Best Leader of the Soviet Union

[pragmatic liberal]

Some sources (incl. Wikipedia) list Georgy Malenkov as Soviet Leader for one or two years as well.

In terms of human rights, Gorbachev.

But in terms of making the Soviet Union strong, I'd have to say Stalin. He was a murderous bastard, but in terms of building up the state and making it strong, he was unparalleled. (Which isn't to say I think he was *good*).