25. Idi Amin Dada Oumee became President of Uganda through a military coup
Idi Amin was an officer in the Ugandan armed forces of the British Empire when Uganda gained its independence in 1962. In 1971, he was the commander of the Ugandan Army when it was discovered by the President of Uganda, Milton Obote, that Amin had been enriching himself through embezzling funds intended for the army. Before Obote could have Amin arrested the latter launched a coup, deposed Obote, and made himself president while retaining command of the army. Amin was a despotic tyrant who persecuted several different ethnic groups, protected himself politically through nepotism and extrajudicial executions of enemies, and suppressed all forms of dissent. Up to a half-million Ugandans were executed under his rule, which ended when he was forced to flee after Tanzanian troops invaded Uganda. Amin lived the final years of his life in exile in Saudi Arabia, financially supported by the Saud family.