The new vector of development of Russian historical science, of course, had a decisive impact on the work devoted to the study of political leadership and understanding of the party and state activities of Yu.V. Andropov. Recreating in the framework of the study a general picture of the formation of Yu.V. Andropov - a politician at the all-Union level, the published materials allow not only to reveal various aspects of his activities and highlight the most important milestones in the biography of a politician, but also to better understand the post-war political process of party and state activities in the USSR.