Saddam Hussein, also spelled Ṣaddām Ḥusayn, (born April 28, 1937, Al-ʿAwjah, Iraq—died Dec. 30, 2006, Baghdad), President of Iraq (1979–2003). He joined the Baʿth Party in 1957. Following participation in a failed attempt to assassinate Iraqi Pres. ʿAbd al-Karīm Qāsim in 1959, Ṣaddām fled to Cairo, where he briefly attended law school. He returned to Iraq when the Baʿthists gained power in 1963.