The Presidium of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) was in session from 1961 to 1966. CPSU First Secretary Nikita Khrushchev chaired the Presidium from 1961 to 1964; Leonid Brezhnev succeeded him that year and chaired it until 1966. In contrast to full members, candidate members of the Presidium could not vote during Presidium sessions. It was normal that a full member of the Presidium had previously served as a candidate member, but this was not always the case. During the term 23 people held seats in the Presidium: 14 full members and 9 candidate members. One candidate member was promoted to full membership in the Presidium during the term. Not a single Presidium member died during this period while retaining office.
The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was, according to sovietologists Merle Fainsod and Jerry F. Hough, elected unanimously at the 22nd Party Congress (17–31 October 1961). The 22nd Central Committee in turn elected the Politburo unanimously. Brezhnev, the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, was considered as an alternative to Kozlov as Second Secretary, but was instead made Third Secretary, the secretary responsible for industry. In 1963, for unknown reasons, possibly health reasons, Brezhnev took over Kozlov's duties at the Secretariat, and became the de facto Second Secretary. When a Western journalist asked Khrushchev in 1963 who would succeed him, Khrushchev responded bluntly "Brezhnev". After a prolonged power struggle, Khrushchev was ousted from power, and a collective leadership comprising Brezhnev, Kosygin, Podgorny, Mikhail Suslov and Andrei Kirilenko was formed.
In the months following Khrushchev's ousting, three members were elected to the Presidium: Alexander Shelepin, the Chairman of the State Control Commission; Petro Shelest, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Ukraine; and Kirill Mazurov, a First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers. While Brezhnev may have been General Secretary, he did not have a majority in the Presidium; when Kosygin and Podgorny agreed on policy, which was not often the case, Brezhnev found himself in the minority. Brezhnev could only count on three to four votes in the Presidium: Suslov, who often switched sides, Kirilenko, Pelše and Dmitry Polyansky. Brezhnev and Kosygin often disagreed on policy; Brezhnev was a conservative while Kosygin was a modest reformer. Kosygin, who had begun his premiership as Brezhnev's equal, lost much power and influence within the Presidium when he introduced the 1965–1971 Soviet economic reform.
Composition Members +Members of the Presidium of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Name Cyrillic 20th PRE 23rd POL Ethnicity Леонид Брежнев 1906 1982 1931 Russian Никита Хрущёв 1894 1971 1918 Russian Андре́й Кириле́нко 1906 1990 1930 Ukrainian Алексей Косыгин 1904 1980 1927 Russian Фрол Козлов 1908 1965 1926 Russian Отто Куусинен 1881 1964 1918 Finn Кири́лл Ма́зуров 1914 1989 1940 Belarusian Анастас Микоян 1895 1978 1915 Armenian Никола́й Подго́рный 1903 1983 1930 Ukrainian Дми́трий Поля́нский 1917 2001 1939 Ukrainian Алекса́ндр Шеле́пин 1918 1994 1940 Russian Петро Шелест 1908 1996 1928 Ukrainian Никола́й Шве́рник 1888 1970 1905 Russian Михаил Суслов 1902 1982 1921 Russian Геннадий Воронов 1910 1994 1931 Russian
Candidates +Candidate Members of the Presidium of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Name Cyrillic 20th PRE 23rd POL Ethnicity Пётр Де́мичев 1917 2010 1939 Russian Ви́ктор Гри́шин 1914 1992 1939 Russian Кири́лл Ма́зуров 1914 1989 1940 Belarusian Василий Мжаванадзе 1902 1988 1927 Georgian Шараф Рашидов 1917 1983 1939 Uzbek Влади́мир Щерби́цкий 1918 1990 1948 Ukrainian Петро Шелест 1908 1996 1928 Ukrainian Дми́трий Усти́нов 1908 1984 1927 Russian Леонид Ефремов 1912 2007 1941 Russian
References General Full- and candidate membership of the Presidium were taken from these sources:
Specific
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