Following the death of 76 year old [[Leonid Brezhnev]] who was in power for 18 years during the [[Years of Stagnation]], 70 year old [[Yuri Andropov]] assumed power for 15 months until his death, followed by the relatively unknown 74 year old Konstantin Chernenko who ruled for 13 months until his death. Chernenko was succeeded by the 52 year old reform-minded [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] who led the [[communist]] [[Soviet Union]] to final dissolution. | Following the death of 76 year old [[Leonid Brezhnev]] who was in power for 18 years during the [[Years of Stagnation]], 70 year old [[Yuri Andropov]] assumed power for 15 months until his death, followed by the relatively unknown 74 year old Konstantin Chernenko who ruled for 13 months until his death. Chernenko was succeeded by the 52 year old reform-minded [[Mikhail Gorbachev]] who led the [[communist]] [[Soviet Union]] to final dissolution. |