It wasn’t until March 1985, when Chernenko died, that the party finally chose a younger man to lead the country: Gorbachev. He was 54 years old.

MOSCOW, Nov. 8, 2009 -- In June 1987, President Reagan came to the Berlin Wall and make a famous appeal to Soviet Communist Party leader Mikhail Gorbachev: "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall." ...