Fyodor Davydovich Kulakov (Russian: Фёдор Давыдович Кулаков) (4 February 1918 – 17 July 1978) was a Soviet statesman during the Cold War.

In 1940, he became a member of the All-Union Communist Party (bolsheviks) and became a leading figure in the local Komsomol regional committee.

[4] During his tenure as Stavropol First Secretary he appointed Mikhail Gorbachev to the provincial level of the party apparatus—a promotion which would prove to be crucial.

It is believed that Kulakov greatly impressed Leonid Brezhnev due to his achievements in agriculture and politics.

Three other young Politburo members, Volodymyr Shcherbytsky, Alexander Shelepin and Dmitry Polyansky, were all believed to have a future in the Council of Ministers, while First World commentators speculated that Kulakov's future was more in line with political and executive work at the top level of leadership.

Despite this widespread belief, in the prestige order voted by the Supreme Soviet in 1975, Kulakov was ranked seventh.

[12] According to Fyodor Morgun, a politician of Soviet and Ukrainian descent, Kulakov seemed worried just days before his death.

[13] According to Mikhail Gorbachev, no members of the Politburo cancelled or interrupted their holidays when hearing the news of Kulakov's death.

Those who had sworn allegiance to Kirilenko and Andropov were present, including such prominent figures as Arvīds Pelše, Kirill Mazurov, Andrei Gromyko, and Dmitry Ustinov.