after the ba’ath party was established in 1943 in syria, ba’athism reached iraq in the late 1940s and became well known among young university students. in 1951, fu ‘ad al-rikabi became the founder and first leader of the iraqi regional branch. the iraqi regional branch was an iraqi version of the arab socialist ba’ath party. with time, more students became a member of the iraqi ba’ath party. by 1955, its members numbered 300. in 1956, saddam hussein became a member as well. on july 17, 1968, the party succeeded in overthrowing the government after a failed coup d'état in 1963, and began its thirty-five-year domination of iraq.