Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's longtime president, dies at 95
Robert Mugabe, who as Zimbabwe's first post-independence leader ruinously took his country down a path of economic and democratic destruction before being driven from power, has died, it was confirmed Friday. He was 95.
One of the last of Africa's "Big Men," Mugabe died after an inglorious exit from leadership. Once a respected liberation leader, he had become an international pariah and the nation cheered when the military took him into custody. He retired in 2017 rather than face the humiliation of impeachment.
When Mugabe took over as Zimbabwean president in 1980, there were wild celebrations for the hero of the liberation war against Britain. After a catastrophic economic collapse sparked by the seizure of white-owned farms, international sanctions and a series of fraudulent elections, Mugabe was still in there. Other than in the few Mugabe strongholds, it was difficult to find a Zimbabwean with a good word to say for him.
Educated and polished, fond of Savile Row suits and with a string of degrees, the rural cattle-herding boy turned English gentleman also impressed Western leaders and journalists when he
