Leon Trotsky, Lenin's "Right Hand Man".
"Old age is the most unexpected of things that can happen to a man." Leon Trotsky had a lot of wise things to say and had many great qualities, such as: he had great public speaking skills, he had strong work ethics, and he had the ability to influence others in his own favor. This made him an important leader as Lenin's "right hand man." According to the profile 2000, in our 2003/2004 Student/ Parent Handbook, Trotsky was a good leader. He stood up for what he believed in, and this made him a highly respected man, or at least while Lenin was the leader of the Soviet Union. .
Leon Trotsky's first name was Lev and he was born on October 26, 1879, as a well-to-do Jewish farmer. His family highly valued education and so when he was nine he was sent to live and go to school with his uncle. This is where he learned his nice manners and intellectual personality. He became sort of a "rebel" in 1898 when he founded the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. When he participated in the Russian Revolution, it was a definite turning point for him in his life. Now the people of the Soviet Union knew he was and many of them understood his beliefs and wanted to be a part of what was only his little group at the time. After the Russian Revolution he was elected president of the St. Petersburg Soviet. He was arrested and deported several times to Siberia, both for these political activities. A good leader can't be afraid of the consequences of his actions, and Leon Trotsky wasn't. He showed all of the people in the Soviet Union how much he cared for his people when actively stood up for his beliefs. This showed them that he would stand up for them too, and would not back down because someone threatened to arrest him. However, it was when he and Lenin started working together that things started looking up for him.
When he eventually escaped, he soon became second in command after Lenin in 1917, and then in 1918 he was appointed People's Commissar for Military and Naval Affairs.
