On September 13, 1953, Nikita Khrushchev was appointed General Secretary of the USSR Communist Party, taking over leadership of the country after the death of Joseph Stalin. Soon after taking office, Khrushchev exposed many of the crimes of his predecessor. He was later forced from power in 1964, largely in response to his handling of the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Read an obituary of Nikita Khrushchev from the New York Times.