the following list is composed of the secretary of the central committee of the party who were the leaders of the party. the position also was changing names between being called the first secretary or the general secretary, depending on a political atmosphere in the soviet union. the position was not officially of the head of state, but certainly was very influential, especially within the republic. the longest serving secretary was vladimir shcherbitsky with some 17 years as the head of the communist party, the second best is split between stanislav kosior and nikita khrushchev, both of which have 11 years.