Who lead the USSR after Nikita Khrushchev died?

Short answer: Stalin Long answer: At the time of Lenin's death there were a few prominent party leaders that all could have potentially seized power. They are Stalin, Kamenev, Zinoviev and Trotsky. Lenin's final testament labeled Trotsky as his preferred successor, however this was never released to the public. Seeing Trotsky also as the most popular member (also with the army behind him), he was dubbed the biggest threat by Stalin and an alliance was formed between Stalin, Kamenev and Zinoviev to take down Trotsky. This was successful and Trotsky lost most power, his influence and eventually was exiled between 1928 - 1930 (just going off of memory). Stalin was the most adequate leader and maneuvered himself within the alliance of Kamenev and Zionoviev to become the prominent party member. Both of these men would later end up date, certainly at the behest of Stalin.