Saddam Hussein

Field Marshal Saddam Hussein
صَدَّام حُسَيْن
Saddam in the 1960s
5th President of Iraq
In office 16 July 1979 – 9 April 2003
Prime Minister	Himself (1979–1991) Sa'dun Hammadi (1991) Mohammed Hamza Zubeidi (1991–1993) Ahmad Husayn as-Samarrai (1993–2003)
Vice President	Taha Muhie-eldin Marouf (1974–2003) Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri (1979–2003) Taha Yassin Ramadan (1991–2003)
Preceded by	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Succeeded by	Jay Garner (as Director of the Office for Reconstruction and Humanitarian Assistance of Iraq) Jalal Talabani (2005)
Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council
In office 16 July 1979 – 9 April 2003
Preceded by	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Succeeded by	Office abolished
Prime Minister of Iraq
In office 29 May 1994 – 9 April 2003
President	Himself
Preceded by	Ahmad Husayn Khudayir as-Samarrai
Succeeded by	Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum (as Acting President of the Governing Council of Iraq)
In office 16 July 1979 – 23 March 1991
President	Himself
Preceded by	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Succeeded by	Sa'dun Hammadi
Secretary General of the National Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party
In office January 1992 – 30 December 2006
Preceded by	Michel Aflaq
Succeeded by	Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Regional Secretary of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch
In office 16 July 1979 – 30 December 2006
National Secretary	Michel Aflaq (until 1989) Himself (from 1989)
Preceded by	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Succeeded by	Izzat Ibrahim ad-Douri
In office February 1964 – October 1966
Preceded by	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Succeeded by	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Vice President of Iraq
In office 17 July 1968 – 15 July 1979
President	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Preceded by	Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr
Succeeded by	Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Member of the Regional Command of the Iraqi Regional Branch
In office February 1964 – 9 April 2003
Personal details
Born	Saddam Husayn Abd al-Majid al-Tikritiyy (1937-04-28)28 April 1937[a] Al-Awja, Saladin Governorate, Kingdom of Iraq
Died	30 December 2006(2006-12-30) (aged 69) Camp Justice, Baghdad, Iraq
Cause of death	Execution by hanging
Resting place	Al-Awja, Saladin, Iraq
Political party	Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party (1957–1966) Iraq-based Ba'ath Party (1966–2006)
Spouses	Sajida Talfah ​ (m. 1958)​ Samira Shahbandar ​ (m. 1986)​
Children	Uday Qusay Raghad Rana Hala
Alma mater	Cairo University University of Baghdad
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Iraq
Branch/service	Iraqi Armed Forces
Rank	Marshal
Battles/wars	Second Iraqi–Kurdish War Iran–Iraq War Gulf War 1991 Iraqi uprisings Iraq War (POW)  2003 invasion of Iraq
Criminal conviction
Height	1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Criminal status	Executed
Conviction	Crimes against humanity during the Dujail massacre
Trial	Trial of Saddam Hussein
Criminal penalty	Death by hanging
Reward amount	$25 million[2]
Date apprehended	13 December 2003
Saddam Hussein's voice Saddam recites an oath of office following the 1995 Iraqi presidential referendum.

This article is part of a series about Saddam Hussein
Personal Early life Saddamism Family Uday Qusay Raghad Rana Sajida Talfah Rise to power 1959 Mosul uprising Ramadan Revolution 17 July Revolution First Iraqi–Kurdish War Yom Kippur War Second Iraqi–Kurdish War 1974–75 Shatt al-Arab conflict 1975 Algiers Agreement 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge Presidency Iran–Iraq War Invasion of Iran Dujail massacre Anfal campaign Halabja massacre Invasion of Kuwait Gulf War missile attacks Israel Saudi Arabia 1991 Iraqi uprisings 1999 Shia uprising 2003 invasion of Iraq Battle of Baghdad Firdos Square statue destruction Human rights record Al-Qaeda link allegations Timeline Nuclear weapon program Operation Opera Presidential trips Desposition Capture Interrogation Trial Execution Reactions Elections and referendums 1995 Iraqi presidential referendum 2002 Iraqi presidential referendum Novels Blood Quran Zabibah and the King The Fortified Castle Men and the City Begone, Demons
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Part of a series on
Ba'athism
Organizations Arab Ba'ath 1940–1947 Arab Ba'ath Movement 1940–1947 Ba'ath Party 1947–1966 Baath Party (pro-Iraqi) 1968–2003 Baath Party (pro-Syrian) 1966–2024
Variants Neo-Ba'athism 1966–2024 Saddamism 1979–2003
People Zaki al-Arsuzi Michel Aflaq Salah al-Din al-Bitar Abdullah Rimawi Wahib al-Ghanim Fuad al-Rikabi Salah Jadid Hafez al-Assad Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr Saddam Hussein Bashar al-Assad Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri
Literature On the Way of Resurrection The Battle for One Destiny The Genius of Arabic in Its Tongue
History Ba'athist Iraq Attempted assassination of Abdul-Karim Qasim Ramadan Revolution November 1963 coup d'état 17 July Revolution 1979 Ba'ath Party Purge Iran–Iraq War Gulf War UN sanctions Iraq War De-Ba'athification Ba'athist Syria Syrian Committee to Help Iraq 1963 / 1966 coup d'états Syrian invasion of Jordan Corrective Revolution Intervention in Lebanon Syrian occupation of Lebanon Syrian civil war Fall of the Assad regime
Regional organizations Algeria pro-Iraq pro-Syria Bahrain pro-Iraq pro-Syria Egypt pro-Iraq pro-Syria Iraq pro-Iraq pro-Syria Jordan pro-Iraq pro-Syria Kuwait pro-Iraq Lebanon pro-Iraq pro-Syria Libya pro-Iraq Mauritania pro-Iraq pro-Syria Palestine pro-Iraq pro-Syria Sudan pro-Iraq pro-Syria Syria pro-Iraq pro-Syria Tunisia pro-Iraq pro-Syria Yemen pro-Iraq pro-Syria
Splinter groups Arab Socialist Revolutionary Ba'ath Party 1960–1962/63 Socialist Lebanon 1965–1970 Arab Revolutionary Workers Party 1966–present Democratic Socialist Arab Ba'ath Party 1970–present Sudanese Ba'ath Party 2002–present
Armed groups Arab Liberation Front Al-Awda Al-Abud Network Jeish Muhammad Rejectionists Snake Party Supreme Command for Jihad and Liberation Naqshbandi Army General Military Council for Iraqi Revolutionaries Free Iraqi Army
Related topics Arab nationalism Arab socialism Assadist–Saddamist conflict Nasserism Pan-Arabism Waḥda, Ḥurriyya, Ishtirākiyya
Politics portal Socialism portal
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Saddam Hussein^[c] (28 April 1937 – 30 December 2006) was an Iraqi politician and revolutionary who served as the fifth president of Iraq from 1979 until his overthrow in 2003. He previously served as the vice president from 1968 to 1979 and also as the prime minister from 1979 to 1991 and later from 1994 to 2003. A leading member of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, he espoused Ba'athism, a mix of Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, while the policies and political ideas he championed are collectively known as Saddamism.

Born near the city of Tikrit to a Sunni Arab family, Saddam joined the revolutionary Ba'ath Party in 1957. He played a key role in the 17 July Revolution that brought the Ba'athists to power and made him vice president under Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr. During his tenure as the vice president, Saddam nationalized the Iraq Petroleum Company, diversifying the economy, and introduced free healthcare and education. Saddam attempted to ease tensions among Iraq's religious and ethnic groups. He presided over the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War, crushing the Kurdish insurgency, and signed the Algiers Agreement with Iran in 1975, settling territorial disputes along the Iran–Iraq border. Following al-Bakr's resignation in 1979, Saddam formally took power. During his presidency, positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunni Arabs, a minority that made up only about a fifth of the Iraqi population.

Upon taking office as president in 1979, Saddam purged rivals within his party. In 1980, he ordered the invasion of Iran, purportedly to capture Iran's Arab-majority Khuzestan province, and end Iranian attempts to export its Islamic Revolution to the Arab world. In 1988, as the war with Iran ended in a stalemate, he ordered the Anfal campaign against Kurdish rebels who had sided with Iran. Later, he accused his former ally Kuwait of slant-drilling Iraq's oil reserves and subsequently invaded the country in 1990. This ultimately led to the Gulf War in 1991, which ended in Iraq's defeat by a United States-led coalition. In the war's aftermath, Saddam's forces suppressed the 1991 Iraqi uprisings launched by Kurds and Shias seeking regime change, as well as further uprisings in 1999. After reconsolidating his hold on power, Saddam pursued an Islamist agenda for Iraq through the Faith Campaign. In 2003, a US-led coalition invaded Iraq, falsely accusing him of developing weapons of mass destruction and of having ties with al-Qaeda. Coalition forces quickly toppled Saddam's regime and captured him. During his trial, Saddam was convicted by the Iraqi High Tribunal of crimes against humanity and sentenced to death by hanging. He was executed on 30 December 2006.

A highly polarizing and controversial figure, Saddam dominated Iraqi politics for 35 years and was the subject of a cult of personality. Many Arabs regard Saddam as a resolute leader who challenged Western imperialism, opposed the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and resisted foreign intervention in the region. Conversely, many Iraqis, particularly Shias and Kurds, perceive him negatively as a tyrant responsible for numerous acts of repression, mass killing and other injustices. Human Rights Watch estimated that Saddam's regime was responsible for the murder or disappearance of 250,000 to 290,000 Iraqis. Saddam's government has been described by several analysts as authoritarian and totalitarian, and by some as fascist, although the applicability of those labels has been contested.

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