68 years ago today, February 15, 1957 (January 16, 1957 in the lunar calendar), Gromyko became Foreign Minister. Kissinger and Gromyko On February 15, 1957, Andrei Gromyko succeeded Dmitry Shepilov as Soviet Foreign Minister. He enjoyed a high reputation in the United Nations during the Stalin era. The State Department said the rectification meant the position's relative political importance had been reduced, but other experts believed it meant the Soviet Union was leaning towards stronger domestic and foreign policies. Shepilov was the editor of Pravda, the party newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and has now been reappointed as Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, engaged in party work.