Mikhail and Raisa Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev and his wife, Raisa, gave a fresh look to Soviet politics. They traveled, made friends abroad, and were fashionable and modern. While the Gorbachevs became part of Western celebrity culture, however, average citizens back home in the USSR saw the Gorbachevs’ privileged lifestyle as simply the continuation of the Communist government’s disregard for ordinary people. (Sovfoto / UIG via Getty Images.)