Born poor near the Iraqi town of Tikrit in 1937, Saddam Hussein was inspired by his uncle to become an Arab nationalist at an early age. By the time he reached 20, Hussein had joined the Baath Party, which espoused Arab unity, liberation from Western powers and economic socialism. But Saddam's true talents lay not with espousing political rhetoric, but in acting as "hired muscle" for the Baath Party. The young dictator-in-training revealed his penchant for ruthlessness when he participated in a 1959 assassination attempt on Iraq's prime minister, Abdel-Karim Qasim. The assassination was botched and Hussein, wounded in the leg, fled to Egypt. While there, according to Hussein biographer Said Aburish, he was one of several Baath Party members who often visited the American Embassy in Cairo. In fact, the Americans and the Baath Party exiles had something in common. Both would be happier if Qasim, with his pro-Communist leanings, was deposed as leader of Iraq.

That's just what happened in 1963, through a coup in which the CIA reportedly provided information to army officers involved in the takeover. When Hussein returned to Iraq, he made his name as a brutal interrogator of communists, at least some of whom appeared on lists shared by the CIA, according to biographer Aburish. Soon after, however, the Baath Party itself was toppled and Hussein was thrown in jail for two years.

He escaped and went on to spend a few more years plotting coup attempts. Finally, in 1968, the Baath Party took control of Iraq once and for all. Hussein's cousin, Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr, became head of the government. And Hussein became second-in-command.

Modeling himself after Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, Hussein soon became the real power figure in the Iraqi government, particularly through his role as head of the secret police. By 1979 he was ready to take over, so he muscled his cousin into resigning. Finally, and officially, Saddam Hussein was ruling Iraq.