Muhammad Hosni El Sayed Mubarak, better known as Hosni Mubarak, was an Egyptian political leader who served as the president of Egypt from 1981 to 2011. He had been the president for almost 30 years when the 2011 Egyptian Revolution broke out forcing him to step down from presidency after days of violent riots, non-violent civil resistance, acts of civil disobedience and strikes demanding the dissolution of the Mubarak Government. At the time of his stepping down he was the longest serving ruler of the country since Muhammad Ali Pasha who had ruled for over four decades in the first half of the 19th century. Mubarak had been a military leader before he entered politics, having served in the Egyptian Air Force as an Air Chief Marshal. As an Air Force officer Mubarak was credited with the successful performance of the Egyptian air force in the opening days of the war with Israel. The then-President Anwar Sadat had great faith in Mubarak and thus appointed him as the Vice President of Egypt. He took over the reins as the president when Sadat was assassinated after a few years, and thus began the Mubarak administration which would last for almost three decades before being overthrown in the wake of the 2011 Egyptian revolution.