Editing Mikhail Gorbachev (section)

=== 1955–1969: Stavropol Komsomol ===

In August 1955, Gorbachev started work at the Stavropol regional procurator's office, but disliked it and got a transfer to work for Komsomol,{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=21|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=77}} becoming deputy director of Komsomol's agitation and propaganda department for that region.{{sfnm|1a1=Doder|1a2=Branson|1y=1990|1p=31|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=78}} In this position, he visited villages in the area and tried to improve the lives of their inhabitants; he established a discussion circle in [[Gorkaya Balka]] to help its peasant residents gain social contacts.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=95}}

Gorbachev and his wife Raisa initially rented a small room in Stavropol,{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=210|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2pp=81–83}} taking daily evening walks around the city and on weekends hiking in the countryside.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=81}} In January 1957, Raisa gave birth to a daughter, Irina,{{sfnm|1a1=Doder|1a2=Branson|1y=1990|1p=19|2a1=McCauley|2y=1998|2p=23|3a1=Taubman|3y=2017|3p=86}} and in 1958 they moved into two rooms in a [[communal apartment]].{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=23|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=89}} In 1961, Gorbachev pursued a second degree, in agricultural production; he took a [[correspondence course]] from the local Stavropol Agricultural Institute, receiving his diploma in 1967.{{sfnm|1a1=Medvedev|1y=1986|1pp=56, 62|2a1=Doder|2a2=Branson|2y=1990|2p=19 |3a1=McCauley|3y=1998|3p=29 |4a1=Taubman|4y=2017|4pp=115–116}} His wife had also pursued a second degree, attaining a PhD in sociology in 1967 from the [[Moscow State Pedagogical University]];{{sfnm|1a1=Medvedev|1y=1986|1p=63 |2a1=Doder|2a2=Branson|2y=1990|2p=19 |3a1=McCauley|3y=1998|3p=29 |4a1=Taubman|4y=2017|4pp=111–113}} while in Stavropol she joined the Communist Party.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=86}}

Stalin was succeeded as Soviet leader by [[Nikita Khrushchev]], who denounced Stalin and his [[cult of personality]] in a [[On the Cult of Personality and Its Consequences|speech given in February 1956]], after which he launched a [[de-Stalinization]] process throughout Soviet society.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|pp=90–91}} Later biographer [[William Taubman]] suggested that Gorbachev "embodied" the "reformist spirit" of the Khrushchev era.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=90}} Gorbachev was among those who saw themselves as "genuine Marxists" or "genuine Leninists".{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=91}} He helped spread Khrushchev's anti-Stalinist message in Stavropol, but encountered many who saw Stalin as a hero and praised his purges as just.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=22|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2pp=96–98}}

Gorbachev rose steadily through the ranks of the local administration.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=78}} The authorities regarded him as politically reliable,{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=80}} and he would flatter his superiors, for instance gaining favor with prominent local politician [[Fyodor Kulakov]].{{sfnm|1a1=Medvedev|1y=1986|1p=74|2a1=Doder|2a2=Branson|2y=1990|2p=32|3a1=McCauley|3y=1998|3p=25|4a1=Taubman|4y=2017|4pp=105–106}} With an ability to outmanoeuvre rivals, some colleagues resented his success.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|pp=103, 105}} In September 1956, he was promoted First Secretary of the Stavropol city's Komsomol, placing him in charge of it;{{sfnm|1a1=Medvedev|1y=1986|1p=47 |2a1=Doder|2a2=Branson|2y=1990|2p=31|3a1=McCauley|3y=1998|3p=23 |4a1=Taubman|4y=2017|4p=98}} in April 1958 he was made deputy head of the Komsomol for the entire region.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=23|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=100}} He was given better accommodation: a two-room flat with its own private kitchen, toilet, and bathroom.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=89}} In Stavropol, he formed a discussion club for youths,{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1p=23|2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=99}} and helped mobilize local young people to take part in Khrushchev's agricultural and development campaigns.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=100}}

[[File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-1986-1126-307, LPG Golßen, Besuch durch KPdSU Delegation.jpg|thumb|Gorbachev on a visit to [[East Germany]] in 1966]]

In March 1961, Gorbachev became First Secretary of the regional Komsomol,{{sfnm|1a1=Medvedev|1y=1986|1p=49|2a1=McCauley|2y=1998|2p=23}} in which position he went out of his way to appoint women as city and district leaders.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=102}} In 1961, Gorbachev played host to the Italian delegation for the [[World Youth Festival]] in Moscow;{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=149}} that October, he attended the [[22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union]].{{sfnm|1a1=Medvedev|1y=1986|1p=50 |2a1=Doder|2a2=Branson|2y=1990|2p=24 |3a1=McCauley|3y=1998|3p=24}} In January 1963, Gorbachev was promoted to personnel chief for the regional party's agricultural committee,{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=107}} and in September 1966 became First Secretary of the Stavropol City Party Organization ("Gorkom").{{sfnm|1a1=Medvedev|1y=1986|1p=61|2a1=McCauley|2y=1998|2p=26}} By 1968 he was frustrated with his job—in large part because Khrushchev's reforms were stalling or being reversed—and he contemplated leaving politics to work in academia.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|p=116}} However, in August 1968, he was named Second Secretary of the Stavropol Kraikom, making him the deputy of First Secretary Leonid Yefremov and the second most senior figure in Stavropol Krai.{{sfnm|1a1=Medvedev|1y=1986|1p=63 |2a1=Doder|2a2=Branson|2y=1990|2p=32 |3a1=McCauley|3y=1998|3p=28 |4a1=Taubman|4y=2017|4p=119}} In 1969, he was elected as a deputy to the [[Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union]] and made a member of its Standing Commission for the Protection of the Environment.{{sfn|Medvedev|1986|p=64}}

Cleared for travel to [[Eastern Bloc]] countries, in 1966 he was part of a delegation which visited [[East Germany]], and in 1969 and 1974 visited [[People's Republic of Bulgaria|Bulgaria]].{{sfn|McCauley|1998|p=30}} In August 1968 [[Warsaw Pact invasion of Czechoslovakia|the Soviet Union led an invasion]] of [[Czechoslovakia]] to put an end to the Prague Spring. Although Gorbachev later stated that he had had private concerns about the invasion, he publicly supported it.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|pp=123–124}} In September 1969 he was part of a Soviet delegation sent to Czechoslovakia, where he found the people largely unwelcoming.{{sfnm|1a1=Medvedev|1y=1986|1pp=64–65 |2a1=McCauley|2y=1998|2p=30|3a1=Taubman|3y=2017|3p=124}} That year, the Soviet authorities ordered him to punish Fagim B. Sadygov, a philosophy professor of the Stavropol agricultural institute whose ideas were regarded as critical of Soviet agricultural policy; Gorbachev ensured that Sadykov was fired from teaching but ignored calls for him to face tougher punishment.{{sfnm|1a1=McCauley|1y=1998|1pp=28–29 |2a1=Taubman|2y=2017|2p=125}} Gorbachev later related that he was "deeply affected" by the incident; "my conscience tormented me" for overseeing Sadykov's persecution.{{sfn|Taubman|2017|pp=125–126}}