Leonid Brezhnev He joined (1931) the Communist party and . In 1952 he became a secretary of the party's central committee. After suffering a slight political setback following Joseph Stalin's death, Brezhnev filled a number of party posts. In 1957, as protege of Nikita Khrushchev, he became a member of the presidium (later politburo) of the central committee. He was (1960-64) chairman of the presidium of the Supreme Soviet. When Khrushchev went out of power in 1964, which Brezhnev helped …showed first 75 words of 254 total…

…showed last 75 words of 254 total… state and head of the party. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, cold war tensions returned with an acceleration in the arms race, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and the continued intransigence toward political and economic reform within the Soviet bloc, such as the imposition of martial law in Poland. Following his death, he was succeeded by Yuri Andropov. Under Mikhail Gorbachev, Brezhnev's regime was criticized for its corruption and failed economic policies.