Existing comment:
Nikita S. Khrushchev, Moscow, April 12, 1955:
Nikita S. Khrushchev was Premier of the Soviet Union during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He came from a peasant background and -- with little formal education -- rose through the ranks of the Communist Party during the regime of Joseph Stalin, whose bloody purges claimed millions of lives. Khrushchev successfully conspired to succeed Stalin as Soviet leader after his death in 1953. Although Khrushchev introduced reforms and put a new face on the Communist Party, he relied on many of the strong-arm tactics to retain power. In Cuba, Khrushchev saw an opportunity to gain a foothold for Marxism-Leninsm in Latin America and thus strengthen the worldwide Communist movement. |