Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majidida al-Tikriti born April 28, 1937, was the President of Iraq from July 16, 1979 until April 9, 2003, when he was deposed during the United States-led invasion of Iraq. As a leading member of the Iraqi Baath Party, which espoused secular pan-Arabism, economic modernization, and Arab socialism, Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup that brought his party to long-term power.

As vice president under his cousin, the frail General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, Saddam tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces by creating repressive security forces and cementing his own firm authority over the apparatus of government.

As president, Saddam ran an authoritarian government and maintained power through the Iran-Iraq War and the Gulf War. Saddam's government repressed movements that it deemed threatening, particularly those of ethnic or religious groups that sought independence or autonomy. While he remained a popular hero among many Arabs for standing up to Israel and the United States, some in the international community continued to view Saddam with deep suspicion following the 1991 Gulf War.

Saddam was deposed by the US-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, and captured by U.S. forces on December 13, 2003. On November 5, 2006, he was convicted of crimes against humanity by the Iraq Special Tribunal and was sentenced to death by hanging.