Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev (1894-1971) led the Soviet Union during the height of the Cold War. He was the person who caused the Cuban Missile Crisis. He placed the nuclear missiles in Cuba but had them taken out because of Kennedy. He also didn't want to start a nuclear war. Nikita was Stalins successor after he died in 1953. He didn't completely agree with the ideas Stalin had so he made the Soviet Union how he wanted it. Once a loyal Stalinist, Khrushchev gave a long speech in February 1956 that criticized Stalin for arresting and deporting opponents, for elevating himself above the party and for incompetent wartime leadership. He restricted the secret police Stalin had started. He stopped the polish revolt that happened during his reign. Nikita was also the person who signed to have the Berlin Wall constructed.