Fidel Castro biography, Assassination attempts, Death and Top quotes

Fidel Castro 

Fidel Castro was the personification of the evil dictator- clad in his familiar khaki uniform and cap and chomping on his cigar, he ruled with an iron fist over his island nation.

Fidel Castro took on the United States and brought the world to the brink of nuclear holocaust. Shifting attention to his own country he decimated the economy, creating a Communistic dictatorship that forced the people to revere him, even as he ruined their lives.

Personal life of Fidel Castro

Personal Life Fidel Castro
Born	August 13th, 1926 Manassas in northern Oriente, Cuba
Died	November 25, 2016 (aged 90)
Education	law school, University of Havana
Political Party	Communist Party of Cuba
Fidel Castro Children	Alina Fernández, Fidel Castro Díaz-Balart
Fidel Castro Books	My Life: A Spoken Autobiography, History will Absolve Me, Che, Fidel Castro Reader, Fidel and religion, My Early years, Obama and the Empire, The Declaration of Hawana .etc

Fidel Castro Early Life

Birth of a Dictator Fidel Castro was born on August 13th, 1926, in the small farming village of Manassas in northern Oriente, Cuba. His father, Angel Castro y Igas, had immigrated from Spain in 1898 and picked up work as a bricklayer and railroad worker before starting his own business selling lemonade to field workers. From this humble start, he built a small sugarcane empire comprising 26,000 acres and 300 worker families.

Angel’s first wife, Maria Argota, gave birth to two children and then either died or simply walked out on the family. Angel soon took up with his young maid, Lina Ruz Gonzalez, who bore him three children; Angela, Ramon, and Fidel. 

The couple was married shortly after Fidel’s birth. They were a relatively wealthy family who lived in a Galician style two-story country house. Still, they lived a decidedly country lifestyle with chickens and pigs wandering through the house. Fidel was named after a local politician, with his name meaning ‘Faithful’. He had his father’s temperament, which meant that he was prone to violent outbursts. 

His sister recalls that if he was playing baseball and his team was losing he would simply gather up the equipment and walk off the field. A close friend and future novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez recalled that Fidel was the worst loser he had ever met. 

Fidel Castro Education

When he reached school age, Fidel was sent to study in Santiago, the second-largest city in Cuba. For the first two years, he stayed with his Godparents and as homeschooled by them. After that, he was enrolled at the Marist LaSalle School along with brothers Ramon and Raul. Fidel soon gained a reputation as a troublemaker and a bully.

When Fidel Castro was in the fourth grade, Fidel’s father received a letter stating that his three boys were the biggest bullies in the tired school. Angel was furious and pulled the boys out of the school. This enraged Fidel who threatened to burn down the house. He ended up being set to a more demanding Jesuit school in Havana, with his father threatening to cut off his allowance if his grades dropped below a certain level. 

Fidel responded by forging his school reports. Castro proved to be a decidedly average student but there was one area in which he excelled. He had a photographic memory, a fact which hugely impressed his fellow students. They would call him a page number from their textbooks and he would recite the page word for word. In his teens, Fidel began to develop his ability as a public speaker and debater. After an initial rejection, he gained acceptance into the Allevenada Literary Academy, which was the literary wing at the Jesuit school. At first, he was paralyzed by stage fright but he gradually became more relaxed and confident in his presentations. 

In October 1945, Fidel entered law school at the University of Havana. At the time the university was a self-governing body that forbade the police or army from setting foot on campus. As a result, it was a hotbed of clandestine activity by gangsters and political agitators. It was a very attractive environment for hot-headed Castro. Political Agitator Fidel’s first foray into political agitation was precipitated by a rise in bus fares that had been authorized by Cuban President Ramon Grau. Castro organized a protest against the fare rise and led a march to the Presidential palace. The police beat the students, with Fidel himself receiving slight injuries. He used the incident to his advantage by going to the press and receiving some sympathetic coverage. 

At the time that Castro enrolled at the university, there were two main gangster groups who were vying for control; the Socialist Revolutionary Movement (MSR) and the Insurrectional Revolutionary Union (UIR). There were frequent violent clashes between the two groups. Fidel quickly sized up the situation and began to maneuver between the two groups. 

Assassination attempts on Fidel Castro 

In December 1946 there was an assassination attempt on a leading member of the UIR and Castro was fingered as the trigger man, his assumed motive being to ingratiate himself with MSR leadership. As it turned out, it was the leader of UIR, Emilio Tro, who took Castro under his wing.

He gave Fidel a pistol, which the young budding revolutionary carried with him at all times. Tro had been planning an invasion of the Dominican Republic in conjunction with a group of Dominican exiles in response to the terrible conditions brought about by the rule of Rafael Trujillo. Castro quickly jumped on board and sailed with about 12,000 fellow revolutionaries to Cayo Confites on July 29th, 1947. 

For two months they underwent paramilitary training before setting off for the Dominican mainland. Meanwhile, Trujillo had learned of the planned attack and had even appealed to the United States for aid. The revolutionary leaders got cold feet and called off the invasion and the embarrassed Cuban army began rounding up the ships and taking the would-be attackers into custody. Castro manages to evade custody by jumping ship and swimming the eight miles to shore. 

The political career of Fidel Castro

In 1947, Castro visited a new model prison on the Isle of Pines as part of his legal studies. When he returned to Havana he criticized the prison and its inhumane treatment of its inhabitants. The following year he was part of a student congress that traveled to Bogota, Colombia. 

On April 7th, the group met with the leader of the Liberal Party, Jorge Gaitan, who looked likely to win the upcoming general election. Two days later, Gaitan was shot dead. Bogota erupted in violence and the students from Cuba were caught in the middle of it. Castro became actively involved, participating in the takeover of a police station. After three days, the authorities restored order, but not before some 3,500 people had been killed. Castro returned to Havana where he became a follower of Senator Eddie Chibas, the main opponent of President Grau. 

Chibas was the founder of the Cuban People’sParty. Castro campaigned hard for Chibas in his unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 1948. Still, the two men were never close. Chibas saw Fidel as somewhat of an embarrassment due to his gangster background and Fidel only ever viewed the leader as an obstacle to his own path to power. 

Budding Politician In order to gain political respectability, Fidel cut off association with his gangster associates. He gave speeches on campus denouncing the two main gangs and naming names of those who were responsible for criminal activity. This made him a target for both groups and he was forced into hiding. Around this time Fidel, who was generally awkward and shy around women, met Mirta Diaz-Balart, the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Cuba. The couple fell in love and were married in 1948, with Mirta’s father gifting them $10,000 for a three-month honeymoon in the United States. 

Most of their time was sent in New York, where Fidel learned some English. Returning to Cuba, the newlyweds moved into a hotel across the street from a military camp in Havana. In September 1949 Mirta gave birth to a son, who would come to be known as Fidelito. Having graduated from University, Fidel began a small law practice. Most of his time, however, was spent dabbling in politics. 

On August 15th, 1951, People’s Party leader Eddie Chibas was giving his usual Sunday radio address, urging the people to stop accepting the corruption of the government and take action. He then pulled out a pistol and shot himself in the stomach. The dramatic act was intended to rouse the people but Chibas had spoken for too long and his suicide attempt was not broadcast. For the next eleven days, Chibas lay in a hospital bed in terrible agony. At his side, the whole time was Fidel Castro. When the leader died, Castro was a prominent part of the honor guard that stood outside the University Hall of Honor, where Chibaslay in the state. 

As the military escort prepared to lead the body through the streets in a large procession, Castro entreated the captain to divert the route to the Presidential Palace. Fidel was convinced that he could rouse the people to overthrow the government. But the army captain refused, fearing that a bloodbath would ensue. 

The following year, Castro ran for a seat on the Chamber of Deputies. He managed to garner the support of the majority of the People’s Party members and looked in line to win in the upcoming election. However, on March 10th, former president Fulgencio Batista staged a military coup and seized power. He began rounding up political adversaries, including members of the People’s Party. 

Fidel and his brother Raoul went into hiding. The Batista coup diverted Castro from what could have been a promising diplomatic career in favor of becoming a fully-fledged revolutionary. He gathered together his own political group, drawn from former People’s Party members and followers from his University days. Traveling up and down the country, he put his oratorical and propaganda skills to full effect. After fourteen months, he had a following of 12,000 people. Rebel Leader Castro ran his organization with military precision and discipline. Drinking alcohol was forbidden and he imposed strict sexual standards. He also organized his forces at a cellular level, with members of each cell being unaware of the existence of other cells. 

By the middle of 1953, Castro had the support base he needed to stage his own coup. What he didn’t have were weapons - or the money to buy them. His solution was to attack a military base and seize its weapons. The base selected was located at Moncado. The attack, however, was bungled from the start - one of the twenty-six vehicles en route to the base had a flat tire; another took a wrong turn and did not arrive until the attack was well underway. When the remainder of the vehicles arrived at the base they were surprised to find it heavily fortified. The military defenders soon beat back the invaders, with eight of Castro’s men being killed. 

The remainder fled, but over the next few days, many of them were rounded up by the authorities. Sixty-nine of them were tortured and then put to death. Castro himself was put on trial before a military tribunal. He used the opportunity to speak out about the regime of Batista and the harsh treatment of his fellow revolutionaries. His courtroom defense statement ‘History Will Absolve Me’ would become probably his most famous speech. Still, he was convicted and sentenced to 15years imprisonment. Castro and his followers were sent to the Isle of Pines prison. 

Fidel used his time there to instill a supreme level of order and discipline in his men. The Castro rebels gained a reputation for their good behavior and were given ever greater freedoms. On May 6th, 1954, bowing to public pressure, President Batista granted amnesty to Castro and his men. The show of good faith from the president, however, did not stop Castro from speaking about the regime. When two of his men were badly beaten by Batista enforcers, Fidel became increasingly concerned for his own safety. 

Fidel Castro would move houses every two to three days and then, just two months after being released from prison, he left Cuba for Mexico. It was Castro's plan to build up and train a new wing of his revolutionary army in Mexico and then return to join forces with those already in Havana in a huge push to oust the Batista regime. His Mexican army began as a group of about sixty Cuban defectors who lived in six small houses under strict disciplinary conditions imposed by Fidel. It was during this period that Castro met Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, who would play a key role in the coming revolution. 

Castro launched his revolution in late November 1956 from the port of Tuxpan on the Mexican coast. It was planned to coincide with another uprising organized by a rival anti-Batista group. Fidel had bought a 60-foot boat that was designed to take a maximum of 25 passengers and piled 82 of his men on board. As it chugged its way toward Cub, the boat was in constant danger of capsizing. The journey was so slow that the planned five-day trip took seven days, meaning that they would miss the uprising of the other group. The boat beached at a place called Purgatory Point on December 2nd. But by now Batista’s army, who had already put down the first rebellion, had learned that Castro was on his way and had planes overhead ready to strafe the invaders and bomb the area. Only about a dozen men survived, Castro and Guevara among them. They began a three-day march through the forest, constantly being hounded from the air by the Cuban air force. They finally reached the Sierra Maestra region where they settled with the local villagers and began to regroup. 

Six weeks later Castro led thirty-three menon a guerilla raid on a tiny army garrison in La Plata. Two soldiers were killed and the rebels stole off with a number of weapons. A month after this attack, Castro decided it was time to get his propaganda machine in motion. He sent one of his men to Havana to bring foreign journalists back to the camp. The man chosen was from the New York Times and soon a three-part story had appeared in that paper describing the massive military buildup that Castro was organizing in the south of Cuba. Castro's support base grew exponentially, with more and more disaffected Cubans joining his ranks. 

In March 1958, younger brother Raoul began to establish a second force out of Oriente, which soon grew in number. Raoul proved to be a highly capable military commander, with his force capturing and destroying many planes, tanks, and military vehicles. In April, Fidel called upon the people of Cuba to stage a nationwide strike. He believed that this would be the start of his long-planned for the uprising. President Bautista responded by threatening to shoot anyone who participated in the strike. As a result, more than 140 people were shot down in the street. But this action only fuelled Castro’s support base and even more, people streamed to him. With the tide now decidedly turned in his favor, Castro decided to move. He sent Che Guevara and another of his commanders, Camilo Cienfuegos, on a westward march toward Havana, along with their rebel forces. The government forces put up virtually no resistance and the rebels were able to take control, one town after another. 

On December 31st, 1958, with Castro’s enclosing in, Batista resigned and fled the country. Three days later, Castro arrived in Santiago to a hero’s welcome. He gave a speech in front of 200,000 people. Hours later, Guevara and Cienfuegos marched into Havana and seized control of the reigns of power. The Castro era had begun. Castro’s Cuba The transfer of power was amazingly orderly. Castro had wanted his men against looting or destroying property. He had come to power on the backs of a huge army of poor and illiterate peasants. 

Now that he had gained power, he would need educated men to help him to govern. He chose to appoint his former professor, Jose Miro Cardona, as prime minister and Manuel Urrutia to be president. He made himself supreme commander of armed forces. Behind the scenes, however, Castro put the organization in place to ensure that he was the holder of overall power. In the weeks following the revolution, more than 500 Batista officials were tried, convicted, and put to death. That number would rise to 1,900 over the coming year. Within 7 months of seizing power, Castro decided that he no longer had any need for the puppet government. On July 16th, he announced that he was resigning from his position as an army commander because he could no longer work with President Urrutia, who he accused of corruption. Castro then disappeared for a number of days. 

Just as Fidel had intended, the people rose up in protest and demanded that the President must go. A frightened Urrutia sought sanctuary in the Venezuelan embassy before escaping the country. This allowed Castro to return in triumph and appoint himself as President. Castro now imposed totalitarian rule. Those who did not give him their absolute support were in danger of being seized and put on trial or simply shot. Within a few short months all signs of resistance within Cuba, including critical media, had been removed. 

Now Castro fixed his attention on securing external security. A focus was put on increasing the size and strength of the army. Six months after seizing power, Castro visited the United States, where he was greeted with enthusiasm by the media, politicians, and public alike. Behind the scenes, however, the Eisenhower government was already making plans for Castro’s removal. International Tensions In February 1960, the Cuban leader signed an agreement with the Russians, by which Cuban sugar would be traded for military arms and oil. This was at the height of the Cold War and many of the oil refineries in Cuba were American-owned. When the owners refused to process Soviet oil imports, Castro seized their businesses. 

The US Government responded by cutting 700,000tons from the US annual purchase commitment. In turn, Castro nationalized US-owned agricultural and industrial businesses. Castro's’ move had a huge impact on theUS Mafia, which lost about $100 million worth of property in the tourist industry alone. 

During the period of the nationalization of industry, more than 200,000 professional and upper-class citizens fled the country. Relations between the United States and Cuba governments became so strained that, in March 1960, President Eisenhower green-lighted the training of a group of Cuban exiles to stage an invasion to seek control. The ball was picked up by President Kennedy, resulting in the disastrous Bay of Pigs invasion. Castro had gotten wind of the invasion and had his forces ready and waiting. With the lack of promised US air support, the Cuban rebels were cut to pieces. 

On December 1st, 1961 Castro went on national television and declared that he was a Marxist-Leninist and would be one until the day he died. The Soviets took a wary view of their newly declared Communist fellow but the Americans responded immediately, imposing a total economic blockade of Cuba. This led to economic disaster, with massive food shortages resulting. Finally, the Soviet Government decided to embrace Castro. They offered to station Soviet missiles on the island. In mid-October, 1962 the American government got concrete evidence of the missile operation, leading to what became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

President Kennedy placed a total military blockade around Cuba and announced that a military attack from Cuba on any nation would be seen as a direct attack by the Soviet Union on the United States. Castro urged the Russians to make a pre-emptive strike on the United States if the Americans attacked his island. After thirteen days, during the world was hair-trigger away from Nuclear destruction, the Russians backed down and agreed to remove the missiles. 

Castro was left completely out of the negotiation process - and he was not happy. Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev tried to placate him by inviting Castro on a 40-day trip through the Soviet Union. Durg the trip, Khrushchev offered to provide economic aid to the struggling island. In 1965 the United States announced that it was willing to take in Cuban refugees. This led to a mass exodus with a resultant huge loss of skills and manpower. 

The Sugar Cane Fiasco With the international situation had settled, Castro set his focus on making agricultural reforms to improve the economy. He wanted to increase the sugar harvest and set a target for national production in 1965 of 5.5 million tons, increasing to 10 million tons by 1970. These expectations, however, were totally unreasonable. Still, he poured nearly all of the country's economic resources into the sugarcane industry, leaving all other economic activity barren. The whole country, including the elderly, young children, and military workers were put to work in the fields in a desperate quest to reach his targets. Even Castro himself was said to have cut cane for four hours every day. As the rest of the Cuban economy fell by between 20 and 40%, the sugarcane project failed dismally to reach its projected targets. 

In 1970, Castro announced that the plan had failed. Typical of his flair for the dramatic he resigned his presidency. The people demanded the returns and soon he was back in power with the sugar cane crisis behind him. Throughout the 1970s Castro began looking for ways to extend his influence abroad. He began involving himself in revolutionary movements and sending forces to train and lead various guerrilla operations. His support of civil wars in Angola and Somalia up more of his country's limited resources. During the early 1980s, sugar prices and production had increased significantly. This allowed the Cuban economy to grow at a rate of 24%. But when the sugar price slumped dramatically, ballooning Cuba’s international debt to the west to $6 billion. 

At the same time, she owed $19 billion to the Soviet Union. The Soviets tried to help by increasing trade but, with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1989, all the agreements fell apart. The already weak Cuban economy was severely restricted. Strict rationing was put in place, the electricity supply became sporadic and tractors were replaced with ox-drawn carts. With his country on the brink of collapse,in 1993 Castro allowed Cubans to start private businesses. 

The following year he permitted foreign investors to own Cuban businesses. The economy, which had declined by 40% in the past three years, finally began to grow. The Death of a Dictator By the 1990’s Castro was an aging, isolated, and largely depressed dictator. The majority of his close associates were either dead or had been exiled. He still kept up his habit of only staying in a place for two or three nights, so he was constantly being moved around in a bulletproof Mercedes limousine. 

Fidel Castro Death

During this period Castro’s tight grip on the country seemed to loosen slightly. But then, in March 2003, he imposed a crackdown which saw scores of journalists, students, and professional people arrested as dissidents of the regime. In July 2006, the eighty-year-old Castro underwent surgery for internal bleeding. The following year he handed over the Presidential reins to his brother Raul. From then on, Fidel’s health gradually deteriorated. The end came on November 26, 2016, thought he exact cause of his death was never released. The country was in mourning for nine days. 

Top quotes by Cuba’s revolutionary leader Fidel Castro 

1. Men do not shape destiny, Destiny produces the man for the hour.
2. They talk about the failure of socialism but where is the success of capitalism in Africa, Asia, and Latin America?
3. A revolution is not a bed of roses.
4. I think that a man should not live beyond the age when he begins to deteriorate when the flame that lighted the brightest moment of his life has weakened.
5. I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating… because it causes war, hypocrisy, and competition.
6. One of the greatest benefits of the revolution is that even our prostitutes are college graduates.
7. I am nearing 90. I will soon pass away like everyone else. The time will come for all of us, but the ideas of Cuban communists are evidence that in case if we work with pathos and dignity, we can produce material and cultural values people need,” a 2016 speech at a congress of the Cuban Communist Party.
8. I am a Marxist Leninist and I will be one until the last day of my life.

Marshal of the Indian Air Force Arjan Singh | Strange Military Stories

What Indian Air Force was in 1947 and to what glory it has reached in 2017 is all because of Marshal of Indian Air Force Arjan Singh.A fighter pilot, a war hero, reformist, a philanthropist and a legend, Arjan Singh died a  hero on 16 September in Research and Referral Army Hospital. A five star general, who always glad to his uniform. 

Marshal Arjan Singh was born on 15 April 1919 in Lyallpur, Punjab now Faisalabad in Pakistan in a distinguished military family. His father was a Lance Daffadar in the Hodson's Horse at the time of his birth, and retired as a full Risaldar of the Cavalry, serving for a time as ADC to a Division Commander.Arjan Singh was commissioned in the nascent India Air Force as a pilot officer in December1939 at the age of just 19 years.

 On 15 August 1947 Arjan Singh led the first fly-past of independent India over the Red Fort. He proved his leadership qualities in the two operational tenures on the Burma Front during the Second World War, first as a Pilot officer with Tigers Squadron and subsequently as the Commander of the same Squadron.As a consummate Squadron Commander, flying Hurricane fighters in defence of Imphal in1944, beseiged by the Japanese, he had displayed masterly leadership. In an unprecedented step,the then Supreme Allied Commander of the South East Asian Command, Lord Mountbatten, had personally awarded him the Distinguished Flying Cross on the battlefield for his leadership and performance in defeating the Japanese. Arjan Singh held many important posts in the IAF before taking over as Air Marshal in August 1964. 

The Pakistan Air Force was led by his batchmate from Cranwell, Air Marshal Asghar Khan, at the time. During the skirmish at Kutch in early 1965, the two chiefs had established contact and agreed on keeping the two airforces out, to prevent any inadvertent escalation. But once Pakistan had launched Operation Grandslamto cut off Jammu and Kashmir from the rest of India by launching a military attack inAkhnoor in September 1965, the then army chief, General J N Chaudhuri, had met him at VayuBhawan and suggested that the Pakistani assault would best be stopped by the IAF.

Arjan Singh and Chaudhuri had then gone to meet the defence minister, Y B Chavan, whofamously gave them the go ahead. As Arjan Singh later recounted, Pakistan had a qualitativelysuperior force that included modern fighters such as F-86 Sabres and F-104 Starfighters.The Indian Air Force had Mysteres, Vampires, Ouragans, Hunters, and Gnats in its inventory.We were fighting against all odds as they had air-to-air missiles and we just had afew Russian MiGs that were not used much in the war.In the subsequent weeks though, the IAF had established its air superiority, with deep-penetrationattacks against enemy targets, including the farthest Pakistani airfields like Peshawarand Mauripur. Arjan Singh continued to believe that the1965 War ended in a stalemate despite India being in an advantageous position. 

When the talk about cease-fire started, I had advised Shastriji (Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri),who was under enormous international pressure, against accepting it, he later recounted.On the other hand, Pakistan was losing its aircraft at a fast rate and was keen on accepting the ceasefire. However, because of international pressure and other considerations,India agreed to the ceasefire. For his meritorious services during the 1965Indo-Pak War, Arjan Singh was honoured with the Padma Vibhushan. On January 15, 1966,he became the first officer of the IAF to be promoted to the rank of Air Chief Marshal,at par with a General. 

In 2002, on the occasion of Republic Day,Arjan Singh was granted the honorary rank of Marshal, the highest military rank attainable.Before him only two Army chiefs, K M Carriappa and Sam Manekshaw, were the only five stargenerals of same rank. He continued to serve the country in various capacities even after retirement in July 1969. In 1971, he was made India's Ambassadorto Switzerland and in 1974, the High Commissioner to Kenya. He also served as a member of theMinorities Commission and as the Lt Governor of Delhi.Arjan Singh in a true sense not only modernized Indian Air Force but also lived for the welfareof air warriors. He is a legend and legend live forever even in death. May his soul rest in peace. Jai hind! 

Saddam Hussein Biography | Son, daughter, family

Saddam Hussein was one of the world’s most notorious and ruthless leaders. Since coming to power in 1979, Saddam used any means necessary to hold into Iraq including killing anyone who stood in his way. At a young age he was brutalized at home,ran away to his uncles, and quickly became a thug for an extremist political party. As he raised through the ranks and took over,he modernized the country -- and ruled through fear. Eventually his greed, defiance, and murderous ways led to the gallows.

Early Life

On April 28, 1937, Saddam Hussein was born to a peasant woman in a mud and straw village called Al-Awja near Tikrit, on the banks of the Tigris River. Saddam bore the physical mark of his tribe on the wrist of his right hand; a tattoo of three dark blue dots. Most people in his village lived in severe poverty and life was difficult. Saddam’s father, a sheepherder, disappeared before he was born. Then, a few months later, Saddam’s 12-year-old brother died from cancer. This sent Saddam’s mother Subha into a crippling depression and she attempted to abort her unborn baby and kill herself. She failed and when her infant son was bornshe named him Saddam, which means in Arabic the “one who confronts,” or “the stubbornone.” Without a husband, Subha didn’t have themeans to support her baby. She sent Saddam to live with her brother KhairallahTalfah, a retired army officer and Arab nationalist in Tikrit. Saddam lived with him for only three years,until Talfah was imprisoned due to his part in a coup to overthrow the pro-British governmentin Iraq. 

By this time, Saddam’s mother had remarried a man named Ibrahim Hassan. Villagers knew him as “Hassan the liar.” Back at his mother’s home, the young Saddam endured regular beatings and maltreatment at the hands of his stepfather. Neighbors and early friends of Saddam recall Hassan beating him to wake in the morning and regularly shouting things like, “Youson of a dog, I don't want you!” He was forbidden from going to school, and instead was made to be useful by stealing goats and chickens for the family. If Saddam was caught stealing -- it has been said -- he would rather poison the animals than return them to their owners. 

At the age of 10, Saddam heard his uncle had been released from prison and he fled to Tikrit to be with him. Talfah filled the boy with dreams of glory,saying he would be a great leader of Iraq someday. He gave Saddam his first real possession -- a handgun. Saddam reportedly used the weapon to threatens his primary school teachers and he may have murdered a man when he was not yet a teenager. According to the story, after the killing police showed up at Talfah’s house and found Saddam sleeping with the gun, still warm,under his pillow. Under his uncle’s care, Saddam was finally able to go to school but he learned much more than how to read and write. 

Through the years he was deeply influenced by Talfa’s politics and after leaving the al-Karh Secondary School in 1957, at the age of 20, Saddam joined the Arab Ba’ath Socialist Party as a low-level thug and gunman. The party was formed in Syria in 1947 with the ultimate goal of unifying the various Arab states in the Middle East. At the time, it was the most radical, nationalist party in Iraq and it had become an underground revolutionary force. When he was 22, Saddam played a major role in the Ba’ath Party’s assassination attempt of the then-Iraqi Prime Minister Abdul Karim Qassim. During the attack on October 7, 1959, Saddam and other assassins ambushed Qassim’s car on Baghdad’s busiest street. The Prime Minister’s chauffeur was killed but Qassim was spared, surviving gunshot wounds in the arm and shoulder. Saddam escaped with a bullet in his leg. 

The official version of the story portrays Saddam as a hero who dug the bullet out with a penknife. Another version suggests that the plot failed because Saddam opened fire prematurely. Several of the would-be assassins were caught, tried and executed but not Saddam. He managed to flee to Syria before eventually seeking refuge in Egypt. While in Egypt, Saddam studied law at the University of Cairo. Saddam returned to Iraq in 1963 after a successful military overthrow of Qassim's government. After his return, Saddam was recruited for yet another assassination. The Ba’ath Party suffered from infightingand a coup was planned to overthrow the leader. The plan was ultimately betrayed however and Saddam became a wanted man. He was forced into hiding but was caught and imprisoned in 1964. While in captivity, he remained active inparty politics and read up on his role models -- tyrants Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler.

Saddam Hussein

In 1966, Saddam escaped prison thanks to the help of sympathetic prison guards. Afterwards, he was appointed deputy secretary of the Regional Command, and became a rising star in the Baa'th organization. Rise to Power in 1968, another successful coup in Iraq put Saddam’s Ba’ath party in power and President American Hassan al-Bakr (Saddam’s cousin) named him deputy and head of the secret police. Saddam proved to be a ruthless, but effective politician. Within government, he either eliminated orco-opted individuals who stood in his way. Eventually, he clawed his way to become the vice president of Iraq’s Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), the core group that held Iraq’s Ba’athist government together. Although not the official president of Iraq until 1979, Saddam truly held the reins from the early 1970s onward. When the Ba’ath Party seized control, it did not enjoy wide-spread support across the country. That changed after Saddam nationalized Iraq’ soil industry in the early 1970s before the energy crisis of 1973. 

As a result, the nation enjoyed a boom tothe economy and the massive earnings allowed the Ba’athist government to fund the health, education, and public works sectors and expand social programs. In an attempt to wipe out illiteracy, Saddam required all children to attend school and made it free through high school. He also provided free hospitalization to all Iraqis and full economic support to the families of Iraqis soldiers. Such reforms were unheard of in any other middle Eastern country. In the years before the Iran-Iraq War construction became one of the prized occupations of Iraq’s middle class. It is also important to note, 40 percent of the increased revenue from oil went to buying armaments from Western and Soviet suppliers. That figure increased at the onset of the war with Iran. 

In 1979, when al-Bakr attempted to unite Iraq and Syria, in a move that would have left Saddam effectively powerless, Saddam forcedal-Bakr to resign, and on July 16, 1979, Saddam Hussein became president of Iraq. Five days later, he called an assembly ofthe Ba'ath Party -- consisting of roughly 250 people. At the meeting, party officials sat mystified as Saddam made the announcement he had uncovered a plot against him -- and he claimed the conspirators were in the room. An alleged informant then read a list of 68 names out loud, and each person was promptly arrested and removed. All the individuals were eventually tried and found guilty of treason. Twenty-two were sentenced to death. The whole ordeal was filmed and circulated around Iraq. This was an intentional, well-scripted display of Saddam’s power and a clear message of who was in charge. Three months later, Saddam declared 14 people(up to 13 of them Jews), part of a “Zionist spy ring.” He made a very public, carnival-like display out of their execution by stringing them up before a crowd of thousands in downtown Baghdad. Over the next several months, Saddam had more“plotters” murdered live on television and he hung them up on city lampposts. To guard against coups and ensure loyalty,Saddam surrounded himself with kin -- putting his fellow clansmen in government positions. He regularly used informants and the secret police to route out suspected conspirators. If anyone so much as made a joke about Saddam,they could have their tongue cut out or pay with their life. He believed it was better to murder a person of suspicion and be wrong -- than it is was to not, and be killed by them. 

Personal Life 

Saddam married his first cousin, Sajida -- his uncle Talfah’s daughter. They had five children including two sons,Uday and Qusay, and three daughters, Raghad, Rana and Hala. He took on mistresses but did not parade them around publically. Later on, when his sons grew up, he gave them high-ranking positions within Iraq’s government. Saddam’s public image was meticulously crafted-- he dyed his hair black, sported a mustache, and refused to wear his reading glasses unless in private. He had a slight limp due to a slipped discso he was never filmed walking for more than a few steps. He was 6’ tall, and his weight fluctuated from trim to chubby but his well-tailored suits were made to disguise his protruding belly. Each of his 20 palaces was kept fully staffed,with meals prepared daily as if he were in residence to disguise his wherea bouts. He moved around frequently and used body doubles to thwart assassination attempts. 

His meals, such delicacies like imported lobster,were first tested for radiation and poison. His wine of choice was Portuguese, MateusRose, but he never drank in public to maintain the conceit that he was a strict Muslim. Saddam was particularly phobic about germs and even top generals summoned to meet him were often ordered to strip to their underwear and their clothes were then washed, ironed and X-rayed before they could get dressed to meet him. They had to wash their hands in disinfectant. During his imprisonment, it is said he would try to maintain this cleanliness by wiping his utensils and food tray with baby wipes before eating. Throughout his rule, he maintained a limited world-view and possessed little knowledge of Western culture, laws, and advancements in technology. He was once shocked to learn there was no such law in the U.S. that prevented citizens from complaining about the President. 

Saddam Hussein family

Saddam Hussein daughter

Decades of Conflict The same year that Saddam anointed himself President of Iraq, Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini led a successful Islamic revolution. Saddam’s political power rested in part upon the support of Iraq's minority Sunni population and he worried that developments in Shi-ite majority Iran could lead to a similar uprising in Iraq. In response, on September 22, 1980, Saddam ordered Iraqi forces to invade the oil-rich region of Khuzestan in Iran -- a clear violation of international law. The conflict soon turned into an all-out war;one Saddam foolishly expected would be over in a matter of weeks. Saddam had no prior military experience and he grossly underestimated his enemy. Iran was three times the size of Iraq and a formidable opponent. A stalemate ensued, with both sides engagedin a bloody trench war. At the same time ground troops were deadlocked,Saddam sunk millions of dollars into developing nuclear weapons. In 1981, Israel took this matter seriously-- believing if Saddam had the ability, there would be no preventing him from dropping anatomic bomb on their cities. 

In June, the Israeli Air Force destroyed Iraq’s research center at Osirik. At least 25 pounds of enriched uranium were reported to have been on the site. The plant was near completion and scheduled to begin operations within a matter of months. The destruction of Iraq’s nuclear plantwas humiliating and with no end in sight to the war, Saddam consulted his cabinet. At the meeting, Saddam’s health minister suggested that he step down in order to gain the ceasefire with Iran. As the story goes, Saddam thanked him forhis candor and had him arrested on the spot. The minister’s wife pleaded with Saddam to release her husband and he promised he would. When he sent him home the next day, he was delivered in a black canvas body bag, cut up into tiny pieces. In the closing days of the war with Iran,Saddam’s murderous ways reached new heights. In his most savage act, he poisoned thousands of civilian Kurds using chemical gases, killing upwards of 5,000 people and injuring 10,000 more. The genocide became known as the Halabja Massacreor Bloody Friday. Iranian photographer Kaveh Golestan witnessed the gas attacks from a helicopter. “It was life frozen. Life had stopped, like watching a film and suddenly it hangs on one frame. It was a new kind of death to me. (…) The aftermath was worse. Victims were still being brought in. Some villagers came to our chopper. They had 15 or 16 beautiful children, beggingus to take them to hospital. So all the press sat there and we were eachhanded a child to carry. As we took off, fluid came out of my little girl's mouth and she died in my arms.” One decade after the attack, at least 700 people were still being treated for severe after effects of the Halabja Massacre. Surveys have concluded the Kurdish populationin this region suffer from a higher percentage of medical disorders, birth defects, and variousdiseases including cancers and heart disease. 

On August 20, 1988, after years of intense conflict that left one half million casualties on each side, a ceasefire agreement was finally reached. The eight year war ravaged Iraq’s economy and infrastructure. One million Iraqi soldiers were out of work. At the end of the 1980s, Saddam turned his attention toward Iraq's wealthy neighbor, Kuwait. Saddam believed the Kuwaitis had 200 billion dollars in various banks around the world. And, a takeover of this small country would yield him all the riches he needed to pay back Iraq’s war debt and stabilize his country. Using the justification that Kuwait was historically part of Iraq, Saddam ordered the invasion on August 2, 1990. It took only six hours for Saddam’s armies to the occupy the country -- a move greatly condemned around the world. A UN Security Council resolution was promptly passed, imposing sanctions and setting a deadline of January 15, 1991, for the Iraqis to leave Kuwait. 

During the occupation, Saddam staged a number of bizarre televised interviews with citizens of Kuwait in which he asked them if they were happy with the Iraqis invasion. Of course, they said yes...they didn’t have a choice! When Saddam ignored the January 15 deadline,a coalition force headed by U.S. President George H.W. Bush confronted Iraqi forces. Saddam was no match for America’s firepower and modern warfare technology. Within six weeks Saddam’s troops were out of Kuwait. A ceasefire agreement was signed, the terms of which included Iraq dismantling its germ and chemical weapons programs. The previously imposed economic sanctions levied against Iraq remained in place. 

Despite this and the fact that his militarynhad suffered a crushing defeat (an estimated 150,000 Iraqis died), Saddam claimed victory in the conflict. He called “The Mother of All Battles”his biggest victory and maintained that Iraq had actually repulsed an attack by “America and its criminal gang.” He said, “Iraq has punched a hole in themyth of American superiority and rubbed the nose of the United States in the dust.” During the 1990s, various Shi-ite and Kurdishuprisings in Iraq occurred, but the rest of the world, fearing another war, did littleor nothing to support these rebellions and they were ultimately crushed by Saddam's forces. At the same time, Iraq remained under intense international scrutiny. Saddam violated the terms of the UN’s peacedeal -- when inspectors were sent into Iraq they found and destroyed stockpiles of weapons including chemical and biological warheads and a “super gun” with missiles capable of reaching Israel. The inspectors also alleged Saddam was stillat work developing nuclear weapons. In 1993, when Iraqi forces violated a no-flyzone imposed by the UN, the U.S. launched a damaging missile attack on Baghdad. Further strikes occurred in 1998. With economic sanctions still in place inthe years following the Gulf War, Saddam continued to maintain his personal wealth, and his family’s,through selling oil and medical supplies meant for his people on the black market. While the citizens of Iraq were in dire straits,he built opulent palaces and maintained his lifestyle. 

Fall of Saddam Hussein government

Saddam's Fall after the terrorist attacks on the U.S. in September 11, 2001, President George W. Bushand members of his administration suspected Saddam’s government of having a relationship with Osama bin Laden’s al Qaeda organization. And, of possessing “weapons of mass destruction.” In his January 2002 State of the Union address,President Bush named Iraq part of his so-called "Axis of Evil," along with Iran and NorthKorea. Later that year, UN inspections of suspected weapons sites began, but little or no evidence that such programs existed was ultimately found. Despite this, on March 20, 2003, under the pretext that Iraq did in fact have a covert weapons program and that it was planning attacks,a U.S.-led coalition invaded Iraq. Within weeks, the government and military had been toppled, and on April 9, 2003, Baghdad fell. Saddam, however, managed to elude capture. In the months that followed, an intensive search for Saddam began. 

While in hiding, Saddam released several audio recordings, in which he denounced Iraq's invaders and called for resistance. Finally, on December 13, 2003, Saddam was found hiding in a hole in the ground, a bunker near a farm house in ad-Dawr, near Tikrit. The once well-dressed and groomed leader looked disheveled, unshaven and bewildered when he was arrested. Saddam was moved to a U.S. base in Baghdad,where he would remain until June 30, 2004, when he was officially handed over to the interim Iraqi government to stand trial for crimes against humanity. With his days numbered, Saddam showed no accountability or remorse for his crimes. In 2003, when asked by Iraqi politicians about his brutal acts, Saddam called the Halabja attack Iran’s handiwork; said that Kuwait was rightfully part of Iraq and that the mass graves were filled with thieves who fled the battlefield. Saddam declared that he had been “just butfirm” because Iraqis needed a tough ruler. During his trial, Saddam would prove to bea belligerent defendant, often boisterously challenging the court's authority and making bizarre statements. On November 5, 2006, Saddam was found guilty and sentenced to death. The sentencing was appealed, but was ultimately upheld by a court of appeals. On December 30, 2006, at Camp Justice, an Iraqi base in Baghdad, Saddam was executed. He was then buried in Al-Awja, his birthplace,on December 31, 2006. This closed the chapter on one of modern history’s most tyrannical and brutal dictators. 

Vladimir Putin Biography | KGB to President

Vladimir Putin Biography 

We all fall being photographed shirtless and alongside wild animals (perhaps at the same time), Vladimir Putin has cultivated an image as an intimidating and fearless figure on the world stage. He’s a martial arts expert, a fearless political actor, and a former spy... His resume holds a certain cachet in the West... As a former KGB agent he’s automatically associated with secrecy, intimidation, and the old fears Americans had of the Soviet Union for much of the 21st Century. 

Putin has said of himself that he lived for a long time as an ordinary person, and ordinary is all he wishes to be. For decades though, he has been anything but ordinary, as he has spent his life climbing the ranks of the Russian government, moving farther and farther away from his “ordinary” roots. 

 Early Life

He was born in St. Petersburg in 1952, in the midst of the Cold War. Putin had two older brothers, but both died during childhood, so Putin was raised essentially as an only child. He was an atheist as a child but now is an Eastern Orthodox Christian. During Putin’s childhood, his mother stayed at home, and his father, a veteran of World War II, worked in a factory. As an interesting aside, his grandfather was a cook who worked for Vladimir Lenin and even prepared meals for Stalin a few times! 

The Putin family lived in a communal apartment shared by three families, a home where Putin says he used to hunt rats in the stairwell, perhaps a precursor to his later fascination with hunting (and with wild animals in general). Growing up, Putin didn’t prove himself to be anything special in his early years. 

But then, at the age of 12, he discovered athletic competition… It was in the midst of a competition that Putin began to set himself apart. Martial arts was his chosen sport - particularly Sambo and Judo. Though his mother did not initially approve of his participation in these sports, Putin proved himself to be a worthy and skilled competitor in both. At one point, his coach even showed up at the Putin home to speak with his mother about how many promises he showed. 

Well, that did the trick, and his parents began to support his athletic pursuits. Putin now holds a black belt in Judo and has continued to compete in both Sambo and Judo, establishing himself as the first world leader to be at an advanced level in these sports. He also remains the President of the same dojo he practiced while growing up. Though he established himself as athletically talented, Putin did not excel academically during his childhood. 

He attended a local school for his early years, and then attended a magnet school focused on chemistry. He didn’t push himself, but his teachers saw that he had potential and encouraged him to focus as much on his school work as he did on his martial arts practice. In the sixth grade, Putin began to push himself and it showed in his grades. He was welcomed into the Young Pioneers, the youth group run by the Communist Party. This was a mark of honor, as Putin had previously been one of only a few from the class not to be welcomed into the organization… From 1970 to 1975, Putin continued his studies at Saint Petersburg State University. While there he studied law and was required to join the Communist Party. 

He later left the Party, denouncing communism in 1991 when he said of Marxism-Leninism that: “it became more and more obvious for me, more obvious truth that it was nothing more than a beautiful and harmful fairy tale.“ 

At Saint Petersburg State University Putin met Anatoly Sobchak, who would become a key figure in Putin’s political success... Sobchak was an assistant professor at the school, but he actually went on to co-author the Constitution of the Russian Federation and was also the first democratically-elected mayor of St. Petersburg. 

KGB Agent

KGB Agent Putin graduated from Saint Petersburg State University in 1975 and it was then that he joined the KGB. The KGB was the Soviet Union’s security agency for much of the twentieth century. It was created in 1954 and continued to operate until 1991 when the Soviet Union itself was dismantled. Translated to English, KGB stands for State Security Committee. It had a reputation for oppression and monitoring the actions and opinions of Soviet citizens. 

The KGB was a truly frightening organization for democracy and an indication of the dangers of Communism to westerners. The organization quelled rebellions and kept a close eye on anyone suspected to be in opposition to the Soviet regime. Putin started his career with the KGB in Leningrad, but later he was moved to Dresden, Germany. Before his transfer to Germany, Putin married. To this day he keeps his home life very private and information about his family is closely guarded. 

He and his wife Lyudmila were married from1983 until their divorce in 2013. Their divorce was seemingly amicable, with no specific reason given for it, though Lyudmila made reference to Putin’s dedication to his work and the time investment required to serve as a world leader. They have two daughters together, Maria and Yekaterina, both of whose lives remain incredibly secretive. They both used fake names to register for college, and it’s not entirely known in which country either of the Putin daughters currently lives. In 2016, European newspapers even described Maria as a ‘secret’ daughter - noting that she had not been known to be photographed during the entire length of Putin’s time in power. 
Spy to President 

For a former spy and a powerful man with many enemies, it is perhaps sensible that his daughters have maintained this secret life... Putin has stated: “I have a private life in which I do not permit interference. It must be respected.” Putin moved with his family to Dresden, where he served with the KGB for five years. He was fluent in German, and still speaks the language today, and has stated that he feels more comfortable using German than English. Putin served in the Dresden post from 1985to 1990, working as an undercover agent. playing the part of a translator... The work, though not all of what Putin did is known, wasn’t necessarily particularly exciting. Much of it was simply amassing information on people, ensuring they were remained loyal to the Soviets and were not plotting any kind of rebellion... In 1989, the situation became dicier for Soviets stationed in Dresden... 

During one incident, as it became more clear that East Germany was falling out of Soviet control, Putin and his colleagues feared for their lives as crowds stormed the KGB headquarters in Dresden. Putin called in the Soviet military for help, but was told nothing could be done to help them unless Moscow gave the order. Something Moscow never did. While Putin and his colleagues survived that day, it had become increasingly clear that the situation was unstable. 

During this time, Putin and other KGB agents began burning files so that when the day came and their headquarters was overtaken or abandoned, or both, no files would be left in the hands of their enemies. Post-KGB Life The Berlin Wall fell in November of 1989, and soon after Putin and his family returned to Russia. By this point, Putin held the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the KGB. However, the KGB was nearing the end of its existence, and Putin was able to find work at the State University of Saint Petersburg. He was no ordinary professor though... he was still working with the KGB. 

Part of his job included keeping an eye out for students who showed promise as potential new KGB recruits. Through this job, Putin was also able to reconnect with his former professor Anatoly Sobchak. Sobchak was elected the Mayor of St. Petersburg in 1991, and Putin joined his team as an adviser. He worked for Sobchak until 1996. When Sobchak lost re-election Putin could have opted to continue working for his successor, but Putin believed that taking a job with Sobchak’s political opponent would be disloyal, and he instead chose to move to Moscow to begin working with the Yeltsin Administration. 

Politics During Boris Yeltsin’s presidency, Putin quickly rose through the ranks, first serving as Deputy Chief Administrator for the Kremlin(Russia’s version of the White House), and by 1999 he was named the Secretary of the Security Council and became Yeltsin’s chief advisor on matters of foreign relations and intelligence. Then, Putin’s career really got a boost… Yeltsin decided he didn’t want to keep his current Prime Minister, so he got rid of him. 

That was in August of 1999 - Putin was the beneficiary of this decision as Yeltsin named Vladimir Putin to the post. Yeltsin offered Putin the position as a “Prime Minister with prospects,” somewhat foreshadowing the next step in Putin’s career... Only months after naming Putin as Prime Minister, Boris Yeltsin himself stepped down and Vladimir Putin became the Acting President of Russian in December 1999. Then, only three months later in March of 2000, Putin was officially elected and became President of Russia in his own right... Presidency Ten opponents ran against him for President, but he won, and for the first time in Russia’s history there was a peaceful transfer of power to a Democratically-elected President. 

Putin used his first term to advocate for certain international policies, including approval of the START II arms treaty, and improving relations with China. Putin was also initially supportive of the United States’ War on Terror that followed the 9/11 terrorist attacks, but he did not support the United States’ invasion of Iraq. During Putin’s first summer in power, tragedy struck Russia when the Kursk submarine sank in the Barents Sea in August. Putin was on vacation when the sinking occurred, and he did not immediately return home to address the sinking and the deaths of all 118 crew members who had been on board. Then, when asked what went wrong for the Kursk, Putin replied starkly that: 'It sank.' Distraught and angry, Russians were attacking their President for his handling, or lack thereof, of the Kursk disaster, with some even accusing him of leaving sailors to die when rescue might still be possible. Despite that, opinion polls showed that overall his image did not sustain much damage from the tragedy. 

Four years later, the Kursk tragedy did not affect his re-election. In 2004, the Russians re-elected Putin to a second term as their President. They were apparently pleased with the job he had been doing, as Putin received over 70% of the vote. The second Term During his first term in office, Putin had focused on economic reforms. Having denounced communism, he instead supported an economic system that was essentially capitalism with very strict regulations and oversight. 

After years of economic struggle, Russia was finally beginning to see a stabilizing and even growing economy under Putin. Some reports put Russia’s growth during his first term at 7% annually. He’s still remembered favorably for this growth, though it came with increased nationalization of industry, and, in part because of the mid-2000’s global financial crash, the growth did not last. But in a country whose economy was in disarray for nearly the entire decade before Putin’s rise to power, an era of growth in which disposable income nearly doubled was the reason for the people to think positively of Putin. Putin continued to work on economic policies in his first term, but also made strides in foreign relations, including making a historic trip to Israel. This trip was the first by a Russian leader to the country. Conversations between Putin and Israeli leaders focused largely on security issues. 

The trip garnered much attention around the world, as it came in the midst of strengthening ties between Russia and Israel, though the two nations disagreed on topics such as the Russian sale of missiles to Syria. The trip was also seen as a move by Put into help secure Russia’s position as a key diplomatic actor in any Mideast peace discussions or agreements. Security issues were present not just abroad though, and homeland security would become a major focus for Putin. Unfortunately, this is something that became all too clear during the horrific tragedy at the Beslan School in 2004... 

In September, terrorists held over 1,000 people hostage at the Beslan School in North Ossetia. Nearly 800 of these hostages were children. For three days, the terrorists, demanding Chechnyan independence from Russia, held these people hostage. The situation ended tragically when tanks, rockets, and other artillery were used by the Russian military to try to clear the school. Special forces entered the school after hearing explosions from inside where the hostages were being kept, but their actions did not save lives. Quite the contrary… in the siege of the school, over 300 people died, nearly two-thirds of whom were children. The tragedy shook the world, and while the government was cleared of wrongdoing initially, the European Court of Human Rights later stated that Russia had used excessive force, and lacked caution, when they stormed the school… Despite anger and discontentment at the government’s handling of the tragedy in general, it did not affect the public’s view of Putin very much at all. Quite the opposite in fact. A poll taken after the Beslan massacre stated that 83% of Russians were still happy with him. The Beslan tragedy did lead to changes in the halls of power of the Russian government though, primarily giving more power to the Russian President. 

For instance, instead of electing governors in regions like North Ossetia and Chechnya, the President would have the power to appoint governors. 

Time Magazine’s Person of the Year

In 2007, during his second term, Putin was named Time Magazine’s Person of the Year. The magazine called the final year of his second term “his most successful yet,” and the cover photo for the issue, a portrait of Putin, won the photographer the World Press Photo Award. During the shoot, the two discussed their mutual admiration for the Beatles... This connection helped Putin become more comfortable, and gave the photographer the chance to get his award-winning shot of the intimidating world leader. No matter how popular Putin was, though, the Russian people could not elect him to a third term. The Russian Constitution forbids it. However, Putin found a way around this rule just when his time in office was about to run out... “Presidency” Presidential terms in Russia had been extended to six years, but this change did not benefit Putin. 

Time magazine person of the year

Dmitri Medvedev was a protege of Putin’s and had benefitted from Putin’s rise to power. Neither he nor Putin wanted Putin to be pushed off the international stage, and so Medvedev named Putin as Russia’s Prime Minister - a position he had previously held under Boris Yeltsin. After thirteen years in leadership, Putin would remain at the highest levels of Russia’s government. He and his supporters were able to keep him in power and stay in line with the law, although perhaps not in line with its exact intent. 

During his third term as Prime Minister from 2008-2012, Putin focused on dealing with the economic crisis that swept the world, as well as Russia’s population problems. Russia’s population was falling by one million people a year - a devastating number for a country whose population is only 150 million. 

In 2010, the trend reversed and Russia’s population began to grow. The reversal is in part credited to Putin’s economic reforms - when people have more money, it is easier to support a larger family. One of Putin’s economic reforms included joining the World Trade Organization in 2012. Negotiations for Russia to join the WTO lasted nearly two decades (as they had started after the fall of the Soviet Union.) Russia was granted entry into the WTO after negotiations reached a point which granted Russia permission to phase in the opening of markets, while it aligned with other WTO trading requirements. Now, while his political party retained dominance, and Putin was again the candidate for President in 2012, he did not escape politically unscathed from his maneuver to hold on to power by sidestepping the term limits law. 

The elections for President in 2012 were heavily protested, with claims of fraud tainting Putin’s election to a third term... 'The task of the government is not only to pour honey into a cup, but sometimes to give bitter medicine.' - Vladimir Putin But, despite those protests, he was inaugurated in May of 2012, and this time his term would be six years. This means that Putin will be President of Russia until at least 2018, and with allegations of his interference in United States elections, his prominence in the world only seems to grow… Controversy Putin has continued to be re-elected and re-appointed to positions at the highest level of the Russian government, but his time in office has not been without questions surrounding his shady actions. 

Among the high points - or low points we should say - of intrigue surrounding Putin are the murders of Russian journalists. Deaths of journalists were a point of concern in Russia long before Putin’s rise to power, but the issue began to get a lot of international attention during Putin’s second term as President when journalist Anna Polit kovskaya was murdered. Politkovskaya had been a strong critic of Putin and the war in Chechnya. Even before her death, she was poisoned but recovered. Her murder remains unsolved, but there is suspicion that Putin and his government targeted her... Politkovskaya is far from the only Putin opponent whose death has occurred in suspicious circumstances. In March 2017 the Washington Post even published a list of ten such deaths. 

Among those deaths were a former Deputy Prime minister and Putin critic who was shot outside the Kremlin, a tycoon whose death was initially called a suicide but now that is unsure, a journalist who was kidnapped and shot in the woods, a former KGB agent who was found to be poisoned by Russian agents, and a journalist who died of a “mystery illness” and whose medical records have been sealed… Certainly, plenty of intrigues… Public ImageThough many of these deaths may never be proven beyond doubt to be the work of Putin’s government, one thing is for certain - Vladimir Putin does not like to be viewed as weak. 

He has done all he can to prove his strength, and to show the world that he is strong and manly. Beyond his active participation in martial arts, he shows his power and dominance by hunting, tracking, and posing with wild animals. He’s caught huge fish - including a 46-pound pike - and shot a crossbow at a whale... only to tranquilize it though! He also once saved a camera crew from a Siberian tiger that was about to attack them during a tour of a wildlife sanctuary. 

Further, he’s gotten close enough to polar bears to attach a tracking device to them to help out with a research project. Polar bears might look cute from afar, but they're actually incredibly vicious creatures. Putin has also attached himself to an experimental flying machine to accompany birds on migration. He always does these things carefully making sure there were photographers present… 

'The more I know about people, the more I like dogs. I simply like animals.' - Vladimir Putin

   

When he’s not hanging out with wild animals, Putin makes time for other adventurous and athletic activities. He dives in the Black Sea, explores shipwrecks, plays hockey, rides snowmobiles and motorcycles, and has driven a Formula One race car. Once, during a visit to a Russian youth came even challenged attendees to arm wrestle with him! Then, not content with arm wrestling as a show of strength, he tried to bend a frying pan with his bare hands. Naturally, photographers caught all of these shows of strength and the photos have been distributed and viewed around the world. 

From his days at school cultivating an athletic reputation to his time as President and Prime Minister, Putin has made it known that he is a man to be reckoned with. Putin Today During his most recent term as President, with two years of a term yet to go, Putin has found himself centered on the world stage. Russia has been involved in the Syrian Civil War, supporting the government of Bashar Al-Assad.

In early July of 2017, Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump announced a ceasefire in southwestern Syria, and weeks later Russia announced that it had signed a deal with Syria allowing Russia to keep its airbase in the country for at least fifty more years. In addition to Syria, perhaps Putin’s most talked about involvement has been the alleged interference of Russia in the U.S. elections. From hacking allegations to questions of illicit meetings and deals with members of Trump’s inner circle, the U.S and world media have made Putin and his political dealings a household conversation topic... Vladimir Putin began his life growing up in a communal apartment in the midst of Russia during the Cold War, and has become an internationally polarizing figure. 

He’s been strong and unapologetic in his foreign policy and use of force, and questions swirl around his treatment of political opponents and critical journalists. Putin is unwilling to sit back and be a shrinking violet on the world stage, ensuring Russia remains a world power with a great deal of influence. He has done all that he can to cultivate an image of strength both for Russia as a country and for himself personally, showing no signs of stopping his adventurous and daredevil lifestyle even as he enters his sixties... Vladimir Putin has undoubtedly made a place for himself in world history.