Idi Amin

Idi Amin Dada was a military leader and President of Uganda during the 1970s. He is considered one of the worst dictators of the 20^th century.

His exact birthdate and place are unclear, but he is believed to have been born between 1923 and 1928 in either Koboko or Kampala, Uganda. In 1941 he attended an Islamic school, but did not stay more than a few years.

In 1946 he joined the British Colonial Army and became an assistant cook. A year later he was transferred to the 21^st KAR Infantry battalion in Kenya where he served as a private. He saw action over the next few years and by 1959 had climbed his way up to Afande, the highest rank a Black African was allowed to attain.

He became one of the first Ugandan commissioned officers when he was promoted to lieutenant in 1961. After Uganda became an independent state in 1962 he was promoted to captain and the Major in '63. By '64 he was the Deputy Commander of the Army.

In 1966 he was under investigation along with Prime Minister Milton Obote for running guns, but never had to face charges when Obote had himself named executive president and Amin colonel and commander of the army.

Amin led a successful coup on January 25, 1971, seizing power from his former ally, Obote. At the time he promised that he was just a caretaker for the government until elections could be held in what he promised would be the near future.

That never happened though and he was eventually ousted from power following the Uganda-Tanzania War in 1979. During his time in office he became known as a brutal, corrupt dictator that killed anywhere from 100,000 to 500,000 of his own people.

Idi Amin passed away on August 16, 2003, at a hospital in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. One of his wives, Madina, had asked the Ugandan government if he could return in late July so that he could die in his home country. She was rebuffed and told that he would be dealt with regardless of his health the moment he returned to the country because of the atrocities that he inflicted on the people during his rule.