Between Brezhnev and Gorbachev

There were many things about the American political system that the Soviets failed to understand. If the fact that Watergate was able to depose Richard Nixon was puzzling for the Politboro, then the fact that the leader of the Western world had to voluntarily give up power every four to eight years must have been even more so. When Leonid Brezhnev died, he had spent the better half of his 16-year term as the Soviet leader with a multitude of health problems. Perhaps ironically, his two successors served barely three years each before their own respective deaths. So why did the Soviets choose two ailing old men to lead their country?

Yuri Andropov, for his part, had a hard and far-reaching reputation of suppressing dissent as head of the KGB. He ordered the crackdown on the 1968 Prague Spring, and presided over the persecution of would-be emigres and exiles. It came as no surprise to the West when he continued Brezhnev's aggressive foreign policy upon appointment as General Secretary in 1982 by continuing the War in Afghanistan, and breaking off arms controls negotiations with the US in 1983. More surprising to the West was Andropov's domestic policy, as he sought to institute systemic reforms that would later be reflected in the programs of Mikhail Gorbachev, his protege. His crusade against corruption, prevalent in the Brezhnev regime, actually scared many officials into committing suicide before they could be investigated.
Asides from Andropov's obvious qualifications as the longest-serving chief in the history of the KGB, his succession of Brezhnev also helped to prevent the power struggle that seemed to be characteristic of Soviet changes in power. At the time of Brezhnev's death, Andropov's primary rival seemed to be Konstantin Chernenko, who would later actually succeed him. Chernenko actually endorsed his rival, thus leaving Andropov as the winner by default. In some ways, Andropov was the closest thing to a consensus candidate that a single-party system could have. Furthermore, his health problems were not immediately clear, so it may have been difficult to anticipate the brevity of his leadership. Andropov died in February 1984 after suffering a kidney failure the year before.

Konstantin Chernenko, after being passed over in favor of Andropov, was not the obvious choice to succeed Andropov. Andropov had in fact chosen Gorbachev as his successor, but his deteriorating health allowed Chernenko to regain his influence in the politburo. After his appointment to chairmanship of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet, his subsequent ascendance to power was almost guaranteed. Gorbachev remained the likely successor to Chernenko instead. However, Chernenko's poor health prevented him from having a substantial change in policy, although in his brief time as general secretary he stemmed the tide of Andropov's reforms and returned to Brezhnev's hardline policies.

http://www.nytimes.com/1983/11/06/books/the-emergence-of-yuri-andropov.html?pagewanted=all
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Yuri_Andropov
https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=fr4yAAAAIBAJ&sjid=Be8FAAAAIBAJ&pg=1471%2C872073
http://countrystudies.us/russia/15.htm
http://www.jstor.org/stable/40395598