After rising through the military ranks and following a series of military coups, 'Ali' Abdallah Salih (born 1942) was elected president of the Yemeni Arab Republic (North Yemen) in 1978. After several years in which the legitimacy of his government grew along with his reputation as a consensus-builder, Salih became the first president of the United Republic of Yemen in 1990.

Brigadier General 'Ali' Abdallah Salih became the first president--officially, chairman of the Presidential Council--of the Arab world's newest state, the Republic of Yemen, in May 1990. With 13 million people, the fledgling republic was the Arabian peninsula's most populous country. It united the former Marxist, Russian-aligned People's Democratic Republic of Yemen (SouthYemen) with the more moderate tribal-and military-oriented Yemeni Arab Republic (North Yemen), over which 'Ali' Abdallah Salih had presided since July 1978.

Salih's rise to the presidency of a country which combined southwestern Arabia into one political entity was the culmination of...