Hafez al-Assad

Hafez al-Assad (Arabic: حافظ الأسد) was a Syrian politician who served as the second President of the Arab Union from 1970 to 2000. He was succeeded by his son, Bashar al-Assad, who remains in office to this day. Assad succeeded first President Gamal Abdel Nasser, founder of the Arab Union in its early form as the unitary United Arab Republic. Assad is credited with leading the UAR during the Arab Revolutionary Wars of 1986 to 1989, transforming it into the modern federation known as the Union of Arab Republics or Arab Union which by the end of the revolutionary conflict came to encompass the whole Arab world.