Assad blev valgt som præsident i 2000 og 2007. Den 27. maj 2007 blev Assad godkendt som præsident for en anden syv-årig periode med det officielle resultat på 97,6% af stemmerne ved en folkeafstemning uden en anden kandidat.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/3580.htm |title=Syria |publisher=[[United States Department of State]] |date=26. januar 2012 |access-date=4. marts 2012}}</ref> Den [[styreform]] Assad præsiderer over er et autoritært regime.<ref>Heydemann, Steven; Leenders, Reinoud (2013). ''Middle East Authoritarianisms: Governance, Contestation, and Regime Resilience in Syria and Iran''</ref> Assads regime har beskrevet sig selv som [[sekulær]]<ref>Bronner, Stephen Eric (2007). ''Peace Out of Reach: Middle Eastern Travels and the Search for Reconciliation''</ref>, mens eksperter har hævdet, at regimet udnytter [[Etnicitet|etniske]] og [[sekt]]eriske spændinger i landet for at forblive ved magten.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Syria/151-flight-of-icarus-the-pyd-s-precarious-rise-in-syria.pdf|title=Flight of Icarus? The PYD’s Precarious Rise in Syria|first=|last=|publisher=International Crisis Group|date=8. maj 2014|access-date=4. oktober 2014|format=PDF|page=23|quote=The regime aims to compel people to take refuge in their sectarian and communitarian identities; to split each community into competing branches, dividing those who support it from those who oppose it|archive-date=20. februar 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220181554/http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/Middle%20East%20North%20Africa/Iraq%20Syria%20Lebanon/Syria/151-flight-of-icarus-the-pyd-s-precarious-rise-in-syria.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="NPR_APRIL_2015">{{cite web | url= http://www.npr.org/blogs/parallels/2015/04/18/400360836/syrias-minorities-caught-between-sword-of-isis-and-wrath-of-assad  |title= Syria's Minorities: Caught Between Sword Of ISIS And Wrath of Assad | publisher= NPR |last= Meuse  |first=  Alison |date= 18. april 2015 |access-date= 19. april 2015 |quote= Karim Bitar, a Middle East analyst at Paris think tank IRIS [...] says [...] "Minorities are often used as a shield by authoritarian regimes, who try to portray themselves as protectors and as a bulwark against radical Islam."}}</ref> Privat er han gift med [[Asma al-Assad]] og parret har tre børn sammen.
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