Hafez al-Assad
President of Syria 1971–2000, ruled for three decades under the Ba'ath Party
From air-force pilot to Syria's first Alawite president — the 1970 coup, the 1973 war, the Hama massacre of 1982, Lebanon 1976–2005.
Hafez al-Assad was born on 6 October 1930 CE in Qardaha, the Nusayriyah Mountains (Syrian coast), into an Alawite family. He studied at the Homs Military College and graduated as a pilot in the Syrian Air Force in 1955.
His political career began in the Air Force, where he rose to the rank of Brigadier General. In 1966 he was appointed Defence Minister after the Ba'athist coup led by Salah Jadid. On 13 November 1970 Hafez led the "Corrective Movement" — a coup against Salah Jadid — seizing power and becoming prime minister, then president of the republic in 1971.
Key events of his rule (1970–2000):
- the October 1973 war with Israel — which he led as commander-in-chief of the armed forces
- the confrontation with the Muslim Brotherhood 1976–1982 — after the Hama, Homs, and Kafr al-Baqq events, ending in the Hama massacre of February 1982 (10,000–40,000 dead — figures vary by source)
- the Syrian intervention in Lebanon 1976–2005 — 29 years of direct military presence in the Lebanese civil war
- total control of the Ba'ath Party and the building of a sprawling security apparatus (Military Intelligence, State Security, Political Security, Party Security)
- the transfer of power to his son Bashar in 2000 — the constitution was amended to lower the presidential age from 40 to 34
Hafez al-Assad died on 10 June 2000 CE after 30 years in power, leaving Syria with a hereditary system under his son Bashar.
“If there is nothing left in the homeland worth defending, one must look for another homeland.”
