Politics at the 'Core': The Political Circumstances of Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin

This paper examines the three 'core leaders' of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), Mao Zedong, Deng Xiaoping and Jiang Zemin, as dramatically different men, who emerged in very different times with contrasting problems, and were moved by their own visions and goals. The three leaders are assessed in the context of various issues, such as the historical context in which they emerged, the means by which they achieved power, the nature of their rule as leader, and their arrangements for successors. The paper captures the essential aspects and differences of the three 'core' leaders' and the more subtle understandings of their evolving personas and situations. The task here has been to examine the contrasting individuals and their circumstances, as well as the linkages among them to the larger political system.