Anwar Sadat Biography

Joins the Nasser led Free Officers Committee

Assists the free officers committee to overthrow the British backed King Farouk

Serves briefly as Vice President of Egypt during Nasser's presidency.

Is appointed Vice President for a second time.

Sadat inherits an economy transformed by Nile regulation, hydroelectric power and public investment.

Sadat assumes the presidency after construction is completed and prepares the formal inauguration.

Sadat's administration prepares permanent operation of the completed dam and power station.

Assumes presidential responsibilities after Gamal Abdel Nasser's death.

Becomes President of Egypt after Nasser's death and confirmation by referendum.

Sadat cuts the ceremonial ribbon during the official dedication of the High Dam.

Sadat formally inaugurates the High Dam with Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny.

Offers an interim peace arrangement if Israel withdraws from the eastern bank of the Suez Canal.

Faces expiration of the Suez ceasefire while diplomatic negotiations remain stalled.

Removes leading rivals from government and consolidates his control of the presidency.

Signs the Egyptian-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation.

Signs a fifteen-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union.

Wins referendum approval for Egypt to join the Federation of Arab Republics with Libya and Syria.

Adopts the official name Arab Republic of Egypt under the new constitution.

Promulgates a new constitution and changes the country's official name to the Arab Republic of Egypt.

Promulgates the permanent constitution after referendum approval.

The government develops commercial fishing in the reservoir created by the High Dam.

Sadat's government integrates High Dam generation into Egypt's expanding national electricity system.

Orders most Soviet military advisers to leave Egypt.

Orders most Soviet military advisers to leave Egypt after disputes over weapons and strategy.

Removes most Soviet advisers while retaining diplomatic relations with Moscow.

Decides that Egypt must prepare for war if diplomacy cannot recover territory lost in 1967.

Sadat's administration uses regulated releases to support irrigation and navigation.

Directs Egypt's armed forces as supreme commander during preparations for war.

Soviet advisers and dependants begin leaving Egypt, a move later read by foreign observers as a warning sign.

Begins the October war, 6-24 October

Coordinates with Syrian President Hafez al-Assad for a joint attack to recover occupied territory.

Launches coordinated Egyptian and Syrian military operations against Israeli forces.

Orders Egyptian forces to cross the Suez Canal and attack Israeli positions in Sinai.

Authorizes the attack across the Suez Canal that opens the war.

Receives Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin during ceasefire diplomacy.

Considers the US-Soviet ceasefire proposal later embodied in Resolution 338.

Accepts the United Nations ceasefire resolution after the Israeli canal crossing changes the battlefield.

Accepts a renewed ceasefire as fighting continues around the Egyptian Third Army.

Faces crisis as the Egyptian Third Army becomes surrounded east of Suez.

Authorizes Egyptian participation in the Geneva peace conference after the war.

Introduces the economic opening known as infitah to attract private and foreign investment.

Egypt supports transferring Philae's monuments to Agilkia Island above the reservoir waters.

Reopens the Suez Canal under Egyptian control after postwar clearance and disengagement agreements.

Reopens the Suez Canal to international navigation after clearance and reconstruction.

Presides over the formal reopening of the Suez Canal after eight years of closure.

Abrogates the 1971 Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union.

Withdraws subsidy cuts after widespread protests and rioting over food prices.

Begins a historic visit to Jerusalem and addresses the Israeli parliament.

Addresses the Israeli parliament and calls for a comprehensive peace settlement.

Signs the Camp David frameworks with Menachem Begin and Jimmy Carter after thirteen days of negotiations.

Accepts frameworks covering Egyptian-Israeli peace and proposed Palestinian self-government.

Accepts a framework calling for negotiations on Palestinian self-government in the West Bank and Gaza.

Concludes the Camp David Accords establishing a framework for an Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty.

Secures a framework requiring phased Israeli withdrawal from Sinai.

Shares the Nobel Peace Prize with Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin.

UNESCO lists the rescued Nubian monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae as World Heritage.

Faces Egypt's suspension from the Arab League after signing peace with Israel.

Signs the peace treaty establishing diplomatic relations and phased Israeli withdrawal from Sinai.

Signs the Egyptian-Israeli Peace Treaty in Washington with Menachem Begin.

Sadat and Begin settle practical arrangements for normal diplomatic and communications links.

Is assassinated by Islamist army officers during a military parade in Cairo.

Assassinated by extremist Muslim soldiers

Dies after being shot during the annual military parade commemorating the October War.

Death of Anwar Sadat

Assassinated by extremist Muslim soldiers