Nikolai Bulganin

Nikolai Alexandrovich Bulganin (Russian: Никола́й Алекса́ндрович Булга́нин, [nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ bʊlˈɡanʲɪn]; 11 June [O.S. 30 May] 1895 – 24 February 1975) was a Soviet politician who held several offices throughout his career. After spending the 1920s an manager of industry and electricity, he became a close ally of Joseph Stalin, serving in several advisory and cabinet positions during Stalin's rule. He continued to serve after Stalin's death, aligning himself with Nikita Khrushchev for time until he grew disenchanted with Khrushchev's reforms. However, he did not officially join the Anti-Party group's move against Khrushchev in 1957. Bulganin's vacillation didn't save him in the long run; he was expelled from the Central Committee and banished to Stavropol.

Nikolai Bulganin in The Hot War
Nikolai Bulganin was one of several Soviet politicians who survived World War III and the death of Joseph Stalin in June, 1952. During a conversation with President Harry Truman, George Kennan suggested that Malenkov might be in the running to take power from Stalin's immediate successor, Lavrenty Beria.