Mikhail S. Gorbachev - Academy of Achievement

<!doctype html> <html lang="en-US" prefix="og: http://ogp.me/ns#"> <head><script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/bundle-playback.js?v=HxkREWBo" charset="utf-8"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/wombat.js?v=txqj7nKC" charset="utf-8"></script> <script>window.RufflePlayer=window.RufflePlayer||{};window.RufflePlayer.config={"autoplay":"on","unmuteOverlay":"hidden"};</script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/_static/js/ruffle/ruffle.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> __wm.init("https://web.archive.org/web"); __wm.wombat("http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/","20170606004409","https://web.archive.org/","web","/_static/", "1496709849"); </script> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/banner-styles.css?v=S1zqJCYt" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/_static/css/iconochive.css?v=3PDvdIFv" />  <meta charset="utf-8"> <meta http-equiv="x-ua-compatible" content="ie=edge"> <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="57x57" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-57x57.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="114x114" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-114x114.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="72x72" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-72x72.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="144x144" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-144x144.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="60x60" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-60x60.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="120x120" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-120x120.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="76x76" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-76x76.png"/> <link rel="apple-touch-icon-precomposed" sizes="152x152" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/apple-touch-icon-152x152.png"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-196x196.png" sizes="196x196"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-96x96.png" sizes="96x96"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-32x32.png" sizes="32x32"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-16x16.png" sizes="16x16"/> <link rel="icon" type="image/png" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/favicon-128.png" sizes="128x128"/> <meta name="application-name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileColor" content="#000000"/> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-144x144.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square70x70logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-70x70.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square150x150logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-150x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-wide310x150logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x150.png"/> <meta name="msapplication-square310x310logo" content="http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/favicon/mstile-310x310.png"/> <link href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409cs_/https://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source+Sans+Pro:400,600,400italic,600italic,700,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css"> <title>Mikhail S. Gorbachev - Academy of Achievement</title>  <meta name="description" content=""What would you call it when the country is being ruled by old men who keep dropping dead, and the country is left without normal leadership?" In only three years, the Soviet Union lost three leaders: Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko. One after another, the men chosen as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR fell dead, and one of the world's two super powers looked lost and rudderless, mired in a hopeless war in Afghanistan, locked in a ruinous arms race with the United States, occupying half of Europe but unable to supply the basic needs of its own people. A new leader, the youngest man to lead the Soviet Union since the 1920s, promised change. The stated principles of Mikhail Gorbachev's administration were "glasnost" and "perestroika," or openness and restructuring, words which became known throughout the world. Gorbachev allowed a freedom of expression Russia and many other states of the Soviet Union had not known in their long history. The rise of democracy in Russia and the end of the Cold War division of Europe are the direct result of Mikhail Gorbachev's extraordinary term of office as leader of the Soviet Union. "/> <meta name="robots" content="noodp"/> <link rel="canonical" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/"/> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US"/> <meta property="og:type" content="article"/> <meta property="og:title" content="Mikhail S. Gorbachev - Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:description" content="<p class="inputTextFirst">"What would you call it when the country is being ruled by old men who keep dropping dead, and the country is left without normal leadership?"</p> <p class="inputText">In only three years, the Soviet Union lost three leaders: Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko. One after another, the men chosen as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR fell dead, and one of the world's two super powers looked lost and rudderless, mired in a hopeless war in Afghanistan, locked in a ruinous arms race with the United States, occupying half of Europe but unable to supply the basic needs of its own people.</p> <p class="inputText">A new leader, the youngest man to lead the Soviet Union since the 1920s, promised change. The stated principles of Mikhail Gorbachev's administration were "glasnost" and "perestroika," or openness and restructuring, words which became known throughout the world. Gorbachev allowed a freedom of expression Russia and many other states of the Soviet Union had not known in their long history.</p> <p class="inputText">The rise of democracy in Russia and the end of the Cold War division of Europe are the direct result of Mikhail Gorbachev's extraordinary term of office as leader of the Soviet Union.</p> "/> <meta property="og:url" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/"/> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Academy of Achievement"/> <meta property="og:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gorbachev-3-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"/> <meta property="og:image:width" content="2800"/> <meta property="og:image:height" content="1120"/> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary"/> <meta name="twitter:description" content="<p class="inputTextFirst">"What would you call it when the country is being ruled by old men who keep dropping dead, and the country is left without normal leadership?"</p> <p class="inputText">In only three years, the Soviet Union lost three leaders: Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko. One after another, the men chosen as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR fell dead, and one of the world's two super powers looked lost and rudderless, mired in a hopeless war in Afghanistan, locked in a ruinous arms race with the United States, occupying half of Europe but unable to supply the basic needs of its own people.</p> <p class="inputText">A new leader, the youngest man to lead the Soviet Union since the 1920s, promised change. The stated principles of Mikhail Gorbachev's administration were "glasnost" and "perestroika," or openness and restructuring, words which became known throughout the world. Gorbachev allowed a freedom of expression Russia and many other states of the Soviet Union had not known in their long history.</p> <p class="inputText">The rise of democracy in Russia and the end of the Cold War division of Europe are the direct result of Mikhail Gorbachev's extraordinary term of office as leader of the Soviet Union.</p> "/> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Mikhail S. Gorbachev - Academy of Achievement"/> <meta name="twitter:image" content="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gorbachev-3-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg"/>  <link rel="dns-prefetch" href="//web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://s.w.org/"/> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/web/20170606004409cs_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/dist/styles/main-2a51bc91cb.css"> </head> <body class="achiever-template-default single single-achiever postid-2416 mikhail-s-gorbachev sidebar-primary">  <header class="main-header bg-black"> <div class="search-container clearfix"> <div class="container"> <a class="brand" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/"> <img class="logo" src="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/logo@2x.png" alt="Academy of Achievement"/> </a> <div class="search-form__container"> <form 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data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gorbachev-3-Feature-Image-2800x1120-380x152.jpg [(max-width:544px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gorbachev-3-Feature-Image-2800x1120.jpg [(max-width:992px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gorbachev-3-Feature-Image-2800x1120-1400x560.jpg"></div> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <figcaption class="feature-area__text ratio-container__text container"> <div class="feature-area__text-inner text-white"> <h2 class="serif-8 feature-area__text-subhead back"><a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever">All achievers</a></h2> <h1 class="serif-1 entry-title feature-area__text-headline">Mikhail S. Gorbachev</h1> <h5 class="sans-6 feature-area__blurb">Nobel Prize for Peace</h5> </div> </figcaption> </div> </div> </figure> </header> </div>  <nav class="in-page-nav row fixedsticky"> <ul class="nav text-xs-center clearfix" role="tablist"> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link active" data-toggle="tab" href="#biography" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Biography">Biography</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#profile" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Profile">Profile</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#interview" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Interview">Interview</a> </li> <li class="nav-item col-xs-3"> <a class="nav-link" data-toggle="tab" href="#gallery" role="tab" data-gtm-category="tab" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever Gallery">Gallery</a> </li> </ul> </nav> <article class="post-2416 achiever type-achiever status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry careers-politician"> <div class="entry-content container clearfix">  <div class="tab-content"> <div class="tab-pane fade in active" id="biography" role="tabpanel"> <section class="achiever--biography"> <div class="row"> <header class="editorial-article__header col-md-8 col-md-offset-2 text-xs-center"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> <h3 class="serif-3 quote-marks">Very little good could be achieved. Therefore, the system had to be changed.</h3> </header> </div> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar clearfix"> <h2 class="serif-3 p-b-1">Glasnost, Perestroika and Leadership</h2> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> March 2, 1931 </dd> </div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_9125" style="width: 363px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9125 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev_parents.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-9125 size-full lazyload" alt="Gorbachev and his Ukrainian maternal grandparents, late 1930s (Commons)" width="363" height="482" data-sizes="(max-width: 363px) 100vw, 363px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev_parents.jpg 363w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev_parents-286x380.jpg 286w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev_parents.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Gorbachev and his Ukrainian grandparents, late 1930s.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was born in the village of Privolnoye near Stavropol, Russia. From the age of 13, he worked on a collective farm, where his father was a mechanic. He was an exceptional student and earned a law degree at Moscow University, where he joined the Communist Party and became Secretary of the law department’s Young Communist League. After returning to the Stavropol area, he rose in the League hierarchy to become Regional Secretary of the League, and in 1961 first became a delegate to the Party Congress. He spent the 1960s working his way up through the territorial bodies of the Party and continuing his education in agronomy and economics.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">As an agricultural administrator and party leader in his native region, he acquired a reputation for innovation and incorruptible honesty, and he soon rose in the Party hierarchy. He was first elected to the Supreme Soviet in 1970, and served on commissions dealing with conservation, youth policy, and foreign affairs. In 1971, he was elected to the Central Committee. In 1978, he became First Secretary of the Stavropol territorial committee, and by 1980 was a full member of the Politburo.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_14111" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-14111 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-GettyImages-522501524-1.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-14111 size-full lazyload" alt="CPSU members, L-R: Mikhail Gorbachev, Andrei Gromyko, Nikolai Tikhonov, Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Suslov, Konstantin Chernenko, Yuri Andropov, and Boris Ponomarev pose for a photo during a meeting with CPSU Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow, USSR. (Photo by TASS via Getty Images)" width="2280" height="962" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-GettyImages-522501524-1.jpg 2280w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-GettyImages-522501524-1-380x160.jpg 380w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-GettyImages-522501524-1-760x321.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-GettyImages-522501524-1.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Members of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the sole governing party of the Soviet Union, on May 9, 1981. Left to Right: CPSU leaders Mikhail Gorbachev, Andrei Gromyko, Nikolai Tikhonov, Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Suslov, Konstantin Chernenko, Yuri Andropov, and Boris Ponomarev pose for a photo during a meeting with CPSU General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow, USSR. The CPSU adhered to Marxism-Leninism, an ideology based on the writings of Vladimir Lenin and Karl Marx, and formalized under Joseph Stalin. After Mikhail Gorbachev took power in 1985 — after the death of Brezhnev in 1982, Andropov in 1984, and Chernenko in 1985 — rapid steps were taken to transform the Soviet economic system in the direction of a market economy. Historians have written that Gorbachev’s policy of glasnost (political openness) and perestroika (restructuring) contributed to the fall of the entire system of government and the disillusion of the Soviet Union. (Photo by TASS News Agency / Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><p><span class="s1">The death of the long-time General Secretary of the Communist Party, Leonid Brezhnev, presented a brief opportunity for change in the Soviet Union. Brezhnev’s successor, Yuri Andropov, appeared to be grooming Gorbachev as his own successor, but after Andropov’s unexpected death, Gorbachev was passed over for the top spot and the aged Konstantin Chernenko came to power. When Chernenko too died barely a year after taking power, it was at last clear to the Party hierarchy that younger leadership was needed, and Gorbachev became General Secretary. He was ready to make long overdue reforms in the Soviet system.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_9128" style="width: 1857px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9128 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbacheve-time-00727181.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-9128 size-full lazyload" alt="Time magazine cover of January 1, 1990 featuring Mikhail Gorbachev as Man of the Decade. (Copyright Time Inc.)" width="1857" height="2501" data-sizes="(max-width: 1857px) 100vw, 1857px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbacheve-time-00727181.jpg 1857w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbacheve-time-00727181-282x380.jpg 282w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbacheve-time-00727181-564x760.jpg 564w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbacheve-time-00727181.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text"><em>Time</em> magazine cover of January 1, 1990 featuring Mikhail Gorbachev as “Man of the Decade.” (Time Inc.)</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">For six years, Gorbachev carried off a delicate balancing act, forcing reforms on a recalcitrant old guard, while trying to contain the demand for change from radical reformers within and without the Communist Party. He permitted an unprecedented freedom of expression in the USSR and ended the disastrous Soviet military involvement in Afghanistan. By 1989, the demand for reform had spread to the Soviet satellite states of Central Europe. Gorbachev notified the Communist leaders of those countries that he would not intervene militarily to keep them in power as his predecessors had done. Without the support of the Red Army, these dictatorships were quickly forced to yield to their democratic opposition, and Gorbachev began the withdrawal of the remaining Soviet forces from Central Europe. In 1990, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his foreign policy initiatives.</span></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Gorbachev continued to press for democratization in the Soviet Union and permitted free elections in Russia and the other republics of the Soviet Union. He survived an attempted coup by Communist hardliners in 1991 but relinquished office after the elected presidents of the constituent republics undertook to replace the old Soviet Union with a Confederation of Independent States.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_9138" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9138 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_Arrive_8002548794.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-9138 size-full lazyload" alt="U.S President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev at the Hofdi House in Reykjavik, Iceland, during the Reykjavik Summit, November 10, 1986. (Courtesy of Ronald Reagan Library)" width="2280" height="1519" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_Arrive_8002548794.jpg 2280w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_Arrive_8002548794-380x253.jpg 380w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_Arrive_8002548794-760x506.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_Arrive_8002548794.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">U.S. President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev at the Hofdi House in Reykjavik, Iceland, during the Reykjavik Summit, November 10, 1986. Human rights became a subject of productive discussion for the first time. The Summit talks collapsed at the last minute, but the progress that had been achieved eventually resulted in the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union. The INF Treaty was signed at the White House in Washington, D.C. on December 8, 1987. (Image by Ronald Reagan Library)</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Since leaving office, he has continued to advocate the development of private ownership in a market economy, and the nonviolent resolution of conflicts in a democratic society. In 1992 he inaugurated the International Foundation for Socio-Economic and Political Studies, known as the <span class="s2">Gorbachev Foundation</span>. Gorbachev has served as president of the organization since its founding. The following year, he inaugurated a new environmental organization, <span class="s2">Green Cross International.</span></span></p> <figure id="attachment_9142" style="width: 679px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9142 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_770286_Mikhail_Gorbachev_and_Raisa_Gorbachev_seeing_off_US_President_Ronald_Reagan.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-9142 size-full lazyload" alt="Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife Raisa seeing off U.S. President Ronald Reagan after his visit to the USSR, June 2, 1988 (Commons:RIA Novosti)" width="679" height="1024" data-sizes="(max-width: 679px) 100vw, 679px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_770286_Mikhail_Gorbachev_and_Raisa_Gorbachev_seeing_off_US_President_Ronald_Reagan.jpg 679w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_770286_Mikhail_Gorbachev_and_Raisa_Gorbachev_seeing_off_US_President_Ronald_Reagan-252x380.jpg 252w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_770286_Mikhail_Gorbachev_and_Raisa_Gorbachev_seeing_off_US_President_Ronald_Reagan-504x760.jpg 504w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_770286_Mikhail_Gorbachev_and_Raisa_Gorbachev_seeing_off_US_President_Ronald_Reagan.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">June 1988: Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, seeing off President Ronald Reagan after his visit to the USSR.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1">His wife, Raisa Gorbachev, died of leukemia in 1999. Her presence in her husband’s life was unprecedented in the Soviet experience. She appeared with him in public at home and abroad, served as his eyes and ears on her travels, and was one of his closest advisors. Mrs. Gorbachev’s activities were readily accepted in the West, but they were the subject of much criticism in the Soviet Union. They overcame a rigidly patriarchal code of Russian behavior in which women were rarely seen and almost never heard. Mikhail Gorbachev wrote in his memoirs, “We were bound first by our marriage, but also our common views of life. We both preached the principle of equality.” It was a long journey from her humble origins. Raisa Gorbachev was the daughter of a Ukrainian railway engineer. Mikhail Gorbachev met her while they were both students at the elite Moscow State University and they married in September 1953. Raisa gave birth to their only child, daughter Irina, in 1957. They have two granddaughters, Ksenia and Anastasia, and one great-granddaughter, Aleksandra.</p> <figure id="attachment_9124" style="width: 715px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9124 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_Bush_19900601.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-9124 size-full lazyload" alt="President George H. W. Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev sign United States/Soviet Union agreements to end chemical weapons production and begin destroying their respective stocks, in the East Room of the White House on June 1, 1990. (Source: George Bush Presidential Library)" width="715" height="482" data-sizes="(max-width: 715px) 100vw, 715px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_Bush_19900601.jpg 715w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_Bush_19900601-380x256.jpg 380w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_Bush_19900601.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">June 1, 1990: President George H. W. Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev sign United States/Soviet Union agreements to end chemical weapons production and begin destroying their stockpiles, at the White House.</figcaption></figure><p>In the 1990s, Gorbachev was a vocal critic of Russian President Boris Yeltsin’s privatization policies, and of Yeltsin’s efforts to expand the powers of the presidency. Gorbachev himself mounted an unsuccessful campaign for president of Russia in 1996. He founded a new political movement, the Social Democratic Party of Russia, in 2001, but it won few adherents. Gorbachev stepped down as head of the Party in 2004 and it was later decertified by the national government. Gorbachev formed a new faction, the Union of Social Democrats, in 2007, but within a year he set this aside and joined billionaire financier Alexander Lebedev in founding the Independent Democratic Party.</p> <figure id="attachment_30484" style="width: 2250px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-30484 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp-Gorbachev-Mikhail-at-Summit-podium.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-30484 size-full lazyload" alt="wp-gorbachev-mikhail-at-summit-podium" width="2250" height="3465" data-sizes="(max-width: 2250px) 100vw, 2250px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp-Gorbachev-Mikhail-at-Summit-podium.jpg 2250w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp-Gorbachev-Mikhail-at-Summit-podium-247x380.jpg 247w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp-Gorbachev-Mikhail-at-Summit-podium-494x760.jpg 494w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp-Gorbachev-Mikhail-at-Summit-podium.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Mikhail Gorbachev addresses the Academy delegates at the 2000 International Achievement Summit in London.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Gorbachev owns a part interest in the newspaper <i>Novaya Gazeta</i>, which generally opposes the ruling party of President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev, but he has expressed support for some of Medvedev’s foreign policy positions, including military action in South Ossetia. Gorbachev has opposed American foreign policy in a number of areas, such as intervention in the former Yugoslavia, as well as the 2003 invasion of Iraq. He has also been critical of U.S. economic policy and the role of the International Monetary Fund.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_14108" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><noscript><img class="wp-image-14108 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-AP091109013655.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-14108 size-full lazyload" alt="The leader of the Government's Institute for checking former East German Intelligence papers, Marianne Birthler, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Poland's President Lech Walesa, front from left, attend commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany, Monday, Nov. 9, 2009. (AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz)" width="2280" height="1493" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-AP091109013655.jpg 2280w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-AP091109013655-380x249.jpg 380w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-AP091109013655-760x498.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-AP091109013655.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">November 9, 2009: The leader of the Government’s Institute for checking former East German Intelligence papers, Marianne Birthler, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and the former Polish President Lech Walesa attend commemorations of the 20th anniversary of historic fall of the Berlin Wall.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1">In 2009, Gorbachev joined his former adversary Lech Walesa and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a public observance of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Although he has not played a major role in post-Soviet Russian politics, Mikhail Gorbachev’s role in the historic transformation of the former Soviet Union has won him recognition around the world as one of the most influential statesmen of the 20th century.</span></p></body></html> <div class="clearfix"> </div> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="profile" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <header class="editorial-article__header"> <figure class="text-xs-center"> <img class="inductee-badge" src="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/themes/aoa/assets/images/inducted-badge@2x.png" alt="Inducted Badge" width="120" height="120"/> <figcaption class="serif-3 text-brand-primary"> Inducted in 2000 </figcaption> </figure> </header> <div class="row"> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <dl class="clearfix m-b-0"> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Career</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> <div><a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/#filter=.politician">Politician</a></div> </dd> </div> <div class="col-xs-12 sidebar--chunk p-b-2"> <dt class="serif-7">Date of Birth</dt> <dd class="sans-2"> March 2, 1931 </dd> </div> </dl> </aside> <article class="col-md-8 editorial-article clearfix"> <p class="inputTextFirst">“What would you call it when the country is being ruled by old men who keep dropping dead, and the country is left without normal leadership?”</p> <p class="inputText">In only three years, the Soviet Union lost three leaders: Brezhnev, Andropov and Chernenko. One after another, the men chosen as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the USSR fell dead, and one of the world’s two super powers looked lost and rudderless, mired in a hopeless war in Afghanistan, locked in a ruinous arms race with the United States, occupying half of Europe but unable to supply the basic needs of its own people.</p> <p class="inputText">A new leader, the youngest man to lead the Soviet Union since the 1920s, promised change. The stated principles of Mikhail Gorbachev’s administration were “glasnost” and “perestroika,” or openness and restructuring, words which became known throughout the world. Gorbachev allowed a freedom of expression Russia and many other states of the Soviet Union had not known in their long history.</p> <p class="inputText">The rise of democracy in Russia and the end of the Cold War division of Europe are the direct result of Mikhail Gorbachev’s extraordinary term of office as leader of the Soviet Union.</p> </article> </div> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="interview" role="tabpanel"> <section class="clearfix"> <div class="col-md-12 interview-feature-video"> <figure> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ig_mwQZlB54?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=955&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_14_05_11.Still001-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_14_05_11.Still001-760x428.jpg"></div> <div class="video-tag sans-4"> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> <div class="video-tag__text">Watch full interview</div> </div> </div> </figure> </div> <header class="col-md-12 text-xs-center m-b-2"> <i class="icon-icon_bio text-brand-primary"></i> </header> <aside class="col-md-4 sidebar"> <h2 class="serif-3 achiever--biography-subtitle">Glasnost, Perestroika and Leadership</h2> <div class="sans-2">London, England</div> <div class="sans-2">October 28, 2000</div> </aside> <article class="editorial-article col-md-8">   <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>When you initiated your reform policies — <i>glasnost</i> and <i>perestroika — </i>did you anticipate where this would lead?</strong><strong> Did you realize how dangerous it might be?</strong></p> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Mikhail Gorbachev: Yes, yes, yes. From the very beginning.</span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/GFJgPE6CPcQ?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=29&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_16_46_19.Still010-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_16_46_19.Still010-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/courage/">Courage</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">I had before me the experience of Khrushchev, Kosygin, and many other people who were punished for their initiative. They were seen as people who were unreliable, who undermined the system. They were disposed of. You also have to understand that I was very familiar with what our country was really like, that you could expect anything at all from it.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Furthermore, when I began to translate political reforms from statutes and slogans into a real process of political reform such as free elections, a parliamentary system, independent courts and so on — the separation of executive and legislative power — these were enormous changes. It was then that we began to set term limits — stipulated by law — for holding an official post, so ambitious people wouldn’t usurp their positions for decades.</span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/_3PGjMzUNRo?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=68&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_13_53_14.Still002-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_13_53_14.Still002-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/integrity/">Integrity</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">A student in Japan once asked me, “President, democracy is all very well.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>You were elected; you introduced free elections and everything, but at the next election you might not be elected and you will lose.” I told her, “But you see, even then I will not lose, because there will have been free elections and that is the result of what I have been trying to achieve.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I said, “If I win a free election then I will have a double victory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>If I lose then there will only be one victory, but democracy will exist and that is the main thing.” For this reason, when they ask me nowadays how I feel, after all that has happened, I say, “Of course it did turn out that the very moment we were supposed to go further in reforming the Soviet Union, the Party and the economy, <em>perestroika</em> was interrupted, but what it accomplished, and what processes and tendencies it laid down — that is an enormous victory.”</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_9117" style="width: 800px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9117 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0416-418_Berlin_Michail_Gorbatschow_an_der_Mauer.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-9117 size-full lazyload" alt="Gorbachev at the Brandenburg Gate in 1986 during a visit to East Germany (German Federal Archives / Commons)" width="800" height="768" data-sizes="(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0416-418_Berlin_Michail_Gorbatschow_an_der_Mauer.jpg 800w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0416-418_Berlin_Michail_Gorbatschow_an_der_Mauer-380x365.jpg 380w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0416-418_Berlin_Michail_Gorbatschow_an_der_Mauer-760x730.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0416-418_Berlin_Michail_Gorbatschow_an_der_Mauer.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">Gorbachev at the Brandenburg Gate in 1986 during a visit to East Germany (German Federal Archives/Commons)</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>What do you think made you, of all the Soviet leaders, open to change, open to reform, both within the country and in the Soviet Union’s relations with the world?</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s2">Mikhail Gorbachev: Well, after all, I did come from a different generation.</span></p></body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/inCUDCfyqHc?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=63&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_01_01_04.Still009-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_01_01_04.Still009-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/vision/">Vision</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">We, our generation, were not associated with the repression.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Moreover, we ourselves were aware of the repression, and that left its mark on us, because ours was an educated generation, a generation that knew its own value, and was capable of thinking and analyzing. When we found ourselves active participants in life, in work, and in politics, then we began to see a great deal and see it clearly. Little by little there came the awareness that in this country, this society, this system, no matter how hard we tried, no matter how sincere our convictions were, very little good could be achieved.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Therefore the system had to be changed.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">But this happened when we were adults. Now if you are talking about me in particular, I think that my political career was successful.</span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/FKfbFktiibo?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=89&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_09_39_21.Still005-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_09_39_21.Still005-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/preparation/">Preparation</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">After the university, in 1955, I became a professional politician, and in just 15 years I was already a member of the Central Committee and the head of a large region, the equivalent of a governor.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I governed this large region for almost nine years.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And, evidently I distinguished myself in some way so that they invited me to come to work for Brezhnev in the Politburo, the Central Committee.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So I found myself at that place at the time when society was growing ripe for — or really, had already given rise to — the desire and the expectation for change. Especially since this occurred during a three-year period when we lost three General Secretaries, Brezhnev, Andropov, and Chernenko. The whole country was simply in some kind of — what would you call it when the country is being ruled by old men who keep dropping dead, and the country is left without normal leadership? This was the mood in society. Plus the experience that I already had. After all, I had worked for seven years in the Politburo before I got to be General Secretary.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Without that it would be unlikely that I would have gotten to be the head of a country like ours.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><p class="p1"><span class="s1">It was, aside from everything else, a lucky combination of circumstances.</span></p> <figure id="attachment_9139" style="width: 750px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9139 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_hold_discussions.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-9139 size-full lazyload" alt="U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachov at the first Summit in Geneva, Switzerland, November 19, 1985. (Source Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)" width="750" height="505" data-sizes="(max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_hold_discussions.jpg 750w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_hold_discussions-380x256.jpg 380w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_hold_discussions.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">November 19, 1985: President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev at the first summit in Geneva, Switzerland. The two leaders met to hold talks on international diplomatic relations in the arms race.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>Surely there were other leaders and other interests that would not have had the same results in the Soviet Union. What was there about your upbringing, your background, your experience that led you to be the man?</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s2">Mikhail Gorbachev: I don’t know, but if you mean were there other candidates, then there certainly were. Whether they were better or worse, I do not know. But my chances turned out to be better.</span></p></body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/dkAdvZTzASk?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=67&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_09_39_21.Still005-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_09_39_21.Still005-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/preparation/">Preparation</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">I was relatively young, the youngest of the lot, actually, and I was a man with a modern education who already had a great deal of experience<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>working independently.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>At the beginning, that was important, that was significant.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Also, the fact that… I was given the post of General Secretary, tantamount to being a Tsar, and did not get drunk on my own power, but instead began to transform it. That already was the result of my democratic convictions.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I had had them ever since I was young, and they became my defining characteristic, my credo: devotion to democracy, respect for the worth of the individual.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But the system had suppressed all that; it did not allow an individual the freedom to actualize himself. I did not accept this.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p class="p1"><span class="s1">Evidently, my reactions were the reactions of a member of the milieu to which I belonged and which I considered my own, that of the democratic, progressive, thinking intelligentsia, with a critical attitude toward all that. This was the source of it.</span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s2"><b>May we ask you to remember what it was like growing up in a Russian village, in the countryside in the 1930s?</b></span></p> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/7P6ZM8giyQA?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=64&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_04_38_12.Still008-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_04_38_12.Still008-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Mikhail Gorbachev: What I remember is a pre-war village, and the life of the peasants, since I myself come from peasant stock.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It was a very poor village, the housing was very poor, and so were our clothes, and there was a great deal of work, and even more anxiety.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So this was a very serious life experience for children.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And then of course there was the war.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>We lived on the German-occupied territory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That too is part of my memory.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The front passed through our village, and then was pulled back, and then moved forward again, and this was all happening right in front of our eyes, the eyes of the children. Thus, you see, I belong to the so-called “children of the war” generation. The war left a heavy mark on us, a painful mark. This is permanent, and this is what determined a lot of things in my life.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/zqYmbWQZ1t8?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=91&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_13_53_14.Still002-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_13_53_14.Still002-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/passion/">Passion</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Because of growing up in a peasant family, and my experience of life and the war — which I saw myself, all this blood and destruction, horrible destruction — all this had great significance. This was all when I was a child, and yet that whole period is as clear as if it happened yesterday.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I have forgotten a great deal of what happened in my life, but all that hasn’t left me. At that time, I began to feel the desire for something more; I wanted to do something to make things better. This was unconscious; it was just something that was brewing inside of me, without my really being aware of it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>So, when my father said, “If you want, why don’t you go and try to get an education. If not, you can go on working the land with me.”<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And I said, “I want to try.” I ended up at the university, and this was a completely different world, the start of a whole new life.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The university was like a door opening up on the whole world. For a young man thirsting for knowledge — coming from the sticks, from the back of beyond, coming to the capital, to Moscow, to the university — it was cataclysmic.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_9140" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-9140 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_Gorbachev_Depart_8002545655.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-9140 size-full lazyload" alt="Ronald Reagan and Soviet Mikhail Gorbachev depart after the final meeting at Hofdi House, Reykjavik, Iceland, December 10, 1986. (Courtesy of Ronald Reagan Library)" width="2280" height="1508" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_Gorbachev_Depart_8002545655.jpg 2280w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_Gorbachev_Depart_8002545655-380x251.jpg 380w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_Gorbachev_Depart_8002545655-760x503.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_Gorbachev_Depart_8002545655.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">1986: Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev depart after the final meeting at Hofdi House, Reykjavik, Iceland.</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>You worked your way through the ranks of the Young Communists League, the Komsomol. What led you in that direction?</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s2">Mikhail Gorbachev: I guess that by nature I am one of those people whom nature has given what they call leadership qualities. This perhaps is too strong a word — leadership qualities. What I mean is that among my peers I was always the one who took charge. I liked being the boss, but the main thing was my friends trusted me, and that’s why I say that most likely such qualities were innate in me. I always wanted to do something, accomplish something, or take the initiative. In school they kept choosing me to be the leader. I joined the Komsomol (Communist Youth League) while the war was still going on. That was really where it all started. Yet of course…</span></p></body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/HqV7DcnISQU?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=80&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_11_32_11.Still004-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_11_32_11.Still004-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/passion/">Passion</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">There were many such people with initiative in the Soviet Union, very many, and they wanted to find ways for self-actualization.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>There was the Party, there was Komsomol, and naturally, since the Party was actually the only party available, everyone joined it. There was only one Party, everyone joined the same party. Also, I must confess, I remember that at the time the Party’s slogans appealed to me, they made quite an impression on me. It was very seductive, very attractive, and I took it all on faith. A lot of time still had to pass before I began to understand what the purpose and nature of the Party slogans really were, and what real life was, and what the Party meant for the country. <span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And that the Party, which I had joined, itself badly needed to be reformed and reoriented toward democracy.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>And through this, the country could begin to gain some freedom. That came later, but it all started with the desire to do something and show initiative.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>That was what led many good people to join the Komsomol and the Party.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"> <html><body><figure id="attachment_13751" style="width: 2280px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><noscript><img class="wp-image-13751 size-full " src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409im_/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wordpress-wall-Gorbachev-GettyImages-72440171.jpg"></noscript><img class="wp-image-13751 size-full lazyload" alt="East German border guards try to prevent a crowd climbing onto the Berlin Wall on the morning that the first section was pulled down, November 10, 1989. (Photo by Tom Stoddart/Getty Images)" width="2280" height="1557" data-sizes="(max-width: 2280px) 100vw, 2280px" data-srcset="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wordpress-wall-Gorbachev-GettyImages-72440171.jpg 2280w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wordpress-wall-Gorbachev-GettyImages-72440171-380x260.jpg 380w, /web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wordpress-wall-Gorbachev-GettyImages-72440171-760x519.jpg 760w" data-src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409/http://162.243.3.155/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wordpress-wall-Gorbachev-GettyImages-72440171.jpg"><figcaption class="wp-caption-text">November 10, 1989: East German border guards try to prevent a crowd climbing onto the Berlin Wall on the morning that the first section was pulled down, November 10, 1989. (Photo by Tom Stoddart/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure><p class="p1"><span class="s1"><b>How did someone become critical, questioning, in the Soviet system you grew up in?</b></span></p> <p class="p2"><span class="s1">Mikhail Gorbachev: That’s a whole research project, a dissertation.</span></p></body></html> </div>     <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/YUuuJZjMqOw?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=63&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_12_23_19.Still003-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_12_23_19.Still003-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/courage/">Courage</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p class="p1">Confrontation with life, that is what causes a person to adopt a critical position.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>But for that to happen, you yourself have got to have a certain amount of resources and vision, confidence in democracy, devotion to freedom. If you simply bend in the wind and cave in under the pressure of circumstance, you will accept things as they are. And in that case you do not develop a position of protest and criticism, but you will simply become like many others before you.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>Even now in Russia we have the same problem. It isn’t so easy to give up the inheritance we received from Stalinism and Neo-Stalinism, when people were turned into cogs in the wheel, and those in power made all the decisions for them.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/uNz-6poGbXc?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=59&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_12_23_19.Still003-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_12_23_19.Still003-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/perseverance/">Perseverance</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>My position was as follows: through democracy, through <i>glasnost,</i> compel people, rouse people to speak for themselves, analyze, and decide for themselves what is to be done. That was the main thing that drove me. Of course I also saw that the country was breaking down, that it was beginning to lag behind. It could not react appropriately to the challenges of the technological revolution; it was not flexible, because the people were permitted no initiative, no freedom. The entrepreneurs were not permitted this, nor was anyone else: teachers, physicians, engineers, scientists. Everything was under control; everything was in gridlock or stagnant. That’s what I saw.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__video-block"> <figure class="achiever__interview-video"> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9"> <iframe class="embed-responsive-item embed-responsive--has-thumbnail" width="200" height="150" src="https://web.archive.org/web/20170606004409if_/https://www.youtube.com/embed/BPGEb025s5Y?feature=oembed&autohide=1&hd=1&color=white&modestbranding=1&rel=0&showinfo=0&theme=light&start=0&end=77&version=3" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> <div class="embed-responsive__thumbnail ratio-container__image lazyload" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_12_23_19.Still003-380x214.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Gorbachev-Mikhail-2000-Upconvert-1of1.00_12_23_19.Still003-760x428.jpg"></div> <i class="embed-responsive__play icon-icon_play-full text-brand-primary"></i> </div> <figcaption class="achiever__interview-video-terms"> <span>Keys to success —</span> <a class="comma-item" href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/keys-to-success/vision/">Vision</a> </figcaption> </figure>  <div class="achiever__interview-video__copy"> <p>One can and must understand that one cannot do or know everything. Even God, who created us, doesn’t lead us through life by the hand, but wishes and hopes that we will think and act in life in accordance with His commandments and expectations, and to rouse people to take the initiative, to have faith in themselves, and the desire to live as their conscience dictates. That means to awaken great feelings, which cannot help but make life into something completely different. You will say, “But that’s Utopia! Could it really be that Gorbachev was filled with such Utopian ideas, when he undertook such realistic actions, the overhaul of the Soviet system?” To which I would give you a very short answer. Idealists make the world go ’round, since everything starts with ideas. Yes, ideas! Everything comes from them and everything begins there.</p> </div> </div>      <div class="achiever__interview-copy"> <p><strong>Thank you very much, Mr. President.</strong></p> </div>  </aside>  </article> </section> </div> <div class="tab-pane fade" id="gallery" role="tabpanel"> <section class="isotope-wrapper">  <header class="toolbar toolbar--gallery bg-white clearfix"> <div class="col-md-6"> <div class="serif-4">Mikhail S. Gorbachev Gallery</div> </div> <div class="col-md-6 text-md-right isotope-toolbar"> <ul class="list-unstyled list-inline m-b-0 text-brand-primary sans-4"> <li class="list-inline-item" data-filter=".photo"><i class="icon-icon_camera"></i>33 photos</li> </ul> </div> </header> <div class="isotope-gallery isotope-box single-achiever__gallery clearfix"> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66842105263158" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_855139_Raisa_Gorbachev_and_Mikhail_Gorbachev_during_the_official_farewell_to_Maumo_Koivisto.jpg" data-image-caption="Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, during the official farewell of Finnish President Maumo Koivisto after his visit to the USSR, October 7, 1987. (Commons:RIA Novosti)" data-image-copyright="М.С.Горбачев и Р.М.Горбачева во время официальных проводов М.Койвисто" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_855139_Raisa_Gorbachev_and_Mikhail_Gorbachev_during_the_official_farewell_to_Maumo_Koivisto-380x254.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_855139_Raisa_Gorbachev_and_Mikhail_Gorbachev_during_the_official_farewell_to_Maumo_Koivisto-760x508.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.2638888888889" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_850809_General_Secretary_of_the_CPSU_CC_M._Gorbachev_crop.jpg" data-image-caption="February 1, 1987: Mikhail Gorbachev speaking at the 20th Congress of the VKLSM (All-Union Leninist Communist League of Youth). (Commons:RIA Novosti)" data-image-copyright="Генеральный секретарь ЦК КПСС М.С. Горбачев" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_850809_General_Secretary_of_the_CPSU_CC_M._Gorbachev_crop-301x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_850809_General_Secretary_of_the_CPSU_CC_M._Gorbachev_crop.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.5079365079365" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_770286_Mikhail_Gorbachev_and_Raisa_Gorbachev_seeing_off_US_President_Ronald_Reagan.jpg" data-image-caption="June 2, 1988: Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, seeing off U.S. President Ronald Reagan after his visit to the USSR. (Commons:RIA Novosti)" data-image-copyright="Михаил Горбачев и Раиса Максимовна в ходе официальных проводов Президента США Рональда Рейгана после его визита в СССР" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_770286_Mikhail_Gorbachev_and_Raisa_Gorbachev_seeing_off_US_President_Ronald_Reagan-252x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-RIAN_archive_770286_Mikhail_Gorbachev_and_Raisa_Gorbachev_seeing_off_US_President_Ronald_Reagan-504x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3380281690141" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan-Gorbachev_shaking_hands_1987-12-07_C44091-30.jpg" data-image-caption="December 7, 1987: Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan shaking hands at the U.S.-Soviet summit in Washington, D.C. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library) " data-image-copyright="wordpress-Reagan-Gorbachev_shaking_hands_1987-12-07_C44091-30" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan-Gorbachev_shaking_hands_1987-12-07_C44091-30-284x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan-Gorbachev_shaking_hands_1987-12-07_C44091-30-568x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66184210526316" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_Gorbachev_Depart_8002545655.jpg" data-image-caption="December 10, 1986: Ronald Reagan and Soviet Mikhail Gorbachev depart after the final meeting at Hofdi House, Reykjavik, Iceland. (Courtesy of Ronald Reagan Library)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Reagan_Gorbachev_Depart_8002545655" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_Gorbachev_Depart_8002545655-380x251.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_Gorbachev_Depart_8002545655-760x503.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.67333333333333" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_hold_discussions.jpg" data-image-caption="November 19, 1985: U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev at the first Summit in Geneva, Switzerland. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_hold_discussions" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_hold_discussions-380x256.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_hold_discussions.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66578947368421" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_Arrive_8002548794.jpg" data-image-caption="November 10, 1986: U.S. President Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Gorbachev at the Hofdi House in Reykjavik, Iceland, during the Reykjavik Summit. (Courtesy of Ronald Reagan Library)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_Arrive_8002548794" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_Arrive_8002548794-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Reagan_and_Gorbachev_Arrive_8002548794-760x506.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.64868421052632" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-President_Reagan_presents_Reagan_Freedom_Medal_to_Mikhail_Gorbachev_at_Library.jpg" data-image-caption="May 4, 1992: President Reagan presents the Reagan Freedom Medal to Mikhail Gorbachev at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)" data-image-copyright="Vlha2-20" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-President_Reagan_presents_Reagan_Freedom_Medal_to_Mikhail_Gorbachev_at_Library-380x247.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-President_Reagan_presents_Reagan_Freedom_Medal_to_Mikhail_Gorbachev_at_Library-760x493.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.7" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Photograph_of_President_Reagan_and_Vice-President_Bush_meeting_with_General_Secretary_Gorbachev_on_Governors_Island..._-_NARA_-_198595.jpg" data-image-caption="December 7, 1988: President Reagan and Vice President George H. W. Bush meet with General Secretary Gorbachev on Governor's Island, New York. (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Photograph_of_President_Reagan_and_Vice-President_Bush_meeting_with_General_Secretary_Gorbachev_on_Governor's_Island..._-_NARA_-_198595" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Photograph_of_President_Reagan_and_Vice-President_Bush_meeting_with_General_Secretary_Gorbachev_on_Governors_Island..._-_NARA_-_198595-380x266.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Photograph_of_President_Reagan_and_Vice-President_Bush_meeting_with_General_Secretary_Gorbachev_on_Governors_Island..._-_NARA_-_198595-760x532.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.2357723577236" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Michail_Gorbatschow_BE1.jpg" data-image-caption="March 12, 2013: Mikhail Gorbachev at the German premiere of his book "All in Good Time: My Life" at the Berliner Ensemble. (Source SpreeTom-Commons) " data-image-copyright="wordpress-Michail_Gorbatschow_BE1" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Michail_Gorbatschow_BE1-308x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Michail_Gorbatschow_BE1-615x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7825.jpg" data-image-caption="Prime Minister Bertie Ahern of Ireland and Mikhail Gorbachev present the Golden Plate Award to David Trimble at the 2002 International Achievement Summit in Dublin. (© Academy of Achievement)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-IMG_7825" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7825-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7825-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7824.jpg" data-image-caption="Mikhail Gorbachev presents the Golden Plate Award to David Trimble at the 2002 International Achievement Summit in Dublin. (© Academy of Achievement)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-IMG_7824" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7824-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7824-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7303.jpg" data-image-caption="Mikhail Gorbachev addresses members and student delegates at the 2002 International Achievement Summit in Dublin.(© Academy of Achievement)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-IMG_7303" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7303-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7303-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7289.jpg" data-image-caption="Benazir Bhutto, Ehud Barak and Mikhail Gorbachev at the 2002 International Achievement Summit in Dublin. (© Academy of Achievement)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-IMG_7289" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7289-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7289-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7288.jpg" data-image-caption="Benazir Bhutto, Ehud Barak, and Mikhail Gorbachev at the 2002 International Achievement Summit in Dublin. (© Academy of Achievement)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-IMG_7288" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7288-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-IMG_7288-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.80131578947368" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail452.jpg" data-image-caption="November 22, 2000: As president of the environmental organization Green Cross, Mikhail Gorbachev attends a session of the Belgian parliament to call for the destruction of stockpiled chemical weapons around the world. (Reuters/Francois Lenoir/Archive Photos)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail452" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail452-380x305.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail452-760x609.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3475177304965" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbacheve-time-00727181.jpg" data-image-caption="TIME magazine cover of January 1, 1990 featuring Mikhail Gorbachev as "Man of the Decade." (Copyright Time Inc.)" data-image-copyright="Description: Time covercredit: TimePix" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbacheve-time-00727181-282x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbacheve-time-00727181-564x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.394495412844" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev037.jpg" data-image-caption="December 10, 1987: President Gorbachev meets the Washington press corps at the Soviet embassy. (UPI/Corbis-Bettmann)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Gorbachev037" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev037-272x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev037-545x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.79078947368421" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev035.jpg" data-image-caption="Former President Mikhail Gorbachev addresses the German parliament on November 9, 1999, the tenth anniversary of the fall of the Berlin wall. (Reuters/STR/Archive Photos)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Gorbachev035" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev035-380x300.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev035-760x601.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3278236914601" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev_parents.jpg" data-image-caption="Gorbachev and his Ukrainian maternal grandparents, late 1930s. (Commons)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-gorbachev_parents" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev_parents-286x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev_parents.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.67412587412587" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_Bush_19900601.jpg" data-image-caption="June 1, 1990: President George H. W. Bush and President Mikhail Gorbachev sign United States/Soviet Union agreements to end chemical weapons production and begin destroying their respective stocks, in the East Room of the White House. (George Bush Presidential Library)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Gorbachev_Bush_19900601" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_Bush_19900601-380x256.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_Bush_19900601.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66184210526316" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_and_Reagan_1987-11.jpg" data-image-caption="December 9, 1987: Ronald and Nancy Reagan with Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev, attending a dinner at the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C. (Source: http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/photographs/gorby.html)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Gorbachev_and_Reagan_1987-11" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_and_Reagan_1987-11-380x252.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev_and_Reagan_1987-11-760x503.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.374321880651" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev-time-00725858.jpg" data-image-caption="TIME magazine cover of January 4, 1988 featuring Mikhail Gorbachev as "Man of the Year." (Copyright Time Inc.)" data-image-copyright="Description: Time CoverCredit: TimePix" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev-time-00725858-277x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-gorbachev-time-00725858-553x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.2238325281804" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail463.jpg" data-image-caption="June 4, 1990: President Gorbachev visits Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. (UPI/Corbis-Bettmann) " data-image-copyright="wordpress-Gorbachev Mikhail463" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail463-311x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail463-621x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.3919413919414" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail462.jpg" data-image-caption="Mikhail Gorbachev (Courtesy of Mikhail Gorbachev)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Gorbachev Mikhail462" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail462-273x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Gorbachev-Mikhail462-546x760.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Flickr_-_Government_Press_Office_GPO_-_Gorbachev_at_the_Western_Wall.jpg" data-image-caption="June 16, 1992: Mikhail Gorbachev at the Western Wall in Jerusalem. (Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/government_press_office/7089724149/)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Flickr_-_Government_Press_Office_(GPO)_-_Gorbachev_at_the_Western_Wall" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Flickr_-_Government_Press_Office_GPO_-_Gorbachev_at_the_Western_Wall-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Flickr_-_Government_Press_Office_GPO_-_Gorbachev_at_the_Western_Wall-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.96052631578947" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0416-418_Berlin_Michail_Gorbatschow_an_der_Mauer.jpg" data-image-caption="Mikhail Gorbachev at the Brandenburg Gate in 1986 during a visit to East Germany. (German Federal Archives/Commons)" data-image-copyright="Berlin, Michail Gorbatschow an der Mauer" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0416-418_Berlin_Michail_Gorbatschow_an_der_Mauer-380x365.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0416-418_Berlin_Michail_Gorbatschow_an_der_Mauer-760x730.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.58157894736842" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0421-010_Berlin_XI._SED-Parteitag_Gorbatschow_Honecker.jpg" data-image-caption="April 21, 1986: Mikhail Gorbachev with Erich Honecker, East Germany. (German Federal Archives/Commons)" data-image-copyright="Berlin, XI. SED-Parteitag, Gorbatschow, Honecker" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0421-010_Berlin_XI._SED-Parteitag_Gorbatschow_Honecker-380x221.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1986-0421-010_Berlin_XI._SED-Parteitag_Gorbatschow_Honecker-760x442.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.66710526315789" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Barack_Obama__Joe_Biden_with_Mikhail_Gorbachev_3-20.09.jpg" data-image-caption="March 20, 2009: President Barack Obama drops by Vice President Joe Biden's meeting with former Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev, in the Vice President's Office, West Wing of the White House. (The Official White House Photostream/Pete Souza)" data-image-copyright="wordpress-Barack_Obama_&_Joe_Biden_with_Mikhail_Gorbachev_3-20.09" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Barack_Obama__Joe_Biden_with_Mikhail_Gorbachev_3-20.09-380x253.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/wordpress-Barack_Obama__Joe_Biden_with_Mikhail_Gorbachev_3-20.09-760x507.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.68289473684211" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wordpress-wall-Gorbachev-GettyImages-72440171.jpg" data-image-caption="East German border guards try to prevent a crowd climbing onto the Berlin Wall on the morning that the first section was pulled down, November 10, 1989. (Photo by Tom Stoddart/Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="Tom Stoddart Collection" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wordpress-wall-Gorbachev-GettyImages-72440171-380x260.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wordpress-wall-Gorbachev-GettyImages-72440171-760x519.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.42236842105263" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-GettyImages-522501524.jpg" data-image-caption="CPSU members, L-R: Mikhail Gorbachev, Andrei Gromyko, Nikolai Tikhonov, Leonid Brezhnev, Mikhail Suslov, Konstantin Chernenko, Yuri Andropov, and Boris Ponomarev pose for a photo during a meeting with CPSU General Secretary Leonid Brezhnev in Moscow, USSR. (Photo by TASS via Getty Images)" data-image-copyright="CPSU members, 1981" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-GettyImages-522501524-380x160.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-GettyImages-522501524-760x321.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="0.65526315789474" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-AP091109013655-1.jpg" data-image-caption="November 9, 2009: The leader of the Government's Institute for checking former East German Intelligence papers, Marianne Birthler, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and former Polish President Lech Walesa, front from left, attend commemorations of the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall in Berlin, Germany. (AP Photo/Eckehard Schulz)" data-image-copyright="gor0-AP091109013655" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-AP091109013655-1-380x249.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/gor0-AP091109013655-1-760x498.jpg"></div>  </figure> <figure class="isotope-item ratio-container--gallery photo" data-category="photo" data-ratio="1.5384615384615" title="" data-gtm-category="photo" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Achiever - ">   <div class="lazyload ratio-container__image" data-toggle="modal" data-target="#imageModal" data-image-src="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp-Gorbachev-Mikhail-at-Summit-podium.jpg" data-image-caption="" data-image-copyright="wp-gorbachev-mikhail-at-summit-podium" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp-Gorbachev-Mikhail-at-Summit-podium-247x380.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/06/wp-Gorbachev-Mikhail-at-Summit-podium-494x760.jpg"></div>  </figure>    </div> </section> </div> </div> <div class="container"> <footer class="editorial-article__footer col-md-8 col-md-offset-4"> <div class="editorial-article__next-link sans-3"> <a href="#"><strong>What's next:</strong> <span class="editorial-article__next-link-title">profile</span></a> </div> <ul class="social list-unstyled list-inline ssk-group m-b-0"> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-facebook" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Facebook"><i class="icon-icon_facebook-circle"></i></a></li> <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-twitter" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever on Twitter"><i class="icon-icon_twitter-circle"></i></a></li>  <li class="list-inline-item"><a href="" class="ssk ssk-email" data-gtm-category="social" data-gtm-action="click" data-gtm-label="Shared Achiever via Email"><i class="icon-icon_email-circle"></i></a></li> </ul> <time class="editorial-article__last-updated sans-6">This page last revised on February 3, 2017</time> <div class="sans-4"><a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/how-to-cite" target="_blank">How to cite this page</a></div> </footer> </div> <div class="container interview-related-achievers"> <hr class="m-t-3 m-b-3"/> <footer class="clearfix small-blocks text-xs-center"> <h3 class="m-b-3 serif-3">If you are inspired by this achiever’s story, you might also enjoy:</h3> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever imprisonment-persecution ambitious spiritual-religious pursue-public-office " data-year-inducted="2000" data-achiever-name="Bhutto"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/benazir-bhutto/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/bhu0-003a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/03/bhu0-003a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Benazir Bhutto</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Former Prime Minister of Pakistan</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">2000</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever public-service help-mankind experienced-war-firsthand ambitious join-the-military pursue-public-office " data-year-inducted="1995" data-achiever-name="Bush"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-h-w-bush/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/bush-007a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/05/bush-007a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">George H. 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Bush</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">41st President of the United States</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">1995</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever public-service analytical resourceful join-the-military teach-others help-mankind pursue-public-office " data-year-inducted="2002" data-achiever-name="Kissinger"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/henry-kissinger-ph-d/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/kissinger_760_ac-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/kissinger_760_ac-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Henry A. Kissinger, Ph.D.</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Nobel Prize for Peace</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">2002</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever public-service public-service experienced-war-firsthand imprisonment-persecution racism-discrimination help-mankind pursue-public-office " data-year-inducted="2003" data-achiever-name="Peres"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/shimon-peres/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/peres_760_ac-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/peres_760_ac-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Shimon Peres</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Nobel Prize for Peace</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">2003</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever public-service experienced-war-firsthand racism-discrimination ambitious join-the-military pursue-public-office spiritual-religious " data-year-inducted="1988" data-achiever-name="Powell"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-colin-l-powell/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/powell-032a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/04/powell-032a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">General Colin L. Powell, USA</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Congressional Gold Medal</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">1988</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="centered-blocks"> <div class="isotope-achiever public-service imprisonment-persecution spiritual-religious ambitious pursue-public-office " data-year-inducted="2000" data-achiever-name="Walesa"> <div class="achiever-block view-grid"> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lech-walesa/"> <figure class="ratio-container ratio-container--square bg-black"> <div class="lazyload box achiever-block__image" data-sizes="auto" data-bgset="/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/wal0-032a-190x190.jpg [(max-width:576px)] | /wp-content/uploads/2016/09/wal0-032a-380x380.jpg"></div> <div class="achiever-block__overlay"></div> <figcaption class="text-xs-center achiever-block__text"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <div class="achiever-block__text--center"> <div class="achiever-block__name text-brand-primary">Lech Walesa</div> <div class="achiever-block__known-as text-white sans-6">Nobel Prize for Peace</div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="text-white achiever-block__text--bottom"> <div class="achiever-block__year sans-4">Inducted in <span class="year-inducted">2000</span></div> </div> </figcaption> </figure> </a> </div> </div> </div> </footer> </div> </div> </article> <div class="modal image-modal fade" id="imageModal" tabindex="-1" role="dialog" aria-labelledby="imageModal" aria-hidden="true"> <div class="close-container"> <div class="close icon-icon_x" data-dismiss="modal" aria-label="Close"></div> </div> <div class="modal-dialog" role="document"> <div class="modal-content"> <div class="modal-body"> <figure class="image-modal__container"> <div class="display--table"> <div class="display--table-cell"> <img class="image-modal__image" src="/web/20170606004409im_/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/" alt=""/>  <figcaption class="p-t-2 container"> <div class="image-modal__caption sans-2 text-white"></div>  </figcaption> </div> </div> </figure> </div> </div> </div> </div> </main> </div> </div> <footer class="content-info main-footer bg-black"> <div class="container"> <div class="find-achiever" id="find-achiever-list"> <div class="form-group"> <input id="find-achiever-input" class="search js-focus" placeholder="Search for an achiever"/> <i class="icon-icon_chevron-down"></i> </div> <ul class="find-achiever-list list m-b-0 list-unstyled"> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/hank-aaron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Hank Aaron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/kareem-abdul-jabbar/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Kareem Abdul-Jabbar</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/edward-albee/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Edward Albee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/tenley-albright-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Tenley Albright, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/julie-andrews/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Julie Andrews</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/maya-angelou/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Maya Angelou</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/robert-d-ballard-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert D. 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Bradlee</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sergey-brin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sergey Brin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carter-j-brown/"><span class="achiever-list-name">J. Carter Brown</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/linda-buck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linda Buck, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carol-burnett/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol Burnett</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-h-w-bush/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George H. W. Bush</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/susan-butcher/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Susan Butcher</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-cameron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Cameron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/benjamin-s-carson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Benjamin S. Carson, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jimmy-carter/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jimmy Carter</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/johnny-cash/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Cash</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-s-collins/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/denton-a-cooley/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Denton A. Cooley, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/francis-ford-coppola/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Francis Ford Coppola</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ray-dalio/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Dalio</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/olivia-de-havilland/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Olivia de Havilland</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/michael-e-debakey-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael E. DeBakey, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/michael-dell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Michael S. Dell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/joan-didion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joan Didion</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/rita-dove/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rita Dove</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sylvia-earle/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sylvia Earle, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/elbaradei/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mohamed ElBaradei</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/gertrude-elion/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Gertrude B. Elion, M.Sc.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/larry-j-ellison/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry J. Ellison</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nora-ephron/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nora Ephron</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/julius-erving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Julius Erving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/tony-fadell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Tony Fadell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/paul-farmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Paul Farmer, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/suzanne-farrell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzanne Farrell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sally-field/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally Field</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/milton-friedman-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Milton Friedman, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-fuentes/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Fuentes</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/athol-fugard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Athol Fugard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ernest-j-gaines/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ernest J. Gaines</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/william-h-gates-iii/"><span class="achiever-list-name">William H. Gates III</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-gehry/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank O. Gehry</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/vince-gill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Vince Gill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ruth-bader-ginsburg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ruth Bader Ginsburg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/louise-gluck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louise Glück</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/whoopi-goldberg/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Whoopi Goldberg</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jane-goodall/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Jane Goodall</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/doris-kearns-goodwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Doris Kearns Goodwin, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mikhail-s-gorbachev/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mikhail S. Gorbachev</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nadine-gordimer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nadine Gordimer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-jay-gould/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Jay Gould, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carol-greider-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carol Greider, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-grisham/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Grisham</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dorothy-hamill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dorothy Hamill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lauryn-hill/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lauryn Hill</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-edmund-hillary/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Edmund Hillary</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/reid-hoffman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Reid Hoffman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/khaled-hosseini/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Khaled Hosseini, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ron-howard/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ron Howard</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-hume/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Hume</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/louis-ignarro-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Louis Ignarro, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/daniel-inouye/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Daniel K. Inouye</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jeremy-irons/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jeremy Irons</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-irving/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Irving</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sir-peter-jackson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sir Peter Jackson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/donald-c-johanson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-m-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank M. Johnson, Jr.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/philip-johnson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Philip C. Johnson</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/chuck-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Chuck Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-earl-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Earl Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/quincy-jones/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Quincy Jones</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/thomas-keller-2/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Thomas Keller</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/anthony-m-kennedy/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony M. Kennedy</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/b-b-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">B.B. King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carole-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carole King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/coretta-scott-king/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Coretta Scott King</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/henry-kissinger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry A. Kissinger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/willem-j-kolff/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willem J. Kolff, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wendy-kopp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wendy Kopp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/henry-r-kravis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Henry R. Kravis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/nicholas-d-kristof/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Nicholas D. Kristof</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mike-krzyzewski/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mike Krzyzewski</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ray-kurzwell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ray Kurzweil</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/eric-lander-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Eric S. Lander, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/robert-s-langer-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert S. Langer, Sc.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/richard-leakey/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard E. Leakey</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/robert-lefkowitz-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert J. Lefkowitz, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/congressman-john-r-lewis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Congressman John R. Lewis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/maya-lin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Maya Lin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/george-lucas/"><span class="achiever-list-name">George Lucas</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/norman-mailer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Norman Mailer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/peyton-manning/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peyton Manning</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wynton-marsalis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wynton Marsalis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-c-mather-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John C. Mather, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/johnny-mathis/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Johnny Mathis</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/willie-mays/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Willie Mays</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frank-mccourt/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frank McCourt</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-mccullough/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David McCullough</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/audra-mcdonald/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Audra McDonald</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-william-h-mcraven/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral William H. McRaven, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/w-s-merwin/"><span class="achiever-list-name">W. S. Merwin</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-a-michener/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James A. Michener</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/marvin-minsky-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Marvin Minsky, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/mario-j-molina-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Mario J. Molina, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/n-scott-momaday-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">N. Scott Momaday, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/story-musgrave/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Story Musgrave, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/peggy-noonan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Peggy Noonan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jessye-norman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jessye Norman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/tommy-norris/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Thomas R. Norris, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/joyce-carol-oates/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Joyce Carol Oates</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/pierre-omidyar/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pierre Omidyar</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/larry-page/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Larry Page</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/arnold-palmer/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Arnold Palmer</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/rosa-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Rosa Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/suzan-lori-parks/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Suzan-Lori Parks</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/linus-pauling/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Linus C. Pauling, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/shimon-peres/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Shimon Peres</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-david-petraeus/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General David H. Petraeus, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sidney-poitier/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sidney Poitier</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-colin-l-powell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General Colin L. Powell, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/harold-prince/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Harold Prince</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lloyd-richards/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lloyd Richards</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sally-ride-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sally K. Ride, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sonny-rollins/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sonny Rollins</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/anthony-romero/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Anthony Romero</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-rosenquist/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James Rosenquist</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/pete-rozelle/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Pete Rozelle</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/bill-russell/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Bill Russell</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/albie-sachs/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Albie Sachs</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/oliver-sacks-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Oliver Sacks, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/jonas-salk-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Jonas Salk, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frederick-sanger-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frederick Sanger, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/barry-scheck/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Barry Scheck</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/richard-evans-schultes-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Richard Evans Schultes, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-h-norman-schwarzkopf/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, USA</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-schwarzman/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen A. Schwarzman</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/glenn-t-seaborg-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Glenn T. Seaborg, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/neil-sheehan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Neil Sheehan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-alan-shepard-jr/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral Alan B. Shepard, Jr., USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ellen-johnson-sirleaf/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Ellen Johnson Sirleaf</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/carlos-slim/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Carlos Slim Helú</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/frederick-w-smith/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Frederick W. Smith</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/stephen-sondheim/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Stephen Sondheim</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/sonia-sotomayor/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Sonia Sotomayor</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wole-soyinka/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wole Soyinka</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/esperanza-spalding/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Esperanza Spalding</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/martha-stewart/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Martha Stewart</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/admiral-james-b-stockdale/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Admiral James B. Stockdale, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/hilary-swank/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Hilary Swank</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/amy-tan/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Amy Tan</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/dame-kiri-te-kanawa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Dame Kiri Te Kanawa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/edward-teller-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Edward Teller, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/twyla-tharp/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Twyla Tharp</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/wayne-thiebaud/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Wayne Thiebaud</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lt-michael-e-thornton-usn/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lt. Michael E. Thornton, USN</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/charles-h-townes-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Charles H. Townes, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/david-trimble/"><span class="achiever-list-name">David Trimble</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/ted-turner/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Robert Edward (Ted) Turner</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/desmond-tutu/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Archbishop Desmond Tutu</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-updike/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Updike</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/gore-vidal/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Gore Vidal</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/antonio-villaraigosa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Antonio Villaraigosa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/lech-walesa/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Lech Walesa</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/james-d-watson/"><span class="achiever-list-name">James D. Watson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/andrew-weil-m-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Andrew Weil, M.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/elie-wiesel/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Elie Wiesel</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/edward-o-wilson-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Edward O. Wilson, Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/oprah-winfrey/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Oprah Winfrey</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/john-wooden/"><span class="achiever-list-name">John Wooden</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/bob-woodward/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Bob Woodward</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/shinya-yamanaka-m-d-ph-d/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Shinya Yamanaka, M.D., Ph.D.</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/general-chuck-yeager/"><span class="achiever-list-name">General Chuck Yeager, USAF</span></a> </li> <li> <a href="/web/20170606004409/http://www.achievement.org/achiever/andrew-young/"><span class="achiever-list-name">Andrew J. 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