Mikhail Gorbachev was born on March 2, 1931 in Privolnoye, Krasnogvardeisky
district, Russia. During his childhood,
he lived on a farm. Since his father and
grandfather were members of the communist party, the Gorbachevs were privileged. Gorbachev worked hard on the family
farm. When he was eight years old, he
went to school. While he was in school,
World War II started, so he stopped going for eight months. As a teenager, he worked in a tractor repair
shop. When he was older, he went to
Moscow University, then law school. He
went on to work for the communist party, and on March 15, 1990, became
the first president of the Soviet Union.