceptable shift to the left by the Soviet leadership. After the resolution of the Cuban missile crisis, seen as an embarrassment by many Soviet leaders, Khruschev's rivals pushed for and eventually achieved his deposition. Many of the liberalizing reforms that Khruschev had enacted were repealed. While seeing his legacy dismantled, Khruschev was virtually eliminated from public life. He died in relative obscurity in a suburb of Moscow several years later.

Despite being rejected at the time, Khruschev's liberalizing reforms paved the way for Gorbechev's similar reforms a few decades later. Therefore, the apparent defeat of liberalism during Khruschev's life would shape his country and a world in a way he could scarcely imagine. His story is a reminder to us all to keep a long view of our actions. Even if we cannot see the results, we can have a greater impact than we think.

So what? That's what.