"I came here to smoke a cigar and take the power."
On February 16, 1959, Fidel Castro finished his cigar and began the second part of the promise. He became Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Cuba following the successful revolution. A little later, he became chairman of the State Council. A little later, he became the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba.
Castro successfully survived a bunch of assassination attempts and attempts to overthrow himself by the United States, deployed Soviet nuclear missiles, starting the Caribbean Crisis, and kept the country in a tough but beloved fist. Despite his turbulent life, Castro lived to be 90 years old - he died a natural death in 2016.
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