In photos: Mikhail Gorbachev, the last Soviet Union leader, through the years
Mikhail Gorbachev, the former Soviet leader who was critical in ending the Cold War, died on Tuesday at the age of 91.
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, left, and Britain's Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher pose for a picture in London, Saturday, Dec. 15, 1984.Gerald Penny/The Associated Press
Mikhail Gorbachev (C), General Secretary of CPSU CC, is seen shaking hands with Babrak Karmal, General Secretary of the PDPA CC, Chairman of the Revolutionary Council of Afghanistan prior to their conversation in the Kremlin, March 14, 1985.STRINGER/Reuters
Mikhail Gorbachev, center, attends the International Women's Day Gala at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow on March 7, 1985.Boris Yurchenko/The Associated Press
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) meets U.S. President Ronald Reagan in Geneva, Switzerland on Nov. 19, 1985. The leaders met for the first time to hold talks on international diplomatic relations and the arms race.DENIS PAQUIN/Reuters
Then Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) congratulates the East German Leader Erich Honecker with a fraternal hug and kiss after Honecker's re-election as General Secretary of the Communist Party Congress in East Berlin, in this April 21, 1986 file picture.Stringer ./Reuters
President Ronald Reagan shakes hands with Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev in Reykjavik, Iceland, on Oct. 11, 1986.Ron Edmonds/The Associated Press
Mikhail Gorbachev holds onto his hat and the waist of his wife Raisa, who waves to reporters in spite of driving wind and rain as they board Ilyushing-62 at end of a summit in Reykjavik October 13, 1986.Stringer ./Reuters
U.S. President Ronald Reagan, right, shakes hands with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Dec. 8, 1987, after the two leaders signed the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty to eliminate intermediate-range missiles during a ceremony in the White House East Room in Washington.BOB DAUGHERTY/The Associated Press
Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) talks to President Ronald Reagan (C) and President-elect George Bush (R) on Dec. 7, 1988, shortly before lunch in the Admiral's House, home of the US Coast Guard's Atlantic Area commander.AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev (L) converses with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor castle on April 7, 1989, at the end of Gorbachev's official visit to Great Britain.ANDRE DE WET/AFP/Getty Images
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, center, and Chinese President Yang Shangkun, left, review troops at Beijing's Capital Airport.Boris Yurchenko/AP
Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife Raisa pose on China's Great Wall.Mark Avery/AP
Chinese senior leader Deng Xiaoping (C) shakes hands with General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party Mikhail Gorbachev (L) on May 16, 1989.AFP Contributor#AFP/AFP/Getty Images
Then-Finnish President Mauno Koivisto (L) looks on as then-Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev talks to Moscow on a Nokia Mobira Cityman cellular phone in Helsinki on Oct. 26, 1989.Lehtikuva Lehtikuva/Reuters
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev waves from the Red Square tribune during a Revolution Day celebration, in Moscow, Soviet Union on Nov. 7, 1989.Boris Yurchenko/The Associated Press
Pope John Paul II talks with former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev during an audience at the Vatican on Nov. 18, 1990.Reuters Photographer/Reuters
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev gestures while speaking to Lithuanians at the Lenin monument in Vilnius, Soviet Union on Jan. 11, 1990.Victor Yurchenko/The Associated Press
US President George Bush (L) and his Soviet counterpart Mikhail Gorbachev during a press conference in Moscow on July 31, 1991, concluding the two-day US-Soviet Summit dedicated to the disarmament.MIKE FISHER/AFP/Getty Images
Russian President Boris Yeltsin (R) gestures towards Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev in Moscow on August 23, 1991 while he enjoins him to read a paper during session of Russian Parliament.PIKO/AFP/Getty Images
Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev checks the time on his watch before his resignation speech in the Kremlin on Dec. 25, 1991, drawing a line under more than 74 years of Soviet history.Liu Heung Shing/The Associated Press
Former heads of state from L-R Brian Mulroney, Canada; Francois Mitterrand, France; host George Bush, USA; Mikhail Gorbachev, Russia; and Margaret Thatcher, Britain pose for a group picture during their panel discussion of the ending of the Cold War in Colorado Springs, Colorado.Gary C. Caskey/Reuters
Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) listens to former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev during a news conference following bilateral talks with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder at Schloss Gottorf Palace in the northern German town of Schleswig, Germany on Dec. 21, 2004.Christian Charisius/Reuters
Former U.S. President Clinton, center, shares a laugh with Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, right, and Bono, left, of the rock group U2, before a dinner hosted by Mr. Gorbachev, at the Russian Embassy in New York in honor of the Frank Foundation Child Assistance International of Washington D.C. on March 10, 2002.Stephen Chernin/The Associated Press