His portly figure, bemedaled chest, well-groomed mustache and Vandyke beard became worldwide symbols of what was thought to be the Kremlin's conciliatory new look in the early years of the post-Stalin era. For more than a decade, he was a member of the Soviet Union's ruling elite. Yet by the time he died last week at age 79 after a long illness, Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin had become an unperson in his homeland, an ignored and forgotten figure who in his last years idled away his time strolling along Moscow's boulevards and watching...
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