Mikhail Gorbachev served as Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991. He was the last Head of State of the Soviet Union. He served as head of state from 1988 until its collapse in 1991. Gorbachev is the only Soviet leader to be born after the revolution of 1917. During his reign Gorbachev proposed many reforms and ideas to help jumpstart the stagnating Soviet economy. To help the economy Gorbachev introduced Perestroika. Perestroika was a conference of development of democracy, socialist self-government, and encouragement of initiative and creative endeavor, as well as improved order and discipline. During his tenure in office he also introduced Glasnost. Glasnost gave new freedoms to the people of the Soviet Union such as freedom of speech. Also, the press became far less controlled. Like his domestic policies, Gorbachev was known for his new thinking ideas when it came to foreign policy. During his presidency he established close relationships with West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, U.S. President Ronald Reagan, and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This was a big step for the Soviet Union, because they had not had a good relationship with these countries because of Cold War tensions. In 1991, Gorbachev resigned as President because of a coup which had effectively ended the Soviet Union. However, he still remained active in Russian politics.
