One of 3 key figures who were outed from the positions during the Arab Spring of 2011, Muammar Gaddafi led a bloodless coup that saw the overthrow of King Idris of Libya who was backed by the British in September 1969. When compared to most dictators, Gaddafi controlled his country similarly to how Josip Broz Tito controlled Yugoslavia as both were neither good nor bad rulers even if you couldn't vote them out.
The country became a republic and later a socialist republic he called a Jamahiriya (state of the masses) in 1977. For Libyans, he gave them free high quality healthcare and education, thus turning Libya into North Africa's own Cuba. When a couple got married in Libya, there were given a gift of several thousand dollars by the government so they could afford a house.
On account of Libya's high amount of oil, Gaddafi distributed the oil wealth back to the people and the oil was treated as the country's own and not belonging to foreigners (like oil craving USA) who would've liked it. The government would have ample of government loans available on the ready if someone wanted to start up a business in Gaddafi's Libya. Gaddafi supported poor Muslims around the world by having mosques and schools built where other nations like Saudi Arabia (the birth nation of Islam) would've ignored them.
Despite all this, like for the ordinary Libyan citizen in Gaddafi's Libya was the devil's cottage. People weren't free, they couldn't object to anything by him and those who did were killed with his executions of students by hanging being televised to instil loyalty to him out of fear. The country's healthcare had poorly functioning primary healthcare and the scarcity of national health information meant that were inaccurate health indicators regarding morbidity and mortality.
In early 2011, anti-government protests began in Libya's 2nd biggest city of Benghazi which saw the government unleash elite troops and militia in an effort to stop the protests. The protesters were warned about civil war but they carried on as it was better than seeing their young academic relative or friend being executed for disobeying Gaddafi and within weeks, civil unrest grappled the country like fire setting a vast forest alight. The protests were like that of many uprisings during the Arab Spring, a fight for democracy. Gaddafi fled from Tripoli when the city fell to rebels during the First Libyan Civil War and in a similar way to Al-Qaeda’s notorious former leader Osama bin-Laden, his whereabouts were unknown. On 20 October 2011, his hometown of Sirte fell and after he fled a NATO bombed convoy, Gaddafi hid in a drainpipe where Libyan forces found him, tortured him and then killed him. Despite all this, Libya is still in civil war, much like Syria and only time will tell if peace come to the nation, the same will can be said about democracy.
(Fact card was originally made in October 2011)