The Khrushchev Succession Sweepstakes began all over again last week when the Communist Party Central Committee named two new secretaries. Out in front is Soviet President Leonid Brezhnev, 56, a shrewd, swarthy metallurgical engineer whom Khrushchev plucked from an obscure job in the Ukraine little more than a decade ago. Brezhnev will now probably give up the merely ceremonial functions of the Soviet presidency, take over as taskmaster of heavy industry and armaments. The second new secretary is Ukrainian Party Boss Nikolai Podgorny, 60, who is expected to take over the supervision of party cadres.
Both men were already members of the...
To continue reading:
or
Log-In
