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Moscow Who Is to Be Master?

Kremlinologists, once again studying the leadership of the Soviet Union to determine who will succeed the 75-year-old Leonid Brezhnev, are currently touting Konstantin Chernenko, a man who for years has been a close follower of the Soviet president but is little known to the outside world. Chernenko, who is seventy, is being spoken of as Brezhnev’s heir apparent following the death of Party theoretician Mikhail Suslov. Chernenko sits in the front row of seats next to Brezhnev at the leadership’s public appearances. He has begun to be seen frequently on the state television, and his name and quotations from him appear often in the press. Chernenko has lived largely in the shadow of his master. Born into an obscure Siberian family, he has the mien of a peasant; he speaks poorly in public, and makes little impression on foreign visitors. He became a member of the Central Committee 11 years ago, but it was not until 1976 that he acquired the important post of Secretary for Administration and thus had control of the Party dossiers. Two years later, he was named to the Politburo, ranking fourth after Brezhnev. Since then he has traveled abroad to Cuba, East Germany, and Hungary, and last February he led the Soviet delegation to a congress of the French Communist Party in Paris. He was at Brezhnev’s side when General Jaruzelski of Poland arrived in Moscow recently. Observers say that Chernenko has not yet won the unqualified support of the army or the KGB secret police, two necessary allies for one who would gain ultimate power in the Soviet state. Nevertheless, they say, he is the man with the best prospects at present.

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Moscow Who Is to Be Master?

Kremlinologists, once again studying the leadership of the Soviet Union to determine who will succeed the 75-year-old Leonid Brezhnev, are currently touting Konstantin Chernenko, a man who for years has been a close follower of the Soviet president but is little known to the outside world. Chernenko, who is seventy, is being spoken of as Brezhnev’s heir apparent following the death of Party theoretician Mikhail Suslov. Chernenko sits in the front row of seats next to Brezhnev at the leadership’s public appearances. He has begun to be seen frequently on the state television, and his name and quotations from him appear often in the press. Chernenko has lived largely in the shadow of his master. Born into an obscure Siberian family, he has the mien of a peasant; he speaks poorly in public, and makes little impression on foreign visitors. He became a member of the Central Committee 11 years ago, but it was not until 1976 that he acquired the important post of Secretary for Administration and thus had control of the Party dossiers. Two years later, he was named to the Politburo, ranking fourth after Brezhnev. Since then he has traveled abroad to Cuba, East Germany, and Hungary, and last February he led the Soviet delegation to a congress of the French Communist Party in Paris. He was at Brezhnev’s side when General Jaruzelski of Poland arrived in Moscow recently. Observers say that Chernenko has not yet won the unqualified support of the army or the KGB secret police, two necessary allies for one who would gain ultimate power in the Soviet state. Nevertheless, they say, he is the man with the best prospects at present.