yasser arafat
In Cairo, before he was seventeen Arafat was smuggling arms to Palestine to be used against the British and the Jews. At nineteen, during the war between the Jews and the Arab states, Arafat left his studies at the University of Faud I (later Cairo University) to fight against the Jews in the Gaza area. The defeat of the Arabs and the establishment of the state of Israel left him in such despair that he applied for a visa to study at the University of Texas. show more

saddam hussein
For more than two decades, Iraqis were hard-pressed to escape Saddam Hussein's gaze. On the streets of Baghdad, on monuments and buildings throughout the country, his image was everywhere. Crowds cheered his every action and decree, and thousands voiced support for his policies. That began to change on March 19, when the U.S.-led invasion opened with what the Pentagon called a "decapitation strike" - an unsuccessful airstrike aimed at killing the Iraqi leader. show more

dick cheney
Vice President Richard B. Cheney has had a distinguished career as a businessman and public servant, serving four Presidents and as an elected official. Throughout his service, Mr. Cheney served with duty, honor, and unwavering leadership, gaining him the respect of the American people during trying military times. show more

pope john paul ii
Karol Józef Wojtyla , known as John Paul II since his October 1978 election to the papacy, was born in Wadowice, a small city 50 kilometres from Cracow, on May 18, 1920. He was the second of two sons born to Karol Wojtyla and Emilia Kaczorowska. His mother died in 1929. His eldest brother Edmund, a doctor, died in 1932 and his father, a non-commissioned army officer died in 1941. show more

mikhail gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev was born March 02, 1931 in the village of Privolnoye near Stavropol, Russia. From the age of 13 he worked on a collective farm, where his father was a mechanic. He was an exceptional student and earned a law degree at Moscow University where he joined the Communist party and became Secretary of the law department's Young Communist League. show more

osama bin laden
His father Mohammed Awad bin Laden came to the kingdom from Hadramout (South Yemen) sometime around 1930. The father started his life as a very poor laborer (porter in Jeddah port), to end up as owner of the biggest construction company in the kingdom. During the reign of King Saud, bin Laden the father became very close to the royal family when he took the risk of building King Saud's palaces much cheaper than the cheapest bid. show more

john kerry
The junior senator from Massachusetts, John Forbes Kerry, was born on Dec. 11, 1943. Kerry's father was a career foreign service officer for the U.S. State Department. His mother was a member of an aristocratic American family, the Forbes. Kerry spent much of his childhood abroad, attending boarding school in Switzerland and New Hampshire before entering Yale University. show more

john edwards
John Edwards was born in Seneca, South Carolina and raised in Robbins, North Carolina, a small town in the Piedmont. There John learned the values of hard work and perseverance from his father, Wallace, who worked in the textile mills for 36 years, and from his mother, Bobbie, who ran a shop and worked at the post office. show more