Yumjaagiin Tsedenbal was a Mongolian military officer and politician who led the Mongolian People's Republic as a dictator from 1952 to 1984. He served as General Secretary of the ruling Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party from 1940 to 1954 and again from 1958 to 1984, as Chairman of the Council of Ministers from 1952 to 1974, and as Chairman of the Presidium of the People's Great Khural from 1974 to 1984.