Joseph Stalin presided on the executive committee for Communist Parties.
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was an office of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union ( CPSU ) that by the late 1920s had evolved into the most powerful of the Central Committee 's various secretaries . Joseph Stalin . In this capacity , he served as the Premier of the Soviet Union from 1941 to 1953 and as General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1952 . Premier of the Soviet Union . Article 38 of the 1924 Soviet Constitution stated that the Council 's powers , functions and duties were given to it by the Central Executive Committee ( CEC ) which supervised the Council 's work and legislative acts . Joseph Stalin was the General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union 's Central Committee from 1922 until his death in 1953 .