Mikhail Gorbachev, the first and only President of the Soviet Union, has died at age 91.
He will be remembered, at least in the West, as a pragmatic leader who transparently transitioned the Soviet Union away from its days as an Evil Empire and toward a more modernized economy that was integrated on a global scale.
At home, however, he is largely seen as the man who brought a collapse of Soviet-era prestige and power, preaching reform while protecting his own powers. For many, he was the harbinger of the end of Russian greatness.
Read about Gorbachev's life and legacy at the link in our bio. Photograph by Dana Gluckstein—@mptvimages/@reuters