Rise to prominence Immediately after Khrushchev's ouster, a "
collective leadership" had been formed with Brezhnev as
First Secretary,
Alexei Kosygin as
head of government and
Anastas Mikoyan (replaced in 1965 by
Nikolai Podgorny) as
head of state. Central Committee Secretaries
Mikhail Suslov and Kirilenko were also a part of the collective leadership, with Kirilenko ranked fifth behind Brezhnev, Podgorny, Kosygin, and Suslov. In 1962, Kirilenko became a voting
member of the Political Bureau (Politburo). In 1966, the Bureau of the Central Committee of the RSFSR was abolished, and Kirilenko became Brezhnev's chief lieutenant.
Vadim Medvedev, a Soviet official, said Kirilenko's chief concern was maintaining and strengthening Brezhnev's position within
the Party. Men who were loyal to Brezhnev were also loyal to Kirilenko.
Konstantin Chernenko, another old Brezhnev
protégé, became a "counterweight" to Kirilenko's power within the
Central Committee (CC). Before Chernenko's rise in the Soviet hierarchy, Kirilenko provided detailed supervision of new party personnel and the economy. When Chernenko came on board in 1976, Kirilenko supervised the economy. In Brezhnev's last years, Kirilenko's health was beginning to decline, and his
memory weakened. Despite his failing health, he was still a high-standing member, and he usually presided over the meetings of the
Secretariat when Suslov was not around. During most of his term, Kirilenko was one of four who had both a seat in the secretariat and Politburo; the three others were Brezhnev, Suslov and
Fyodor Kulakov. By 1976 Kirilenko's position within the Soviet leadership had grown to such an extent that leading officials, such as Brezhnev and Suslov, were beginning to worry about his "organisational tail" in the
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR). His supervisory responsibilities led many of his colleagues to view him as a threat to the
Party Organisational Work Department of the Central Committee – the Central Committee department overseeing the civilian economy and the
military–industrial complex. His position was weakened drastically by the end of the year, his weakened position did not lead to a strengthening of the Collective leadership but to the weakening of it.
Later career and resignation As with Kosygin, Kirilenko's leading position in the Soviet leadership was in "limbo" due to his support for economic reform to countenance the country's stagnating economy. Kirilenko grew increasingly estranged with Brezhnev in 1977, some believe that it was due to the growing economic hardship that faced the Soviet Union. It is said that the two argued over resource allocation and on how to modernise the ailing economy. However, the most common explanation is that Kirilenko grew estranged due to his weakened position within the Collective leadership. Kirilenko led the Soviet delegation to the December 1977
MPLA Party Congress. At this congress, MPLA officially subscribed to the doctrine of
Marxist-Leninism. This congress was important to the
Soviet Union, and Kirilenko compared
Angola's development with that of
Vietnam. Kirilenko, along with Premier Kosygin, had been one of the most vocal opponents to a
Soviet intervention in
Afghanistan. He blamed the
Afghan Party leadership for the rebellion against them, claiming that the Soviets "gave them everything." He also disliked it when the Afghan leadership tried to justify their murderous actions on the grounds that
Vladimir Lenin also did it. Kirilenko was seen as a possible candidate for the post of
First Deputy Chairman of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in 1977, however, First World observers tended to overrate the significance of the office, and because of it, their observation was completely off the mark.
Vasily Kuznetsov, first deputy minister of foreign affairs, was chosen to the office of First Deputy Chairman instead. During Brezhnev's later rule,
KGB chairman
Yuri Andropov gradually took over the functions and, eventually, Kirilenko's position within the Soviet leadership. In 1979, Kirilenko lost his unofficial office as supervisor of the defence industry over to
Pavel Finogenov, a protégé of
Dmitriy Ustinov. Kirilenko was seen as a key candidate by the West to replace Brezhnev as Soviet leader in 1982. After
Brezhnev's death, Kirilenko was removed from the ruling Politburo by the new General Secretary Andropov. With his deteriorating health, having a disease known as
arteriosclerosis, Kirilenko was disabled from ensuing active politics or protecting himself from Andropov's attacks. After
Brezhnev's death and funeral, Kirilenko's mental condition deteriorated to where he could not remember the names of several leading Politburo members. He was unable to write properly during his later life; when asked by Andropov to write a letter of resignation in 1982, he was unable to do so. The decision to remove Kirilenko was taken before Andropov rose to power, so in the event Brezhnev had died later, Kirilenko would still have been forced to resign. The reason for the decision was that Kirilenko's son had tried to
defect to the United Kingdom. ==Later life, death, and recognition==