Alexei Rykov

Alexei Rykov joined the Bolsheviks in 1903 and rode Lenin's revolution all the way to the top, though his moderate streak put him at odds with the radicals. After Lenin's third stroke in 1923, Rykov became deputy premier; when Lenin died in January 1924, the Council named him premier of both Russia and the Soviet Union the following month. He held the premiership until 1929 and 1930 respectively, but by December 1930 he was out of the Politburo entirely. For the next six years he served as People's Commissar of Communications - a steep fall from the council he used to chair. In February 1937 he was arrested alongside Nikolai Bukharin at a Central Committee meeting. The show trial in March 1938 found both men guilty of treason, and both were executed.