1. + Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein Jacqueline Alvarez World History Honors

2. + Fidel Castro Political Figure. Born Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz on August 13, 1926, (although some say he was born a year later), near Birán in Cuba's eastern Oriente province. Fidel Castro was the third of six children: two brothers, Raul and Ramon, and four sisters, Antelita, Juanita, Emma, and Augustina. His father, Angel, was a wealthy sugar plantation owner originally from Spain. His mother, Lina Ruz Gonzalez, had been a maid to Angel's first wife, Maria Luisa Argota, at the time of Fidel's birth.

3. + Childhood and Teens -At 17, Fidel was formally recognized by his father and his name was changed from Ruz to Castro. -Educated in private Jesuit boarding schools, Castro grew up in wealthy circumstances amid the poverty of Cuba's people. -He was intellectually gifted but more interested in sports than studies. -He attended El Colegio de Belen and pitched for the school's baseball team. After his graduation in late 1945, Castro entered law school at the University of Havana

4. + Craze… -It was then that Castro became law crazy and power crazy. -In 1947, Castro became increasingly passionate about social justice. He traveled to the Dominican Republic to join an expedition attempting the overthrow of the dictator Rafael Trujillo. The coup failed before it got started, but the incident didn't dampen Castro's passion for reform.

5. + Passions Castro joined the Partido Ortodoxo, an anticommunist political party founded to reform government corruption in Cuba. This groups goals were, nationalism, economic independence, and social reforms. Castro lived off of reforming Cuba to his way.

6. + Making his life In 1948, Castro married Mirta Diaz Balart, who was from a wealthy family in Cuba. They had one son Fidelito. With his new wife castro was able to discover a different world, a world of wealth and political connections. Castro pursued his political ambitions.

7. + Life Made On July 26, 1953, Castro and approximately 150 supporters attacked the Moncada military barracks in an attempt to overthrow Batista. The attack failed and Castro was captured, tried, convicted, and sentenced to 15 years in prison. The incident fostered an ongoing opposition to the government and made Castro famous throughout Cuba. February 1959, Miro suddenly resigned, and Castro was sworn in as prime minister.

8. + He continues http://www.biography.com/articles/Fidel- Castro-9241487 http://www.biography.com/articles/Fidel- Castro-9241487 On February 19, 2008, 81-year-old Fidel Castro permanently gave up the Cuban presidency due to his deteriorating physical condition. He handed over power to his 76-year-old brother Raul. The Cuban National Assembly officially elected Raul Castro as president of Cuba the same month, although Fidel remains First Secretary of the Communist Party. The world waits to hear of the next and possibly final chapter in the life of Fidel Castro.

9. + Saddam Hussein Born April 28, 1937, Tikrt, Iraq—died Dec. 30, 2006, Baghdad He was born into a peasant family in northern Iraq. Didn’t have very good education until later years.

10. + Starting Off He joined the Ba'th Party in 1957. In 1959 he participated in an unsuccessful attempt by Ba'thists to assassinate the Iraqi prime minister, 'Abd al-Karm Qsim; wounded in the attempt, he escaped, first to Syria and then to Egypt. He attended Cairo Law School (1962–63) and continued his studies at Baghdad Law College after the Ba'thists took power in Iraq in 1963.

11. + On the Path He was jailed after the attempt with the Ba’ th party The party was overthrown. He spent a couple of years in Iran’s prison. He escaped, becoming a leader of the Ba'th Party, and was instrumental in the coup that brought the party back to power in 1968

12. + In Power Saddam effectively held power in Iraq along with the head of state, President Amad asan al-Bakr, and in 1972 he directed the nationalization of Iraq's oil industry. He was reforming the country to become his own dream.

13. + Kick Off In the wake of the September 11 attacks in the United States in 2001, the U.S. government, asserting that addm might provide terrorist groups with chemical or biological weapons, sought to renew the disarmament process. Though addm allowed UN weapons inspectors to return to Iraq in November 2002, his failure to cooperate fully with the investigations frustrated the United States and Great Britain and led them to declare an end to diplomacy.

14. + We take Action On March 17, 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush ordered Saddam to step down from office and leave Iraq within 48 hours or face war; he also indicated that, even if Saddam left the country, U.S. forces might be needed to stabilize the new government and search for weapons of mass destruction. He went into hiding and that is when it all started. The war had now begun.

15. + On and on War between the US and Iraq still continues to this day but as we can see one decision a man made has now affected the whole world. We never know when this war will end but until know is hope that we never have to confront another Saddam Hussein. The verdict and sentencing were both appealed but subsequently affirmed by Iraq's Supreme Court of Appeals. On December 30, 2006, Saddam was hanged.