Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr

Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr was an Iraqi military officer who came up through the ranks after the 1958 revolution that ended the monarchy. Forced out of the military in 1959 on charges of anti-government activity, he took command of the Ba'ath Party's Military Bureau and began recruiting through patronage, installing his cousin Saddam Hussein as deputy. Al-Bakr served briefly as prime minister after the February 1963 Ramadan Revolution, then lost office before the year ended. He returned to power in the July 1968 coup and became president, chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council, and later prime minister, with Saddam running the security apparatus. Under his rule Iraq's economy expanded on high oil prices; land reforms and wealth redistribution followed, and a socialist system took shape in the late 1970s under Saddam's direction. Al-Bakr's control eroded through the decade as Saddam consolidated power through those same security services, and in 1979 al-Bakr resigned for stated health reasons. He died three years later.