On 16 October 2002, after a well-publicized show election, Iraqi officials declared that Saddam had been re-elected to another seven-year term as President by a 100% unanimous vote of all 11,445,638 eligible Iraqis, eclipsing the 99.96% received in 1995.

How did Saddam Hussein rise to power?

In 1976, Saddam rose to the position of general in the Iraqi armed forces, and rapidly became the strongman of the government. ... Saddam acted to secure his grip on power. He forced the ailing al-Bakr to resign on 16 July 1979, and formally assumed the presidency.

When did Iraq have its first election?

January 2005 Iraqi parliamentary election.