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| President of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | |
|---|---|
| Президент Союза Советских Социалистических Республик | |
| Presidium of the Supreme Soviet Government of the Soviet Union | |
| Style | Mr. President (informal) His Excellency (diplomatic) Comrade Supreme Commander(military) |
| Type | Head of state |
| Residence | Kremlin Senate, Moscow[1] |
| Appointer |
|
| Precursor | Presidium of the Supreme Soviet(as head of state) |
| Formation | 15 March 1990; 35 years ago (1990-03-15) |
| First holder | Mikhail Gorbachev |
| Final holder | Mikhail Gorbachev |
| Abolished | 25 December 1991; 33 years ago (1991-12-25) |
| Succession | None(USSR dissolved)[b] |
| Deputy | Vice President of the Soviet Union |
| Politics of the Soviet Union |
|---|
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 Soviet Union portal |
Thepresident of the Soviet Union (Russian:Президент Советского Союза,romanized: Prezident Sovetskogo Soyuza), officially thepresident of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Президент Союза Советских Социалистических Республик), abbreviated aspresident of the USSR (Президент СССР),[3] was the executivehead of state of theUnion of Soviet Socialist Republics from 15 March 1990 to 25 December 1991.
Mikhail Gorbachev was the only person to occupy this office. Gorbachev was alsoGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union between March 1985 and August 1991. He derived an increasingly large share of his power from his position as president through his resignation as General Secretary following the1991 coup d'état attempt.
The idea of the institution of a sole head of state (instead of collegial leadership) first appeared during the preparation of the draft1936 Soviet Constitution. However, at the suggestion of the informal first person of the USSR,Joseph Stalin, who could compete with the official head of state, the idea was rejected. He formally justified the reason for this rejection as "[running] counter to the spirit of [the] Constitution",[5] and elaborated:
According to the system of our Constitution there must not be an individual president in the U.S.S.R., elected by the whole population on a par with the Supreme Soviet, and able to put himself in opposition to the Supreme Soviet. The president in the U.S.S.R. is a collegium, it is the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, including the President of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, elected, not by the whole population, but by the Supreme Soviet, and accountable to the Supreme Soviet. Historical experience shows that such a structure of the supreme bodies is the most democratic, and safeguards the country against undesirable contingencies.[5]
Nonetheless, the establishment of a singular Presidency was considered during the elaboration ofthe next Soviet Constitution, both at the first attempt underNikita Khrushchev in the early to mid-1960s and at the second, successful attempt underLeonid Brezhnev in the mid-to-late 1970s.[6] The latter attempt at establishing a Presidency formed a part of Brezhnev's attempts at sideliningNikolai Podgorny, who, as Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, was the formal head of state and first-ranked in diplomatic protocol; an alternative path to making Brezhnev head of state, by establishing a collegialState Council similar to those ofEast Germany,Bulgaria, andRomania, of which he would be the chairman, was also considered.[7] In both instances, the collegial Presidium of the Supreme Soviet was ultimately retained as the highest body of power in the country.
Members of the Communist Party voted on establishing a presidency on 7 February 1990.[8] Thefirst and only presidential election took place on 14 March 1990. TheCongress of People's Deputies decided that they would elect the first president into a five-year term, then turn over presidential elections to the public beginning in the planned 1995 presidential election.
The presidency was an executive post, based on a mixture of theUS andFrench presidencies.[9]
Prior to the creation of the post of president, thede jurehead of state of the Soviet Union was the chairman of thePresidium of the Supreme Soviet, who was often called the "president" by non-Soviet sources. For most of the Soviet Union's existence, all effective executive political power was in the hands of theGeneral Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with the chairman of the Presidium exercising largely symbolic andfigurehead duties. Starting withLeonid Brezhnev in 1977, the last four general secretaries—Brezhnev,Yuri Andropov,Konstantin Chernenko, and Gorbachev—simultaneously served asde jure head of state during their time in office.
The president was initially elected by theCongress of People's Deputies and served asex officio chairman of that body, but all future elections were to have been by popular vote. The president reported to theSupreme Soviet. On 24 September 1990, Gorbachev persuaded the Supreme Soviet to give him the power to rule by unrestricted decree (on the economy, law and order, and the appointment of government personnel) until 31 March 1992. Another power was the right to declare direct presidential rule in troubled areas and abolish democratic elected bodies if necessary. During the election of the president several candidates were nominated, among leading contenders were KGB ChairmanVadim Bakatin and PremierNikolai Ryzhkov.
The president's powers were:
Thevice president of the Soviet Union was the deputy head of state. If the president was killed or unable to be in office, the vice president would become president. The only person to hold this office wasGennady Yanayev, who the following year became the leader of theGang of Eight which attempted theAugust coup, assuming the position ofacting president of the Soviet Union on 19 August 1991. After three days the coup collapsed and Gorbachev was restored.
Following the coup attempt, Gorbachev remained president until thecountry's dissolution, when he resigned and declared his office to be extinct. The powers of the position were subsequently ceded to the newPresident of Russia,Boris Yeltsin.
With his right hand on a red bound copy of theSoviet Constitution, placed on a small table before the Congress, President-elect Gorbachev took the following oath:"I solemnly swear to faithfully serve the peoples of our nations, to strictly observe the Soviet Constitution, to guarantee the rights and freedoms of citizens and to conscientiously fulfill the high responsibilities placed in me as president of the Soviet Union."
| No. | Portrait | Name (Born-Died) | Term of office | Political Party | Election | Vice President | Prime Ministers | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | ||||||||
| 1 |  | Mikhail Gorbachev (1931–2022) | 15 March 1990 | 25 December 1991 | 1 year, 285 days | Communist Party of the Soviet Union | 1990 | Office vacant (until 27 December 1990) | Nikolai Ryzhkov | |
| Gennady Yanayev | Valentin Pavlov | |||||||||
| Office abolished (after 21 August 1991) | Ivan Silayev | |||||||||
| — | Gennady Yanayev (1937–2010) Acting | 19 August 1991 | 21 August 1991 | 2 days | Communist Party of the Soviet Union | — | Office vacant | Valentin Pavlov | ||
| — | Office vacant | 25 December 1991 | 26 December 1991 | 1 day | — | — | Office vacant | Office vacant | ||
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