KHRUSHCHEV VOTED OUT BY REDS SECRETLY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP66B00403R000200180014-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 30, 2004
• Sequence Number: 14
• Publication Date: October 17, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

nnnroveA For Release 2004/12/15 : CIA-RDP66B00403R000200180014-4
RUSSIA
L,1 e
Frerds
rt
HiM Out in
Continued From Page A-1
Khrushchev last month said the
premier was almost obsessed
with the Chinese challenge. It
.was his handling of Russian-
Chinese relations that some
non-Communist observers say
swung the balance against him
..when-the Communist leadership
met Monday.
Hailed Space Feat
Khrushchev at the time was
-rejoicing at his vacation villa on
the Black Sea over news that
the Soviet Union had sent into
orbit the first multi-passenger
space ship.
"Good lads, I am very happy
for you," he told the three
cosmonauts. Then he turned the
radiophone over to Anastas
Mikoyan, Soviet President and
a close confidant who had been
his earliest supporter.
The premier had invited
Gaston Palewski, French min-
ister for nuclear and space
.research, for a talk and lunch
..on Tuesday. But the meeting
was pushed up to 9:30 a.m. and
;then cut short.
IPalewski recalled that Khru-
shehev talked about state af-
'fairs with the air of a man who
was confident of running them
for some time. He appeared in
.good health.
Khrushchev excused himself,
saying he had to fly back to
Moscow to greet the cosmo-
?.nauts.
Palewski lift and Khrushchev
vanished, so far as the public
..was concerned.
He has not been mentioned
,since by press or radio except
for the terse announcement that
,he had resigned.
Khrushchev arrived In Mos-
"eow early Tuesday afternoon.
But, it was the landing of peo-
ple like I. A. Benediktov, Soviet
(hrushchev's
selves without the boss remains
unclear. A few observers pick,,
Suslov. Most, however, agree on'
Brezhnev.
After the central committee
vote, there remained the for-
mality of dropping Krhushchev
from the premier's job.. That
came Thursday. Mikoyan, the
old friend, presided as the job
was given to Kosygin.
There also was. the formality
c,f announcements. They said
Khrushchev asked to be relieved
of his posts because of "bis
advanced age and deteriorating
health."
Shortly after midnight came
the word that 227 million Rus-
sians had new men at the head
of their government.
4ctish._..,eening Star
11 1-7-10-04
KhrushcHev
Vd
ote
s ecru
Charged With.
Incompetence by
Former Friends
By HENRY S. BRADSHER
Associated Press Staff Writer
M 0 S C 0 W-The reverbera-
tions over Nikita Khrushchev's
fall from power are spreading
unpredictably and may not end
for a long time.
The sudden removal of the
ebullient 70-year-old premier
Russian Statement on Change.
Page A-7
who for a decade captured
world headlines,while changing
the direction of communism in
the Soviet Union, could drag
others under too.
A picture emerged of Khru-
shchev's final days as Soviet
'leader before Leonid I. Brezh-
nev, 57, became Communist
Party secretary and Alexei N.
Kosygin, 60, premier. It bore
out the belief that Khrushchev
was forced from rule at a
dramatic, secret meeting of the
U.S. , ambassador to Russia,
and U.S. undersecretary of
state for political affairs, said
last night that Khrushchev told
him last year he would step
down after his 70th birthday
and even named his successors. ,
Harriman said in a talk at i
Muncie, Ind., that the only
surprise in Khrushchev's de-
parture "is the manner in
which it happened.")
Accused of Incompetence
Authoritative sources said the
(Communist Party central
committee voted Khrushchev
o u t of power and lodged
charges of incompetence and
nepotism against him. Ironical-
ly, Khrushchev became the
target of a "cult of personality"
attack--the very concept he
used to discredit the reign of
.Stalin.
Pravda, organ of the Com-
munist Party, shed light on the
purge yesterday in a bitter
denunciation of the ousted chief.
Without naming him, it accused'
Khrushchev of "hare-brained
scheming, immature conclu-
sions and hasty decisions and
actions divorced from reality,
bragging and phrasemongering,
commandism and unwillingness;
to take into account the.
achievements of science and
practical experience."
Though, in effect, accusing;
Khrushchev of dictatorship, the ~
newspaper said the policies of
peaceful co-existence of the
former ruler would be carried:.
out. It also said Khrushchev's
j ?upport for the new nations of l
' Asia and Africa and his plans'
for a Communist summit show-I
!down with Red China would be
continued.
A foreigner who talked with?
See RUSSIA, Page A-3
Approved F'riRelease 2004/12/15: CIA-RDP66B00403R000200180014-4
Just whose idea it was to
hnciin runnina the shop them-
ambassador in India, that
caused concern.
Benediktov is a member of
the central committee that
makes decisions for the Soviet
Communist Party. Most of the
170 members had been in Mos-
cow secretly and had already
begun ,meeting.
The nucleus of the committee,
its presidium, met Tuesday
night, with Khrushchev present.
It reportedly voted to' remove
him from his most important
job, first secretary of the
committee.
That happened once before, in
1957. But Khrushchev struck
back by calling together the full
committee in which he had a
majority. of support. Under the
chairmanship of Mikhail Suslov,
a steely aide to Stalin, the
committee then ousted Khru-
shchev's opponents, including
former premiers G. M. Malen-
kov and V. M. Molotov.
It was different this time.
By Thursday the secret activ-
ity was beginning to become
obvious.
Khrushchev did not attend a
luncheon for visiting Osvaldo
Dorticos Torrado, president of
Cuba.
And Khrushchev's portrait
was -not put up for celebrations
of the return of the cosmonauts,
a return that kept getting de-
layed.
Suslov Is Prosecutor
The deck was loaded the
other way, now and Suslov was
the prosecutor.
The committee met with
Khrushchev Wednesday at its
big gray office building four
blocks from'the Kremlin, Suslov
spoke.
He accused Khuushchev of a
"cult of personality" and a lack
of dignity for his job. Th,^ other
charges outlined by Pravda also
were aired, including one that
blamed him for agricultural
failures.
Still another charge was
bungling Soviet relations with
other Communist parties, cost-
ing Moscow influence and weak-
ening the world Communist
movement.
Khrushchev also had offended
army leaders by cutting troops
and depending upon rockets,
and steelmen by turning to
consumer goods.
When the central committee
vote came, Khrushchev lost.
The count has not yet become,
known but the result show 2d,
that Khrushchev h,--i be ii
outmaneuvered within ti;e party F
machinery.
The man who apparently did
it was Leonid Brezhnev.
Brezhnev Was Protege
He was a protege of Khru-
shchev's who had followed him
up through the ranks after
-leaving his career as a metal-
lurgist. In July, Khrushchev
allowed him to. become in effect
second secretary of the party.
Brezhnev was to look after
.the party while Khrushchev was
busy elsewhere or away on one
of his numerous trips. The
government was minded by
Alexei Kosygin, a first deputy