Ruler
Gamal Abdel Nasser
Leader of Egypt from 1954 to 1970
1918 – 1970
Lifespan; he led Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970.
Biography
Leader of the Free Officers. He nationalised the Suez Canal in 1956, built the High Dam, carried out land reform and sweeping nationalisations, and became a symbol of Arab nationalism. He ruled through a one-party system. Egypt was defeated in the 1967 war, and he died in 1970.
Key facts
Certainty: Established
Nasser announced the nationalisation of the Suez Canal Company on 26 July 1956.
- Keith Kyle (2003) “Suez: Britain’s End of Empire in the Middle East” I.B. Tauris
Certainty: Debated
Assessments of Nasser’s rule remain divided: supporters see an era of independence and social justice, while critics stress the lack of political freedom and the 1967 defeat.
Scholarly note: Both views are presented as their holders state them.
- John Waterbury (1983) “The Egypt of Nasser and Sadat: The Political Economy of Two Regimes” Princeton University Press
- Arthur Goldschmidt Jr. (2004) “Modern Egypt: The Formation of a Nation-State (2nd edition)” Westview Press