In April, 1956, a Moscow journal, _International Affairs_, also made clear the pre-eminence of Leninism in Russia: Using the brilliant plan left by Lenin.... All the complex questions of home and foreign policy are decided by the Party, basing itself on the teaching of the immortal Lenin. That is why the Soviet people recall the words of Vladimir Mayakovsky [Soviet poet]: “Lenin is now the most live of all living, Our weapon, our knowledge, our power.” These sentiments have been echoed by communists in the United States. In January, 1957, for example, Eugene Dennis, former General Secretary of the Communist Party, USA, wrote, “... it is essential at all costs to consolidate and build the CPUSA as a strong Marxist-Leninist political party of the working class.” Another American Party leader, Hyman Lumer, stated in February, 1957: ... he [Lenin] showed ... the need for a vanguard type of party, armed with the Marxist theory of scientific socialism and possessing a high degree of unity and discipline.... In its essential features, this is no less true today than it was when Lenin first formulated it. Lenin could not have anticipated the lofty pedestal on which he was to stand in Moscow a generation after his death. However, his nation and the Party were to pass under the control of an ambitious, scowling, mustached revolutionary from the province of Georgia in south Russia, Joseph Stalin, who until recently was regarded as the fourth great personality of communism. 3. _Stalin—A Fallen Idol_ In January, 1924, after a long illness, Lenin died, leaving open a struggle for power that was to last until the 1930’s. The Russian dictator sensed, some time before his death, the evil influence of the man who had squirmed his way to the position of the Party’s General Secretary. Joseph Stalin, a cobbler’s son, had been an old-time Bolshevik. Born in 1879, he had attended a seminary at Tiflis, in the Caucasus, but in 1899 had been expelled. Already he was involved in revolutionary activities. From 1902 until 1913, according to the communists, he was arrested seven times, exiled six times, and escaped five times from exile. Plodding by nature, Stalin lacked the brilliance of his chief rival, Leon Trotsky. However, his grasp of the Russian mentality was tremendous. Years as an agitator, prison inmate, and political schemer gave him an insight into communist intrigue that other Party leaders seemed to lack. Working silently but meticulously, he was quick to exploit any opportunity to increase his personal power.