After the death of Stalin in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev ultimately succeeded him as the leader of the Soviet Union. Khrushchev served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964. He was known for his policy of de-Stalinization and his attempts to reform the Soviet economy and political system. Khrushchev's leadership marked a departure from the brutality and authoritarianism of the Stalin era, though his own rule was not without controversy and criticism.