Portrait of Saddam Hussein
Other · Leader · From history

Saddam Hussein

President of Iraq, 1979 to 2003

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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 interventionist on interventionism.

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Where Saddam Hussein sits on ten dimensions

Each scale runs from one pole to the other, and the dot shows the overall tendency of this person'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
🙏ReligionSlightly religious
SecularReligious
🛡️InterventionismStrongly interventionist
Non-interventionistInterventionist

People most like Saddam Hussein

Benito Mussolini Prime Minister of Italy, 1922 to 194399%Adolf Hitler Chancellor and Führer of Germany, 1933 to 194599%Vladimir Putin President of Russia, 2000 to present (with a term as prime minister)98%Napoleon Bonaparte Emperor of the French, 1804 to 181597%Gamal Abdel Nasser President of Egypt, 1956 to 197097%Julius Caesar Roman dictator, 49 to 44 BCE97%Ilham Aliyev President of Azerbaijan, 2003 to present96%Alexander Lukashenko President of Belarus, 1994 to present95%

People furthest from Saddam Hussein

Leo Tolstoy Russian novelist and moral thinker, 1828 to 19101%Emma Goldman Russian-born anarchist and writer, 1869 to 19401%John Lennon British musician and peace activist, 1940 to 19801%Murray Bookchin American social theorist, 1921 to 20061%

Political views closest to Saddam Hussein

FascismAn ultranationalist one-party dictatorship built on a leader cult, militarism and the…98%BonapartismAuthoritarian rule by a popular leader who claims to embody the nation, with plebiscites…97%MilitarismTreats military strength and martial values as central to national life.95%GaullismA French tradition of national independence, a strong presidency and a leading role for…89%

Read more about Saddam Hussein

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Biographies of Saddam HusseinBooks on fascism

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