Mao Zedong was a political leader.
In political and social sciences , communism ( from Latin communis , `` common , universal '' ) is the philosophical , social , political , and economic ideology and movement whose ultimate goal is the establishment of the communist society , which is A dictator is a political leader who wields absolute power . Mao Zedong . He was succeeded as Paramount leader by Hua Guofeng ( 1976 -- 1978 ) , who was quickly sidelined and replaced by Deng . In modern Chinese politics , the paramount leader ( , , Zuìgāo lǐngdǎo rén ) of the Communist Party of China and the State is an informal term that refers to the most prominent political leader in the People 's Republic of China .