Pol Pot, Cambodian revolutionary, passed away on April 15, 1998 at the age of 69. Pol Pot, born Saloth Sar on May 19, 1928, was an influential Cambodian political leader and the prime minister of the Khmer Rouge government between 1975 and 1979. He was known for implementing a draconian and radical form of communism, which led to the Cambodian genocide and the death of an estimated 1-2 million people. Pol Pot rose to political power in 1952, when he joined the Communist Party of Kampuchea and eventually became the leader of the group's armed forces. In 1967, he installed himself as the head of the Khmer Rouge, a communist party dedicated to the overthrow of Cambodia's then-present government. His regime was marked by oppressive policies of collectivism, including widespread agriculture and forced labor. He subsequently changed Cambodia's official name to Democratic Kampuchea. From 1975 to 1979, Pol Pot's regime brutally persecuted those who had different ideals than his own and marked millions of lives with death, malnutrition, and exile. In the late 1970s, the international community condemned his rule and he was forced to follow their intervention and agree to a ceasefire. Pol Pot negotiated his relocation and exile in Thailand in 1979 and he eventually moved to a village in northern Cambodia in 1996. He remained in Cambodia until his death in 1998. Pol Pot will be remembered for his unimaginable brutality and oppressive policies. He has been considered one of the worst dictators of the 20th century.