There are all types of gamblers out there. Some of them play craps, poker, or sports bets. This is what most of us consider a gambler and perhaps by strict casino definition this is true. Yet, there are gamblers like Nikita Khrushchev who are not typical. Politics is a serious game, perhaps the most serious in any gambling context. Nikita Khrushchev has been called a gambler by many reporters and historians because he played politics like it was a poker game. He had bluffs, he had times when folding was the smartest option, and there were times he won the game. It might be hard to think of politics in terms of any casino game or even to believe that Nikita could be considered a gambler, but when you think of the stakes he gambled with then the very definition of what it means to be a gambler can be defined by Nikita Khrushchev’s actions throughout his political career.
Nikita Khrushchev certainly wagered money on the outcome of some of his political plays. After all, if his political aims were not to help gain more money for his country as a means to help his country folk, gain power in the world, and survive then what were they for? Khrushchev was born in a very small town where four years of schooling was all he could get before needing to support his family. He may have been a poet and a brilliant man in politics but it was self taught. His life was based on a need for a better one than what he came from.
His political career started in the mid 1900s, though he was born in the late 1800s. His death occurred in 1971 after years of retirement. It was the result of heart disease. His retirement was even something to be marvelled at especially considering he was given two homes despite all the trouble he caused Russia in later years. Most were given death rather than a burial in the Kremlin Wall.
In 1956, he told the world he thought Stalin was a murderer. A year later he was inciting trouble with Bolshevists. This was nothing compared to his relations with the USA, Cuba, and China. We might overlook the issue in Berlin from 1961, but the Cuban Missile Crisis a year later is going to be remembered for a millennium or two.
His politics were definitely a gamble, but he knew when to back off in order to stop World War III. He also knew which partners would be better for the Soviet Union and Russia. After all, he didn’t prefer China’s take on communism. He felt their idea would certainly ruin the concept of World Peace, which strangely enough he believed in. This is not to say he didn’t have the Soviet Union’s interests at heart, but it is clear from the look back at his life that he tended to speak his mind, try to find a way for betterment of his county folk, and knew when to toss in the gambles he made.