Claim: Saddam Hussein was born.

Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti -LRB- Arabic : صدام حسين عبد المجيد التكريتي ; 28 April 1937 -- 30 December 2006 -RRB- was the fifth President of Iraq , serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003 . A leading member of the revolutionary Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party , and later , the Baghdad-based Ba'ath Party and its regional organization the Iraqi Ba'ath Party -- which espoused Ba'athism , a mix of Arab nationalism and socialism -- Saddam played a key role in the 1968 coup -LRB- later referred to as the 17 July Revolution -RRB- that brought the party to power in Iraq .   As vice president under the ailing General Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr , and at a time when many groups were considered capable of overthrowing the government , Saddam created security forces through which he tightly controlled conflict between the government and the armed forces . In the early 1970s , Saddam nationalized oil and other industries . The state-owned banks were put under his control , leaving the system eventually insolvent mostly due to the Iran -- Iraq War , the Gulf War , and UN sanctions . Through the 1970s , Saddam cemented his authority over the apparatuses of government as oil money helped Iraq 's economy to grow at a rapid pace . Positions of power in the country were mostly filled with Sunni Arabs , a minority that made up only a fifth of the population .   Saddam formally rose to power in 1979 , although he had been the de facto head of Iraq for several years prior . He suppressed several movements , particularly Shi'a and Kurdish movements , seeking to overthrow the government or gain independence , and maintained power during the Iran -- Iraq War and the Gulf War . Whereas some in the Arab world lauded Saddam for his opposition to the United States and for attacking Israel -- he was widely condemned for the brutality of his dictatorship . The total number of Iraqis killed by the security services of Saddam 's government in various purges and genocides is conservatively estimated at 250,000 .   In 2003 , a coalition led by the U.S. invaded Iraq to depose Saddam , in which U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair accused him of possessing weapons of mass destruction and having ties to al-Qaeda . Saddam 's Ba'ath party was disbanded and elections were held . Following his capture on 13 December 2003 , the trial of Saddam took place under the Iraqi Interim Government . On 5 November 2006 , Saddam was convicted of charges of crimes against humanity related to the 1982 killing of 148 Iraqi Shi'ites , and was sentenced to death by hanging . His execution was carried out on 30 December 2006 .