Mikhail Gorbachev erode Gromyko's dominance of Soviet foreign policy while at the same time sending a signal to the U.S. government that he wanted to improve Soviet-U.S. relations. On 11 March 1985, Chernenko died. Gromyko proposed Gorbachev as the next General-Secretary; as a longstanding party member, Gromyko's recommendation carried great weight among the Central Committee. Gorbachev expected much opposition to his nomination as Chernenko's successor, but ultimately the rest of the Politburo supported him. Shortly after Chernenko's death, the Politburo unanimously elected Gorbachev as his successor; they wanted him over another elderly leader. Although not a well-known figure to the Soviet public,
Mikhail Gorbachev In Stavropol, he formed a discussion club for youths, and helped mobilise local young people to take part in Khrushchev's agricultural and development campaigns. He went out of his way to appoint women as city and district leaders. With an ability to outmanoeuvre rivals, some colleagues resented his success. In 1961, Gorbachev played host to the Italian delegation for the World Youth Festival in Moscow. In January 1963, Gorbachev was promoted to personnel chief for the regional party's agricultural committee. In August 1968 the Soviet Union led an invasion of Czechoslovakia to put an end to the Prague Spring, a