A nan, ya sadu da kuma ya sami amincewar Leonid Brezhnev, sakatare na farko na Moldavian SSR daga 1950 zuwa 1952 kuma shugaban Soviet Union na gaba. Chernenko ya bi Brezhnev a 1956 don cika irin wannan aikin farfaganda a cikin Kwamitin Tsakiya na CPSU a Moscow. A shekara ta 1960, bayan da aka nada Brezhnev a matsayin shugaban Kwamitin Shugaban Soviet na Soviet (shugaban kasa na Soviet Union), Chernenko ya zama shugaban ma'aikatansa. Tambaya: Wanene ya jagoranci soviets, a ƙarshe?
Leonid Brezhnev