Muammar Mohammed Abu Minyar Gaddafi, commonly known as Colonel Gaddafi, was a Libyan revolutionary who governed the Libyan Arab Republic from 1969 through 1977. Muammar Gaddafi was born near Sirte, Italian Libya, to a poor, nomadic, Bedouin family. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi came to power in 1969, at the age of twenty seven, after leading a bloodless coup and toppling King Idris. Gaddafi maintained tight control of the oil-rich country for decades by clamping down on dissidents and became the Arab world’s longest ruling leader. Gaddafi was blamed for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed two hundred and seventy people.

Although there were years of denial, Libya finally acknowledged responsibility and agreed to make financial restitution to the relatives of the victims. Gaddafi has long been associated with terrorism and horrific human rights abuses; President Ronald Reagan once referred to him as a “mad dog”. Gaddafi ruled through the use of brutal force, once executing over twelve hundred prisoners in less than three hours. During the "Arab Spring" of 2011, NATO troops supported dissidents in their attempt to overthrow Gaddafi's government. Muammar Gaddafi was killed on October 20, 2011, near his hometown of Sirte.