Biography:
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev (April 15 1894 – September 11, 1971) was the leader of the USSR during part of the Cold War. He first served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and then as the Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1958 to 1964. He was best known for the partial de-Stalinization and liberal reform of the Soviet Union, liberal and for the backing of the Space Race. He was born in the Russian village of Kalinovka (nowadays border between Russia and Ukraine) He was employed as a metalworker in his youth, and was a political commissar during the Russian Civil War. He supported Stalin's purge and in 1939 Stalin sent him to govern Ukraine where he continued the purges. Since Stalin did not name any successor, a power struggle began. In the end Khrushchev emerged as the most powerful leader surpassing many others viable candidate such as Malenkov and became the leader of the Soviet Union.