--- title: Fidel Castro Has Died at 90. Here's How He First Took Power. description: "Today in Cuba no name moves men more quickly to praise—or to anger—than that of Fidel Castro," TIME reported in 1956. canonical: https://time.com/3666177/fidel-castro-cuba-history/ author: Lily Rothman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-11-26T14:01:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:43:28.050Z article:section: History og:title: How Fidel Castro Went From Revolutionary to Ruler og:description: The Cuban leader has died at 90 og:url: https://time.com/3666177/fidel-castro-cuba-history/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3211fa6e3ee4d99/69876f7d8e0601fd214594a0/1101590126_400-1.jpg?branch=production&width=400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 400 og:image:height: 225 og:image:alt: The Jan. 26, 1959, cover of TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How Fidel Castro Went From Revolutionary to Ruler twitter:description: The Cuban leader has died at 90 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3211fa6e3ee4d99/69876f7d8e0601fd214594a0/1101590126_400-1.jpg?branch=production&width=400&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # How Fidel Castro Went From Revolutionary to Ruler > Sponsored content. 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They are at time.com/newsletters and are separate from a paid subscription.  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 26, 2016 2:01 PM UTC  Fidel Castro on the Jan. 26, 1959, cover of TIME Fidel Castro on the Jan. 26, 1959, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BORIS CHALIAPIN  by [Lily Rothman](https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/)  ## Lily Rothman Rothman is managing editor at TIME. Nov 26, 2016 2:01 PM UTC Fidel Castro, the long-time Cuban leader who [has died at 90](http://time.com/4582503/fidel-castro-dies-dead-cuba-obituary/), defined decades for his homeland—and, though he [wasn’t always](http://time.com/3641168/cuba-1959/) a man of such power, his charisma and drive were [obvious](http://time.com/4305653/fidel-castro-life-in-pictures) from the beginning. When TIME first [mentioned](http://time.com/vault/issue/1956-12-10/page/44/) his name, in the Dec. 10, 1956, issue, it was as a “wellborn, well-to-do daredevil of 29.” At that point, he had already been jailed after leading a 1953 uprising against [Cuba](http://time.com/3637822/cuba-history/)’s then-leader, Fulgencio Batista; had gone to Mexico to pull together forces; had called their group the July 26 Movement after the date of the earlier failed uprising; and had issued an ultimatum to Batista. “In Havana,” TIME reported. “Castro’s followers painted ‘This is the year’ on walls.” Although it ended up taking a few more years to topple Batista, the rise of Castro had begun. In late 1956, the group from Mexico sailed to Cuba and set up a camp. By 1957, Castro had galvanized the nation, and the rest of the world was paying attention too. As TIME [reported](http://time.com/vault/issue/1957-07-08/page/22/): --- > “” --- In those years, as Castro summoned his followers from among Cuba’s professional class, the plan was to oust Batista and then rule for two years. After that point, free elections were promised; Castro also walked back some of his more radical ideas and denied that he wanted any power for himself: “I can do more for my country giving an example of disinterestedness,” he [said](http://time.com/vault/issue/1958-04-14/page/37/). Then, at the dawn of 1959, Castro and his crew won — and plans quickly changed. ### A History of Cuba-U.S. Relations in 13 TIME Covers  Fulgencio Batista on the Apr. 26, 1937, cover of TIME TIME  Fidel Castro on the Jan. 26, 1959, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BORIS CHALIAPIN  Che Guevara on the Aug. 8, 1960, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Jose Miro Cardona on the Apr. 28, 1961, cover of TIME TIME  Blas Roca on the Apr. 27, 1962, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Adm. George Anderson on the Nov. 2, 1962, cover of TIME Boris Chaliapin  Fidel Castro on the Oct. 8, 1965, cover of TIME Cover Credit: BERNARD SAFRAN  Fidel Castro (and others) on the Jun. 13, 1969, cover of TIME Cover Credit: KARSH, HARRY REDL, BEN MARTIN.  Fidel Castro and Cyrus Vance on the Sept. 17, 1979, cover of TIME Cover Credit: RODDEY E. MIMS; HIRES-GAMMA/LIAISON.  Fidel Castro on the Dec. 6, 1993, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GIANFRANCO GORGONI  The Sept. 5, 1994, cover of TIME Cover Credit: PAUL DAVIS  Fidel Castro on the Feb. 20, 1995, cover of TIME Cover Credit: DAVID BURNETT  Fidel Castro and the Pope on the Jan. 26, 1998, cover of TIME Cover Credit: GERARD RANCINAN In a cover story on Jan. 26, 1959 — mere weeks later — TIME dubbed Castro “[The Vengeful Visionary.”](http://time.com/vault/issue/1959-01-26/page/1/) “The executioner’s rifle cracked across Cuba last week, and around the world voices hopefully cheering for a new democracy fell still,” the story began. “The men who had just won a popular revolution for old ideals—for democracy, justice and honest government—themselves picked up the arrogant tools of dictatorship.” At the heart of the trouble was Castro: --- > “” --- In short, TIME’s writers worried, he had become synonymous with the movement he led. The cult of personality he inspired was no less autocratic than Batista’s rule had been. The young revolutionary lawyer had changed, and there remained no doubt that Cuba under Castro would not look the way many observers had hoped. The world watched warily as his power increased and, more recently, as his regime began to relax some of its stricter policies. One thing, however, never changed: wherever Castro went, eyes followed. **_Read the full 1959 cover story, here in the TIME archives:_** [The Vengeful Visionary](http://time.com/3641153/the-vengeful-visionary/) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3666177/fidel-castro-cuba-history/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3666177/fidel-castro-cuba-history/"},"headline":"How Fidel Castro Went From Revolutionary to Ruler","datePublished":"2016-11-26T14:01:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:43:28.050Z","description":"The Cuban leader has died at 90","url":"https://time.com/3666177/fidel-castro-cuba-history/","keywords":["remembrance","Cuba","Fidel Castro"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3211fa6e3ee4d99/69876f7d8e0601fd214594a0/1101590126_400-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lily Rothman","jobTitle":"Rothman is managing editor at TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/lily-rothman/"}],"articleSection":"History","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3211fa6e3ee4d99/69876f7d8e0601fd214594a0/1101590126_400-1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"The Jan. 26, 1959, cover of TIME","caption":"The Jan. 26, 1959, cover of TIME","creditText":"Cover Credit: BORIS CHALIAPIN","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/history/","name":"History"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/remembrance/","name":"remembrance"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3666177/fidel-castro-cuba-history/","name":"How Fidel Castro Went From Revolutionary to Ruler"}}]}] ```