Was Gorbachev a good leader?

In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev became the head of the state to the USSR. He was the last person to hold this position, because as of 1991, the USSR no longer existed. Gorbachev wanted a communist state, but at the same time, he wanted the people to be able to invest in private companies, and believed that democratic influences would save the Soviet Union. Therefore, he initiated many reforms that had immense effects on Russia, changing its future forevermore. He began by attacking corruption, the incompetent government, and alcoholism, to name a few. His reforms included implementing democratization and increased freedom of speech- "glasnost"- leading to the first free elections in the Soviet Union since 1917. As a result of this, the government became much more open, and people were inspired to begin thinking radically, which led to widespread criticism of communism. He improved foreign relations, especially with the West. Furthermore, Gorbachev strongly wanted to revitalize the USSR economy after Brezhnev's rule. However, his idea of "perestroika", or economic restructuring, backfired, and instead led to widespread inflation. This prevented the struggling economy from recovering and worsened living conditions.

Unfortunately, Gorbachev's reforms did not have his desired effect. People became extremely angry with the government after experiencing widespread lack of resources as a result of the terrible economy. In protest to Gorbachev's reforms, a trade union for democracy formed in Poland, called the Solidarity movement. The government was unable to suppress this movement, and the Soviet Union crumbled. It can be concluded that by his standards, Gorbachev failed as a leader. He was not effective at holding the Soviet Union together because he introduced democracy through his reforms, which added to the causes of the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In other words, Gorbachev killed communism by total accident. For comparison, Gorbachev's view of himself is similar to Gandhi's view of himself. Gandhi believed that he failed as a leader as well, because he did not keep India united. On the other hand, the long term impression that he left on the world and his country show the success of Gandhi's actions and words. I believe that it is the same for Gorbachev, as he left a positive impact on Russia by introducing democratic influences.