Augusto Jose Ramon Pinochet Ugarte, also known as Augusto Pinochet, was born on November 25, 1915 in Valparaiso, Chile, and died on December 10, 2006 in Santiago , in Chile. He was a murderous dictator who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990. He was commander in chief of the Chilean army from 1973 to 1998 and president of Chile's government junta between 1973 and 1981. Pinochet managed to achieve the full powers by overthrowing Salvador Allende, a socialist government, using military force. His years in power were marked by inflation and poverty, leaving behind a legacy of abuse that it took successive years for the government to catalog. Several years after Pinochet resigned, he was accused of several crimes committed during his time as president, but he died before he could be convicted of anything. The Pinochet family was made up of descendants of French settlers who came to Chile more than a century ago. He was the eldest of six children and his father was a middle-class civil servant. He entered military school at the age of 17, after being rejected three times. Finally, after four years, he graduated as a second lieutenant. One of the reasons Pinochet rose to the top so quickly was because Chile was not at war. In fact, it is said that Pinochet never sought to participate in combat actions during his entire military career. According to his biographer, James Whelan, Pinochet had a quiet childhood, with his mother playing a very important role in the formation of his character. Pinochet rose through the ranks of civil service and became involved in politics in the 1950s. The difficult thing to understand is that it was his apparent lack of political ambition that caused him to become a commander under leader Allende , which considered P...... middle of paper ...... several counts of murder, torture and unlawful kidnapping”. In fact, he was unfit to stand trial, so the charges were dropped in 2002. More charges were filed in 2006, but Pinochet died before he could be convicted of anything. Pinochet suffered a heart attack on the morning of December 10, 2006 at the age of 91. He died of congestive heart failure and pulmonary edema. Chileans divided Pinochet's legacy. Some see him as a brutal dictator who ended democracy, tortured many innocent people and favored the rich. While others believe he saved the country from communism and led the transformation of the Chilean economy into the most stable economy in Latin America today. Works Cited Minister, Christopher. “Biography of Augusto Pinochet.” . About.com and Web. . .