BAGHDAD, Iraq -- He led Iraq for nearly a quarter of a century -- but was forced from power and sent into hiding in his second military confrontation with the United States.

Even as he tried until the end to rally resistance to the United States and its partners, Saddam Hussein lost his two sons in a firefight with U.S. soldiers. Besides Odai and Qusai, there were few people he had trusted.

Saddam is from a peasant clan in the town of Tikrit, about 75 miles north of Baghdad. He helped engineer the coup that brought his party to power in 1968 -- and quickly became the thug behind the new leader -- General Ahmad Hassan al-Bakr. The government then began purging its opponents.

By 1979, it was clear Saddam himself was in charge. He used his country's oil money to make social, educational and economic reforms. Iraq's literacy rate rose dramatically.

But he was also known for his paranoia -- and his ruthlessness. Soon after taking power, he ordered 22 high officials executed, and he took part in their firing squad. He later had the husbands of two of his daughters killed.

In 1980, Saddam invaded his country's rival, Iran. He thought there'd be a quick victory -- but the eight-year war ended with hundreds of thousands dead on both sides.

He invaded tiny neighbor Kuwait in 1991 -- but was driven out by the United States and its allies after a month of aerial bombardment and 100 hours of ground fighting.

After that war, U.N. sanctions were supposed to stay in place until Iraq gave up all of its chemical, nuclear and biological weapons programs. More than a decade later, U.S. officials insisted he had not yet done so -- and the war that would remove him from power began.

Saddam, Feared By Many At Home, Still A Hero To Some

The world saw him as an unyielding dictator who tortured and killed his critics. It saw him squander his country's wealth on wars and palaces.

Iraqis knew first-hand about his iron-fisted rule -- and they lived in constant fear of his law-and-order regime. But in Iraq, Saddam's legacy is more complex than that.

He used his country's oil money to build schools, hospitals and highways -- and he provided Iraq with one of the best health care systems in the Arab world. He also encouraged the arts, and he gave Iraq a strong voice in the region. And to many Iraqis and other Arabs, he was a hero for firing missiles at Israel during the Gulf War in 1991.

And when Baghdad saw looting and disorder in the days after his ouster, some were already wishing for a return of his harsh rule. Many were also feeling distrust about the exiled opposition leaders who would be returning now that his regime was gone.

But his admirers would often ignore the repression that kept Iraq's people in fear. His campaigns against rebellious Kurds in the 1980s left 180,000 people missing and presumed dead. He used chemical weapons to kill 5,000 Iraqi Kurds in the north, and sent tanks against Shiite Muslims in the south. And there were stories of children being tortured in front of their parents.

Despite all that, Saddam's intelligence machinery saw to it that in public, Iraqis would show only support and affection for him.