Guide Note

Saddam Hussein was the 5th President of Iraq, serving in the position from July 16, 1979 to April 9, 2003, as well as holding the position of Prime Minister from 1979 to 1991. He had rose to power as a leader of the revolutionary Baath Party, which touted a pan-Arab Socialism and organized an overthrow of General Abd al-Karim Qasim in 1968. He was deposed by the invading multi-national force (led by the U.S.) in 2003, captured on December 14, 2003 and executed by hanging after being found guilty of "crimes against humanity."

Fast Facts

1. Born: April 28, 1937 in Al-Awja, Iraq
2. Iraq's President: 1979-2003
3. Executed: December 30, 2006
4. Full name: Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti

Hussein's father left the family six months before he was born, and he was eventually raised by an uncle, a militant nationalist. Hussein, inspired by his uncle and the pan-Arab nationalism of Gamal Abdel Nasser, joined the Ba'ath party in 1963.

After the Baaths took control of the government in 1963, Hussein rose quickly through the ranks. In June 1, 1972, now sitting at the head of the party, Hussein seized sole control of Iraq's oil reserves, using them to fund his domestic agenda. He continually worked to consolidate his power, and on July 16, 1979, officially assumed the position of Iraqi President.

Throughout his administration in Iraq, Hussein was forced to fight against factionalism in the nation, particularly between Iraq's Sunnis and Shiite populations. He attempted to create a purely secular government, setting up a "cult of personality" around himself in place of the strictly religious authorities to which most Iraqi citizens answered.

Much of his administration was consumed with fighting a war with Iran, which raged from September 22, 1980 to August 20, 1988 and essentially bankrupted the country. Hoping to claim the neighboring country's oil reserves for his own, Hussein initiated an invasion of Kuwait in 1990, only to be repelled by an international coalition in 1991 during the First Gulf War.

Hussein's government effectively collapsed shortly after the March 20, 2003 invasion of Iraq by a multinational coalition led by U.S. General Tommy Franks. He disappeared before the fall of Baghdad in early April of that year and was found hiding in a farm near Tikrit on December 14, 2003. His sons Uday and Qusay and grandson Mustapha were killed during a fight with U.S. forces on July 2003.

Hussein was put on trial in Iraq by a special tribunal, specifically for actions taken against citizens of Dujail in 1982 as punishment for a planned assassination attempt. He was found guilty of crimes against humanity and executed via hanging on December 30, 2006. The execution was videotaped and replayed all around the world, and the Iraqi government was criticized strongly for the secretive and unprofessional manner in which the hanging was conducted.

By most accounts, Hussein had been a brutal dictator who ruled over his people using fear and the threat of violence. He essentially admitted, when questioned, that he was willing to torture and kill opponents of the Baath regime in Iraq, and is known to have used chemical weapons on the Kurdish populations living in the northern region of the country.