Pervez Musharraf (born 11 August 1943) is a retired four-star general and a politician who was brought to power through a military coup d'état in 1999. He served as the tenth President of Pakistan from 2001 until 2008. Prior to that, he was the 13th Chief of Army Staff from October 1998 till November 2007, and was also the tenth Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan Armed Forces from 1998 until 2001. Commissioned from the Pakistan Army in 1964, Musharraf rose to national prominence after being appointed a four-star general in October 1998 by then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.