Rangkuti was born in the town of Lubuk Pakam, today in Deli Serdang Regency of North Sumatra, on 10 August 1928.

[2] In his youth, Rangkuti fought during the Indonesian National Revolution in North Sumatra; he held the rank of second lieutenant and was stationed at Binjai to command a subdetachment of the Military Police Corps.

[5] Within the corps, he served as commander at the Buru Island political prison camp between 1973 and 1975, with the rank of lieutenant colonel.

[4] In one occasion, he asked the imprisoned filmmaker Basuki Effendy [id] to establish a band made up of the prisoners.

[7] Rangkuti rose to the rank of colonel, and beginning in 1980 he served two-terms as mayor of Medan.