Eduard Shevardnadze, a Georgian politician, died at the age of 86 at his home in Tblisi, according to Fox News. He affected many changes and made crucial decisions during the Gorbachev era in what was then part of the Soviet Union. He started his political career in a Komsomol organization and quickly rose in rank and was appointed Second Secretary and later First Secretary. He rose in political status steadily until 1961 when he was demoted for insulting a senior officer. As a result, he stayed out of the spotlight for two years before he returned as a First Secretary of a Tblisi district and charged an official, whose position he would later replace, with corruption.

Shevardnadze was unique in that he put economic reforms into action that stimulated the economy during the Era of Stagnation. The Era started during the rule of Leonid Brezhneve and continued through Yuri Andropov’s and Konstantin Chernenko’s leadership. His battle against corruption led to his quick rise in Soviet politics, and he garnered support for his cause through the Study of Public Opinion. He was appointed as First Secretary of the Georgian Communist Party in 1972 and held office until 1985. When he took office, it is documented that Georgia was overrun with corruption, and it was largely in the same condition when he returned in 1992. Shevardnadze played an instrumental role in the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989 and helped negotiate German reunification in 1990.

Mikhail Gorbachev appointed Eduard Shevardnadze to the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in 1985. From that point on, save for a brief period between 1990 and 1991, no one except Gorbachev outranked him in terms of importance to Soviet foreign policy. When democracy swept through Europe, Shevardnadze rejected the idea of Soviet intervention and assisted the introduction of democracy in some areas of the Soviet Union, which was seen by communists and Russian nationalists as an act of betrayal.

Moreover, Gorbachv and Shevardnadze became distant in their political views. Gorbachev wanted to preserve a socialist government and the Soviet Union, while Shevardnadze pushed for both political and economic liberalization. Shevardnadze resigned in 1990 due to their differences.

“Reformers have gone and hidden in the bushes. Dictatorship is coming,” Shevardnadze warned.

Shevardnadze was Georgian President from 1995-2003, winning 70 percent of the vote. He survived several assassination attempts, planned mostly by the enemies he made fighting corruption as Soviet Foreign Minister. He escaped an attempt on his life in Abkhazia in 1992. In 1995, his motorcade was attacked with anti-tank rockets and small arms fire in Tblisi.

Shevardnadze was harshly criticized for his close ties with the U.S. and his procurement of funds from corrupt supporters, according to Georgians. When many Georgians deemed a parliamentary election unfair in November 2003, protesters broke in Parliament and forced Shevardnadze to flee with his bodyguards. At that time, Shevardnadze claimed he would not resign. In a discussion arranged by Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, he met with opposition leaders Mikheil Saakashvili and Zurab Zhvania to discuss growing tension on both sides of the political spectrum. He announced his resignation shortly afterward to avert the power struggle and avoid unnecessary bloodshed.