Mikhail Gorbachev, Final Soviet Leader Who Ended Cold War, Dead at 91

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Mikhail Gorbachev, the final leader of the Soviet Union, died Tuesday, according to hospital officials cited by multiple outlets. He was 91.

Named Time magazine's Man of the Decade at the close of the 1980s for his role in dissolving communist rule in Europe, and awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1990 for replacing international "confrontation" with "negotiations," Gorbachev is widely viewed as one of the most influential political figures of the 20th century.

While Gorbachev pushed to reform the Soviet Union, introduce democratic elements into the government and improve international relations, he never intended to bring about the end of the USSR, and later in life he continued to express sadness that his actions did.

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A series of events triggered by his policies as USSR leader put the union's longevity at risk, and when Soviet republics began declaring their independence in the late '80s and early '90s, Gorbachev had two options: He could step down and accept that the USSR would crumble, or use force to keep everyone under his control.

In a memoir, he wrote that only one option was in line with his anti-dictator beliefs, as hard as it was. He resigned as the Soviet president on Dec. 25, 1991, and the superpower nation he had hoped to improve quickly disappeared, though portions of his ideology prevailed.

Circumstances surrounding the onetime politician's death have not yet been revealed.

His wife, Raisa Gorbachev, passed away in 1999 at the age of 67. Together, the couple had one daughter, Irina Mikhailovna Virganskaya.

This is a breaking news story and will be updated as more information becomes available. A previous version of this article wrongly reported that he was 92 at the time of his death, which has been changed to reflect that he passed at the age of 91.