During Konstantin Chernenko's short time in office as General Secretary in 1984 – 1985 Romanov already occupied a position clearly inferior to Gorbachev, who had been styled Second Secretary of the Central Committee since February 1984 and acted as chairman of the Politburo, Secretariat and Central Committee in the course of Chernenko's long periods of absence due to his illness.

In contrast to previous general secretaries, Chernenko did not control the Cadre Department of the Central Committee, making Chernenko's position considerably weaker.

The election of Romanov in the Secretariat, weakened Chernenko's control considerably.

Chernenko's position began to look precarious ; Gorbachev was getting stronger by the day.

At the same meeting, Grishin was asked to chair the commission responsible for Chernenko's funeral ; Grishin turned down the offer, claiming that Gorbachev was closer to Chernenko than he was.

The poor state of Chernenko's health made the question of succession an acute one.

During Brezhnev's tenure as Party leader, Chernenko's career continued successfully.

Arkady Volsky, an aide to Andropov and other general secretaries, recounts an episode that occurred after a Politburo meeting on the day following Andropov's demise: As Politburo members filed out of the conference hall, either Andrei Gromyko or ( in later accounts ) Dmitriy Ustinov is said to have put his arm round Nikolai Tikhonov's shoulders and said: " It's okay, Kostya is an agreeable guy ( pokladisty muzhik ), one can do business with him ...." The Politburo failed to pass the decision for Gorbachev, who was nominally Chernenko's second in command, to run the meetings of the Politburo itself in the absence of Chernenko ; the latter due to his declining health, began to miss those meetings with increasing frequency.

During the summer, his doctors sent him to Kislovodsk for the mineral spas, but on the day of his arrival at the resort Chernenko's health deteriorated, and he contracted pneumonia.

Chernenko's illness was first acknowledged publicly on 22nd February 1985 during a televised election rally in Kuibyshev Borough of northeast Moscow, where the General Secretary stood as candidate for the Supreme Soviet of the Russian SFSR, when Politburo member Viktor Grishin revealed that the General Secretary was absent in accordance with doctors ' advice.

Soviet newspapers carried stories about Chernenko's death and Gorbachev's selection on the same day.

When Gorbachev had Chernenko's safe opened, it was found to contain a small folder of personal papers and several large bundles of money ; large amounts of money was also found in his desk.

Chernenko's first marriage produced a son, Albert, who would become noted in the Soviet Union as a legal theorist.

Gorbachev was elected General Secretary by the Politburo on 11 March 1985, only three hours after Chernenko's death.

There were serious proposals to revert the name to " Stalingrad " during Konstantin Chernenko's brief administration in 1985.

When Andropov died Shevardnadze became yet again an avid supporter for Chernenko's candidacy for the General Secretaryship.

Before Chernenko's rise in the Soviet hierarchy, Kirilenko provided detailed supervision of new party personnel and the economy.

During the final months of Konstantin Chernenko's life, Grishin had been considered as a possible contender to succeed Chernenko as the General Secretary and as a possible alternative to Mikhail Gorbachev.

After Chernenko's death in March 1985, he declined to put himself forward as a candidate for succession and instead offered his support, albeit lukewarm, to Gorbachev.

Mikhail Gorbachev was elected General Secretary by the Politburo on March 11, 1985, only three hours after Konstantin Chernenko's death.

However, after Chernenko's death Gorbachev emerged with the strongest position to succeed Chernenko.

There are indications Gorbachev may have been in control prior to Chernenko's death as he was announced as the new General Secretary the day after Chernenko died on March 10, 1985.

knowing that its ageless mass would always dwarf the short span of time allotted to any man.

In a short time the officer returned and Thomas followed on his heels.

He hung around New York, waiting to hear whether they would accept it for production and in that time came down to Asheville and also paid a short visit to Chapel Hill, where with almost childish delight he visited old friends and favorite campus spots.

The total operation was a construction project comparable in magnitude with the Panama Canal, but in 1917 time was in short supply ; ;

There was no time in the short Mexican encounter to evolve a solution but the area provided a proving ground for new departures in the near future.

Later, rising ninety, he was beset by publishers for the story of his life and miracles, as he put it, but, calling himself the Needy Knife-grinder, he had spent his time writing short articles and long letters and could not get even a small popular book done.

In my short period here I believe that at no time has he been otherwise than the most popular man on both sides of the aisle.

Sacrifice will have to be made in some cases, but it is to the municipality's advantage to finance the change-over for a short period of time rather than pay interest on tax anticipation notes indefinitely.

Miss Sally May Saabye, ( Miss Rhode Island 1960 ) says that within a short time -- on June 17th -- her reign will come to an end.

This agreement is considered very good for such short time intervals.

The need here is most clearly felt and our capacity to recruit and train qualified volunteers in a short period of time is greatest.

But during the last several years boats were launched in areas where, a short time ago, the only water to be found was in wells and watering troughs for livestock.

If the lever is pulled to clear a signal or move a switch, the tappet moves a short distance lengthwise at the same time.

In the relatively short time since these early observations, Venus has been observed at additional wave lengths in the range from 0.8 to 10.2 cm, and Jupiter has been observed over the wave-length range from 3.03 to 68 Aj.

unfortunately, no one has kept complete records of one individual, whereas many have been made for a very short period of time.

Over a relatively short period of time, usually about four to twelve weeks, the worker must be able to shift the focus, back and forth, between immediate external stressful exigencies ( `` precipitating stress '' ) and the key, emotionally relevant issues ( `` underlying problem '' ) which are, often in a dramatic preconscious breakthrough, reactivated by the crisis situation, and hence once again amenable to resolution.

In some programs, treatment is concentrated over a short period of time, while in others, after the initial contact is established, flexible spacing of interviews has been experimentally used with apparent success.

Somewhat to his surprise he found that one girl, whom he would never have considered for the job since she had appeared somewhat mousy and also had been in the office a relatively short time, did the most outstanding job of playing the role of receptionist, showing wit, sparkle, and aplomb.

Typically, the young child's emotional reactions last for a relatively short time, as contrasted to those of an adult.

As the child grows older, his emotional reactions lead to `` moods '', or emotional states drawn out over a period of time and expressed slowly, rather than in short, abrupt outbursts.

In spite of the relatively short period of time that we have experienced among you, we have already seen many indications of your character and spirit.

At the beginning of the school year, the new students don't eat the cereal right away, but within a short time they are eating it voraciously.

During the first few days of wearing the appliance and immediately following each adjustment, Susan may have a slight discomfort or soreness, but after a short time this will disappear.

So Mel Chandler set out to sell him on the spirit of Garryowen, just as he himself had been sold a short time before.

A short time ago all Africa was a Western preserve.