On September 25, 1962, Yemeni revolutionaries, supported by Egyptian President Gamal Abdul Nasser, overthrew the country’s autocratic ruler, Imam al Badr. Fearing Nasser’s imperialist intentions, Saudi Arabia gave refuge to the deposed Yemeni Imam and provided his followers with military and financial assistance. The Kennedy and Johnson administrations were reluctant to force Egyptian forces out of Yemen. This policy was driven by an ulterior motive of trapping Nasser and Arab Nationalism in the perpetual conflict of the Yemeni Civil War while limiting those hostilities to the geographical confines of Yemen. Although Nasser openly used Soviet arms and received Soviet economic and military aid during the Yemeni Civil War, Kennedy, Johnson, and their staff considered Nasser an obstacle to Soviet influence in the Middle East.