President of the Soviet Union

President of the Soviet Union
Former political post
State Emblem
Mikhail Gorbachev
Predecessor	General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Successor	President of the Russian Federation Presidents of other Post-Soviet states
First officeholder	Mikhail Gorbachev
Last officeholder	Mikhail Gorbachev
Official residence	Moscow Kremlin
Appointer	People of the Soviet Union Congress of People's Deputies of the Soviet Union
Political office started	15 March 1990
Political office ended	25 December 1991 upon the resignation of President Mikhail Gorbachev
Current pretender	Position abolished

Soviet Union

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of the Soviet Union

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Atlas  USSR Portal

The President of the Soviet Union (Russian: Президент Советского Союза), officially called President of the USSR (Russian: Президент СССР) was the Head of State of the USSR from 15 March 1990 to 25 December 1991. Mikhail Gorbachev was the only person to occupy the office. Gorbachev was also General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between March 1985 and August 1991. He derived an increasingly greater share of his power from his position as president until he finally resigned as General Secretary after the Soviet coup d'état attempt of 1991.

From the mid-1970s on, all effective executive political power was in the hands of the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the Chairman exercising largely symbolic and figurehead duties. Starting with Leonid Brezhnev in 1977, the last four General Secretaries simultaneously served as Chairmen of the Supreme Soviet during their time in office.

During the election of the president several candidates were nominated, among leading contenders were KGB persona Vadim Bakatin and Premier Nikolai Ryzhkov.

The Vice President of the Soviet Union was Gennady Yanayev, who briefly usurped Gorbachev as president in the 1991 attempted coup as leader of the State Committee of the State of Emergency.

Presidents of the Soviet Union

• Mikhail Gorbachev (15 March 1990 - 25 December 1991) (office abolished with the dissolution of the Soviet Union)
• Gennady Yanayev (usurper) (19 August 1991 - 21 August 1991)

See also

• Index of Soviet Union-related articles
• List of heads of state of the Soviet Union
• Premier of the Soviet Union
• General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
• President of the People's Republic of China