Here's a look at the life of Mikhail Gorbachev, former president of the former USSR.

Personal: Birth name: Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev

Birth date: March 2, 1931

Birth place: Privolnoye, Soviet Union

Father: Sergei Andreyevich Gorbachev

Mother: Maria Panteleyevna (Gopkalo) Gorbachev

Marriage: Raisa Maximovna (1953 - September 20, 1999, her death)

Children: Irina (1956)

Education: Moscow State University, Faculty of Law (1955), Stavropol Agricultural Institute, Faculty of Economy (1967)

Timeline: 1952 - Joins the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Works in various positions in the party for the next two decades.

1955-1958 - Becomes the first secretary of the Communist Party of the Stavropol Komsomol City Committee.

1963 - Becomes chief of the Agriculture Department in the Stavropol region.

1970-1978 - Named the first secretary for the Communist Party in the Stavropol region.

1970-1990 - Deputy of the Supreme Soviet, the highest legislative body in the Soviet Union.

1971 - Becomes a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

March 11, 1985 - Elected to be the General Secretary of the Communist Party in the Soviet Union. In this post, he is effectively the leader of the USSR.

1985-1988 - Participates in a series of summit talks with U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

1987 - Signs the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty with the United States to limit nuclear weapons.

1989 - Announces the withdrawal of Soviet forces from Afghanistan.

1989-1990 - Chairman of the Supreme Soviet.

1990 - Becomes President of the USSR.

1990 - Wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

December 25, 1991 - Resigns as President of the USSR.

1993-present - Founds and is the president of the Green Cross International, an environmental organization.

1996 - Runs for re-election in Russia but receives only 1% of the vote.