Hafez al-Assad

Who was Hafez al-Assad?

Hafez al-Assad was a Syrian statesman, politician and general who was President of Syria from 1971 to 2000 and Prime Minister from 1970 to 1971. He was secretary of the Regional Command of the Syrian Regional Branch, secretary general of the National Command of the Ba'ath Party from 1971 to 2000 and Minister of Defense from 1966 to 1972.

Born to a poor Alawite family, Assad joined the Syrian wing of the Ba'ath Party in 1946 as a student activist. In 1952 he entered Homs Military Academy, graduating three years later as a pilot. While exiled in Egypt during Syria's short-lived union with Egypt in the United Arab Republic, Assad and other military officers formed a committee to resurrect the Syrian Ba'ath Party. After the Ba'athists took power in 1963, Assad became commander of the air force. In 1966, after participating in a coup which overthrew the party's civilian leadership and sent its founders into exile, he became Minister of Defense. During Assad’s ministry Syria lost the Golan Heights to Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War, dealing him a blow which shaped his future political career. He had a prolonged power struggle with Salah Jadid until Assad seized power in November 1970, arresting Jadid and other members of the government. He became prime minister, and was elected president in 1971.