Alexei Kosygin (PJW)

Alexei Kosygin (February 21, 1908 - September 17, 1980) was First Secretary of the Soviet Union from June 1962 to his overthrow in 1967.

Kosygin had worked his way through the ranks of the Soviet bureaucracy to become First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers at the time of the ousting of First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev. He was included in the Third Troika of leaders afterwards, and survived and outmaneuvered Alexander Shelepin's purges to become the next First Secretary. The most liberal member of the Stalinists, Kosygin worked closely with Premier Mikhail Suslov to initiate reforms for the Soviet Union, along with technological advancements and support for the communist revolutions around the world.

However, the failures of his economic reforms at home, along with the success of several democratic movements in Eastern Europe, caused the more hardline Stalinists to remove Kosygin. KGB Chairman Vladimir Semichastny arrested Kosygin under the orders of Suslov, and Kosygin was forced into retirement. Suslov, not wanting open power, convinced First Deputy Premier Dmitry Ustinov to become First Secretary, leading to his own downfall soon after.