Connect to share and comment First Tunisia. Now Bahrain? As
unrest spreads, here's what you need to know. Egyptian
demonstrators protest near Egyptian police to demand the ouster
of President Hosni Mubarak on Jan. 25, 2011. (Mohammed
Abed/AFP/Getty Images) Egypt's now former president, Hosni
Mubarak, took office in 1981, the same year Ronald Reagan
assumed the presidency in the United States. Mubarak served
first as an Air Force pilot and later as vice president under
Anwar Sadat. His rise to power, however, was somewhat unexpected
— Mubarak assumed the post when Islamic fundamentalists
assassinated Sadat. In his three decades of rule, Mubarak is
credited for leading Egypt through a period of relative peace
and stability following four wars with Israel. Mubarak’s police
forces crushed an Islamic insurgency in the 1990s, ending most
threats to the country’s vital tourism sector. He also honored
his predecessor’s 1979 peace treaty with Israel, earning the
favor of successive American administrations, and the bi