Mikhail GorbachevMikhail Gorbachev was the Soviet leader from 1985 to 1991. In the West he was a statesman and a star, for Russia he was a turning point. Born on the Russian Steps to a peasant family in 1931, Mikhail grew up more than a thousand miles from Moscow. And for a person who grew up in the reform years under Khrushchev, this was no small distance. But combining agricultural work with school he received the Order of the Red Banner for all his efforts. This set him on a path that allowed him to study law at Moscow University. After earning a law degree, Gorbachev returned home in 1955 to southern Russia. He embarked on a political career. In early 1952 Mikhail joined the communist party and eventually became the first party secretary in the city of Stavropol. He later became the first secretary of the party's regional committee. In 1978 he was appointed member of the Party Central Committee in Moscow. Gorbachev, having become a full member of the ruling Politburo and then appointed secretary of the Central Committee, seemed destined to lead. In March 1985 Mikhail...