General Secretary

General Secretary is a title often used in political parties, and is usually the leader of the party. The General Secretary (sometimes called First Secretary or Secretary-General) is usually the leader of the Secretariat and the Politburo.

History
On April 3, 1922, Joseph Stalin became General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and had the job of deciding who was a member of the party and where they went. Vladimir Lenin was de facto leader at the time. Once Lenin died, Stalin used his power to give allies jobs in the party to become more powerful than everybody else.

Related pages
 List of General Secretaries of the Soviet Union
 General Secretary of the Communist Party of China