Miscellaneous: Colonel Gaddafi Never Gave Himself a Promotion

Gaddafi is dead. His 42-year rule of Libya has come to a definitive close. Following his death, we've heard a great deal about his quirky personality and his flamboyant sense of style (his clothing choices were nothing if not original) in addition to much about the atrocities of his dictatorship, but one thing has always struck me as most peculiar about the man: He never thought to promote himself, despite his megalomaniacal tendencies. He started his rule as Colonel Gadaffi, he ended it, dead, as Colonel Gadaffi. He may have thought about giving himself higher rank, but he never chose to. Napolean made himself Emperor. Gadaffi could have declared himself King after deposing King Idris of Libya in a coup, in 1969. He may have had a distaste for royalty, but he never even gave himself a higher military rank. He could have been General Gaddafi. He could have been 4-star general Gadaffi. He could have had as many stars on his epaulets as he saw fit to put there. His decision to remain Colonel Gadaffi seems an odd bit of restraint from a man that had little to restrain him.

Photo of Colonel Gadaffi by Jesse B. Awalt, from the Wikipedia page on Gaddafi, is in the public domain