Stalin took power long before then. 1922?

Lenin died in 1924. After that it was pretty much Stalin.

There might have been 120 years between Washington and Stalin but Russia was way behind America in its development.

Almost a half of Russian population were former serfs in late 19th Century. Slavery consisted of a minor proportion of the population in America and by 1900 it was nonexistent.

Yes, matclone is right. Lenin was pretty much inept and Stalin was the main figure with others supporting him since 1922.

From what I've been reading, there was a struggle for power beginning in April 1922 that lasted until Stalin had Trotsky expelled from the Politburo in 1927. He didn't gain the power needed to implement many of his terrorist type purges until 1928 and 1929. None of which is really germaine to my original statement.

My original point was that it's funny to hear the Soviet Government referred to as "just, moral, and humane." Don't get me wrong, our own government, especially in it's present form isn't any of those things either in many respects. Moral being the one most lacking and the one, which without it, makes the others impossible to become....

A power struggle meant Stalin was secretly chasing around the other guys. Western historians try to glorify and overemphasize the struggle (aka Democracy) In fact there could be no overt struggle since people were tired of all that.

Stalin was an official successor right in the early 20s.

And yes rick, Soviet society and its government was considered by the people to be highly moral and just in many respects. Don't confuse inability to make things work with having a bad character. People were unhappy with lack of material things, not with morality,

Afterall, most Soviet leaders came from dirt poor families and worked their way up.