President of the Soviet Union
After fighting in World War II, Chernyaev studied history at Moscow State University, where he would teach contemporary history from 1950 to 1958. In 1961, he joined the International Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, where he became a senior analyst. In March 1976, he was promoted to Central Auditing Commission of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. He became General Secretary Gorbachev's foreign-policy advisor in 1986 and continued to advise Gorbachev when the latter became President of the Soviet Union.