Portrait of Saddam Hussein
From history

Saddam Hussein

President of Iraq, 1979 to 2003

Regime responsible for mass killings and chemical attacks

Ruled through fear, fought a brutal war with Iran, gassed Kurdish civilians and invaded Kuwait. He was toppled by the 2003 US-led invasion and executed in 2006.

Saddam Hussein sits in the left-authoritarian part of the Caucus economy and liberty compass: leaning state-led and strongly authoritarian. The clearest positions are strongly authoritarian on liberty and authority, strongly strength-first on war and peace and strongly nationalist on nation.

Read more about Saddam Hussein on Wikipedia →

Where Saddam Hussein sits on eight dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this leader's record and public life. These are simplified estimates and open to debate.

💰EconomyLeaning state-led
State-ledFree market
⚖️Liberty and authorityStrongly authoritarian
LibertarianAuthoritarian
🎭CultureLeaning traditional
ProgressiveTraditional
🌍NationStrongly nationalist
GlobalistNationalist
🌱EnvironmentStrongly growth-first
Growth-firstNature-first
🤖TechnologyLeaning tech-optimist
Tech-cautiousTech-optimist
🕊️War and peaceStrongly strength-first
Peace-firstStrength-first
🏛️InstitutionsLeaning anti-establishment
Anti-establishmentInstitutional

Leaders most like Saddam Hussein

Benito Mussolini Prime Minister of Italy, 1922 to 194387%Adolf Hitler Chancellor and Führer of Germany, 1933 to 194582%Alexander Lukashenko President of Belarus, 1994 to present81%Vladimir Putin President of Russia, 2000 to present (with a term as prime minister)81%Kim Jong Un Supreme Leader of North Korea, 2011 to present78%Gamal Abdel Nasser President of Egypt, 1956 to 197078%

Leaders furthest from Saddam Hussein

Mahatma Gandhi Leader of the Indian independence movement0%José Mujica President of Uruguay, 2010 to 20152%Václav Havel President of Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic, 1989 to 20033%

Political views closest to Saddam Hussein

FascismAn ultranationalist one-party dictatorship built on a leader cult, militarism and the…81%BonapartismAuthoritarian rule by a popular leader who claims to embody the nation, with plebiscites…76%MilitarismTreats military strength and martial values as central to national life.74%

Percentages show how close two profiles are across all eight dimensions. Including a person here is for historical study and comparison, not approval. Portrait: Iraqi News Agency, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons; see all photo credits.