Historical Figure
Gamal Abdel Nasser
1918–1970
President of Egypt from 1956 to 1970
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Biography
Gamal Abdel Nasser Hussein was an Egyptian military officer and revolutionary who served as the second president of Egypt from 1954 until his death in 1970. Nasser led the Egyptian revolution of 1952 and introduced far-reaching land reforms the following year. Following a 1954 assassination attempt by a Muslim Brotherhood member, he cracked down on the organization, put President Mohamed Naguib under house arrest and assumed executive office. He was formally elected president in June 1956.
Timeline
The story of Gamal Abdel Nasser, told in moments.
Fought in the Arab-Israeli War. Wounded at Falluja. The defeat radicalized him. He blamed the Egyptian monarchy for sending soldiers with defective weapons.
Led the Free Officers' coup that overthrew King Farouk. He was the real organizer but put Naguib out front as the public face. That arrangement didn't last.
Nationalized the Suez Canal. Britain, France, and Israel invaded. America and the Soviet Union both told them to leave. Nasser lost the war but won the crisis.
The Six-Day War. Egypt lost the Sinai Peninsula in less than a week. Nasser offered to resign on live television. A million people marched to demand he stay.
Died of a heart attack at 52, hours after brokering a ceasefire between Jordan and the PLO. Five million people followed his funeral procession through Cairo.
In Their Own Words (9)
I believe that we now have a duty to remove the aggressor from our land and to regain the Arab territory occupied by the Israelis. We can then engage in a clandestine struggle to liberate the land of Palestine, to liberate Haifa and Jaffa.
In a meeting with King Hussein, as quoted in the in Efraim Karsh, Islamic Imperialism: A History (2007), p. 172, 2007
We have to go along a road covered with blood. We have no other alternative. For us it is a matter of life or death, a matter of living or existing. We have to be ready to face the challenges that await us.
Gamal Abdel Nasser, speech to Egypt's National Assembly, Cairo (November 6, 1969), as reported by The Washington Post (November 7, 1969), p. 1., 1969
We must fight our way to victory on a sea of blood and a horizon of fire.
As quoted in the Wall Street Journal (14 November 1969), 1969
We knew that by closing the Gulf of Aqaba it might mean war with Israel. [If war comes] it will be total and the objective will be to destroy Israel.
As quoted in the Washington Post (27 May 1967), 1967
The genius of you Americans is that you never make clear-cut stupid moves, only complicated stupid moves which make us wonder at the possibility that there may be something to them we are missing.
As quoted in, 1965
Artifacts (14)
If my mother gets help from it, then I will enter politics
ndira told them it was Rajiv's decision whether to enter politics. When he was questioned about it, he replied, "If my mother gets help from it, then I will enter politics". Rajiv entered politics on...
Did it constitute an incitement to mass murder?
e statement made by Gandhi was a "virtual justification" of the riots. Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar wrote, "Did it constitute an incitement to mass murder?" He also criticised Gandhi for his...
When a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes
her as prime minister within hours of her murder. Commenting on the anti-Sikh riots in Delhi, Rajiv Gandhi said, "When a giant tree falls, the earth below shakes"; a statement for which he was widely...
Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know t...
f Sikh deaths to be between 8,000 and 17,000. At a Boat Club rally 19 days after the assassination, Gandhi said, "Some riots took place in the country following the murder of Indiraji. We know the...
The Cabinet change reflects the instability of the Congress (I) Government at th...
magazine India Today, which called it a "wheel of confusion". The West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu said, "The Cabinet change reflects the instability of the Congress (I) Government at the...
The catch phrase around Delhi these days is that the 'Doon School runs India,' b...
his administration. His inner circle was labelled a "Doon Cabinet" or "Dosco Mafia", and Washington Post reported, "The catch phrase around Delhi these days is that the 'Doon School runs India,' but...
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