Iraqi strongman Saddam Hussein was educated in Baghdad. In 1957, he joined the Iraqi Ba'ath Party. He later participated in the attempted assassination of the Iraqi head of state, General Kassem. Though he was sentenced to die, Saddam escaped to Egypt. He returned to Iraq in 1963, but was arrested in 1964 for plotting the overthrow of the Iraqi regime. Hussein took a leading role in the 1968 revolution and eleven years later, he became Iraq's President. Hussein led his country to invade Iran in 1980, and Kuwait in 1989. Though Iraq suffered a crushing defeat in the 1991 Gulf War, and has continued to suffer as a result of sanctions imposed on the country by the nations of the world, Saddam has remained in power by ruthlessly quashing any potenial opposition movements. Bibliography: Claypool, Jane.Saddam Hussein . 1993. Rourke Pub Group. Renfrew, Nita M. Saddam Hussein (Chelsea House Library of Biography). 1992. Chelsea House Pub Paperbacks. Deegan, Paul. Saddam Hussein (War in the Gulf). 1991. Abdo & Daughters. Karsh, Efraim/Rautsi. Saddam Hussein : A Political Biography . 1991. Free Press Snow, Peter John. Hussein; A Biography.1972.McKay David Co Inc.