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Saddam Hussein

Iraqi politician and revolutionary, president of Iraq from 1979 to 2003 · Iraq · Politicians · Lived 1937 to 2006 · aged 69

Saddam Hussein is read about 12,271 times a day, in 137 languages.

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Iraqi president for 24 years whose rule spanned invasion, genocide, and two wars before his overthrow by US forces in 2003. His name became shorthand for dictatorship in the Middle East, and his execution closed a chapter that cost hundreds of thousands of lives.

PoliticiansJournalistLiteratureFictionPolitics20th Century

A life in dates

2006Died30 December 20062002“Traditionally Marxism attracts the oppressed. This, however, is not the case in the Arab nation...”In their wordsn.d., quoted in Saddam Hussein: a political biography (2002) by Efraim Karsh and Inari Rautsi.

1994Named Prime Minister of IraqOffice16 July 1979 to 23 March 19911991“The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun.... The dawn of victory nears as this great showdown begins!”In their words17 January 1991Broadcast on Baghdad state radio, January 17, 1991.

1989Named Regional Secretary of the Iraqi Ba'ath PartyOffice23 June 1989 to 30 December 20061985“You Americans, you treat the Third World in the way an Iraqi peasant treats his new bride. Three days of honeymoon, and then it's off to the fields”In their wordsMeeting with US State Department officials (1985), as quoted in The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Gulf War (2002) by Charles Jaco, p. 23.

1981“The complete emancipation of women from the ties which held them back in the past, during the ages of despotism and ignorance, is a basic aim of the Party and the Revolution.”In their words"Women: One Half of Our Society" (1981).

1980Key to the City of DetroitAward1979Named President of IraqOffice16 July 1979 to 9 April 2003Named Prime Minister of IraqOffice16 July 1979 to 23 March 19911978“The most important thing about marriage is that the man must not let the woman feel downtrodden simply because she is a woman and he is a man.”In their wordsInterview with the Al-Mar'a magazine in 1978, quoted in Price of Honor (2002) by Jane Goodwin.

Collar of the Spanish Order of the Civil MeritAwardOrder of José MartíAward1974Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the CatholicAward1971“The ideal revolutionary command should effectively direct all planning and implementation. It must not allow the growth of any other rival center of power.”In their words20 March 1971Baghdad Domestic Service, March 20, 1971, quoted in Saddam Hussein: a political biography (2002) by Efraim Karsh and Inari Rautsi.

1968Named Vice President of IraqOffice17 July 1968 to 15 July 19791964Named Member of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional BranchOffice1 February 1964 to 9 April 20031937Born28 April 1937

Also in Deutsch

Photos 12

Saddam in his youth as a shepherd in his village, near Tikrit, 1956Saddam in his youth as a shepherd in his village, near Tikrit, 1956Saddam and other Ba'athists posing on top of a tank after a successful coup in February 1963Saddam and other Ba'athists posing on top of a tank after a successful coup in February 1963Saddam and al-Bakr, de jure president of Iraq alongside Hafez al-Assad of Syria at an Arab League summit in Baghdad in November 1978Saddam and al-Bakr, de jure president of Iraq alongside Hafez al-Assad of Syria at an Arab League summit in Baghdad in November 1978Saddam speech during 1979 purge of the Ba'ath partySaddam speech during 1979 purge of the Ba'ath partySaddam promoting women's education and literacySaddam promoting women's education and literacySaddam and Massoud Rajavi, the leader of People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, 1987Saddam and Massoud Rajavi, the leader of People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran, 1987

In their own words 10

,
Saddam Hussein
,
10 statements, newest first

  1. Traditionally Marxism attracts the oppressed. This, however, is not the case in the Arab nation...

    2002, n.d., quoted in Saddam Hussein: a political biography (2002) by Efraim Karsh and Inari Rautsi., Own words

  2. Palestine is Arab and must be liberated from the river to the sea and all the Zionists who emigrated to the land of Palestine must leave.

    May 30, 2001, On Iraqi Television, May 30, 2001; quoted in Robert Wistrich, Muslim Anti-Semitism: A Clear and Present Danger(2002), page 43., Own words

  3. The great duel, the mother of all battles has begun.... The dawn of victory nears as this great showdown begins!

    Jan 17, 1991, Broadcast on Baghdad state radio, January 17, 1991., Own words

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Awards

Key to the City of Detroit1980
Order of José Martí1978
Collar of the Spanish Order of the Civil Merit1978
Grand Cross of the Order of Isabella the Catholic1974
Order of Stara Planina
Order of Mubarak the Great
Order of the Yugoslav Star
Order of the Two Rivers
Order of Civil Merit
Order of Isabella the Catholic
National Order of Merit
Order of Al-Khalifa
Order of the National Flag
Order of al-Hussein bin Ali
Friendship Order
Order of the Grand Conqueror
Order of the National Flag, 1st class

Family

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Saddam Hussein

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About this person

Born near Tikrit in 1937, Saddam joined the Ba'ath Party at twenty and helped bring it to power in the 17 July Revolution, rising to vice president under Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr in 1968. During those years he nationalized oil, introduced free healthcare and education, and crushed Kurdish insurgency before taking the presidency in 1979 with a purge of rivals. In 1980 he invaded Iran, launching an eight-year war that ended in stalemate; as it closed he ordered the Anfal campaign, a genocide against Kurdish rebels. Two years later he invaded Kuwait, triggering the Gulf War and Iraq's defeat by a US-led coalition in 1991. His forces suppressed uprisings that followed. A 2003 invasion, premised on false claims of weapons programs and al-Qaeda ties, toppled him. The Iraqi High Tribunal convicted him of crimes against humanity. He was hanged on 30 December 2006.

Country
Iraq
Category
Politicians
Type
Politician
Status
deceased
Dates
Lived 1937 to 2006 · aged 69

In common with Saddam

Tewfik SalehAlso in Long Days (1980)Steve YzermanBoth received Key to the City of DetroitJerome BettisBoth received Key to the City of Detroit

Politicians from Iraq 3

Barham Salih67.6Iyad Jamal Al-Din60.0Jalal Talabani59.5

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