Saddam Hussein
In August 2, 1990, Saddam invaded Kuwait, causing an international crisis. The invasion of Kuwait gave Iraq, with its own substantial oil fields, control of 20 percent of the Persian Gulf oil. The U.S. helped Saddam Hussein in the war with Iran, but with Iraq's take over of the oil-rich emirate of Kuwait in August of 1990, the United States led a United Nations force that drove Saddam from Kuwait in February 1991.