The Soviets: Also-Rans Who Still Have Clout

Brezhnev's heir will have to work with, and watch, these men

If Yuri Andropov happens to glance over his shoulder, he will see a dozen or so men who thought they too had a shot at the top job.

Indeed, a number of them could still have a chance. Probably not Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko, 73, a career diplomat who may have to be content with the largely symbolic post of Soviet President. Or Boris Ponomarev, 77, a onetime historian, who seemed the ideal candidate to fill the role of party "theologian" before Andropov took...

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