Ali Abdullah Saleh (1947–2017)
Born 1947 CE, died 2017 CE.
Ali Abdullah Saleh (21 March 1947 – 4 December 2017) was a Yemeni military officer and politician who served as the first president of the Republic of Yemen from the Yemeni unification in 1990 until his resignation in 2012, following the Yemeni revolution. Previously, he had served as the fifth and last President of the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen), from July 1978 to 22 May 1990, after the assassination of President Ahmad al-Ghashmi. al-Ghashmi had earlier appointed Saleh as military governor in Taiz. A veteran and officer of the North Yemen civil war, Saleh consolidated power and restored civilian rule after al-Ghashmi's assassination in 1978. Despite military defeat against South Yemen in the Second Yemenite War, a rebellion, and multiple coup attempts, Saleh, though challenged with stagnant economic growth and significant poverty, had managed to bring stability to North Yemen by the mid 1980's, and enjoyed support from both the United States and the Soviet Union.
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