21 Brutal Dictators of the 20th Century Posted on September 18, 2016November 11, 2017 by TFE Times Prev8 of 21Next Idi Amin Idi Amin Dada (1923–28 – 16 August 2003) was a Ugandan political leader and military officer who was the President of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. Amin was born in either Koboko or Kampala to a Kakwa father and Lugbara mother. In 1946 he joined the King’s African Rifles (KAR) of the British Colonial Army. Initially a cook, he rose to the position of lieutenant, taking part in British actions against Somali rebels in the Shifta War and then the Mau Mau rebels in Kenya. Following Uganda’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1962, Amin remained in the armed forces, rising to the position of major and being appointed Commander of the Army in 1965. Related