White House Mourns the Death of Mikhail Gorbachev at 91

Mikhail Gorbachev Dies at 91

As the world joined hands to mourn the death of the last Soviet Union, Mikhail Gorbachev, the white house also, was not left behind in sending its condolences.

Gorbachev led the Soviet Union for around six years, from 1985 until 1991; he died at the age of 91 years in the hospital.

According to the Russian state news agency reports, this leader died after being hospitalized for a long-term illness.

Mikhail Gorbachev

This is what RIA Novosti reported “Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev death occurred this evening after a severe and prolonged illness,” the Central Clinical Hospital said.

Mikhail Gorbachev will e remembered for his major political and economic reforms to the entire USSR and the peace he preached during the Cold War.

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Various presidents across the globe have praised him in their condolences for his immense contribution to peace and good governance and leadership.

What Various Leaders Have Said About Mikhail Gorbachev

US President Biden,

Mikhail Gorbachev was a man of remarkable vision. When he came to power, the Cold War had gone on for nearly 40 years and communism for even longer, with devastating consequences. Few high-level Soviet officials had the courage to admit that things needed to change.

President Biden
Mikhail Gorbachev

As a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, I saw him do that and more. As leader of the USSR, he worked with President Reagan to reduce our two countries’ nuclear arsenals, to the relief of people worldwide praying for an end to the nuclear arms race.

President Biden

After decades of brutal political repression, he embraced democratic reforms. He believed in glasnost and perestroika – openness and restructuring – not as mere slogans, but as the path forward for the people of the Soviet Union after so many years of isolation and deprivation. 

President Biden

These were the acts of a rare leader – one with the imagination to see that a different future was possible and the courage to risk his entire career to achieve it. The result was a safer world and greater freedom for millions of people. 

President Biden
biden mourns

Even years after leaving office, he was still deeply engaged. When Mr. Gorbachev visited the White House in 2009, he and I spoke for a long time about our countries’ ongoing work to reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles.

President Biden

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It was easy to see why so many worldwide held him in such high esteem. We send our deepest condolences to his family and friends, and to people everywhere who benefited from his belief in a better world. 

President Biden

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission

He wrote on Twitter that Gorbachev’s role in ending the Cold War

“opened the way for a free Europe. This legacy is one we will not forget.”

Ursula von der Leyen

With his outgoing, charismatic nature, Gorbachev broke the mold for Soviet leaders who until then had mostly been remote, icy figures. Almost from the start of his leadership, he strove for significant reforms, so the system would work more efficiently and more democratically. Hence the two key phrases of the Gorbachev era: “glasnost” (openness) and “perestroika” (restructuring).

Ursula von der Leyen
Mikhail Gorbachev

“I began these reforms and my guiding stars were freedom and democracy, without bloodshed. So the people would cease to be a herd led by a shepherd. They would become citizens,”

Ursula von der Leyen

According to RIA Novosti Gorbachev will be buried next to his wife at the Novodevichy Cemetery in Moscow, Gorbachev Foundation.

In 1990, Gorbachev was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize for his various roles in bringing peace to the USSR. He will be remembered by many for bringing down the strong Soviet Union.

President Putin sent his condolences and he is to make a full statement on Wednesday to the Family and friends of Gorbachev.

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