King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman
bin Faysal Al Saud
King of Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia 1932-1953
Born: 1880 Died: 1953
Wives: 20 Children: 68
The founder of modern Saudi Arabia, Abdul Aziz captured
Riyadh in 1902 and defeated the Al Saud's long time
rivals for control the the Najd, or Central Saudi
Arabia, the Rashid clan. After uniting various Najdi
tribes under the puritanical Islamic order, his
bedouin army conquered the Hijaz and then the Asir
region to unite the Kingdom. Abdul Aziz subsequently
cemented his ties to the various regions of the country
through multiple marriages that produced 45 male
children. After American petroleum engineers discovered
oil in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province in 1932, Abdul Aziz began to strengthen the Kingdom's relationship
with the United States. In 1945, he met with Franklin
Roosevelt aboard the USS Quincy in the Great Bitter
lake. Since that time, Saudi Arabia has become an
economic and strategic ally of the United States. The
strength of this alliance was demonstrated during the
1991 Gulf Crisis, when the United States led the
multinational effort to defend the kingdom and remove
Iraqi forces from neighboring Kuwait. Abdul Aziz was a
member of the Abdul Aziz, or Royal, line of the Saudi
family that traces its heritage directly to King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman bin Faysal Al Saud. In
official correspondence, he is referred to as "His Royal
Highness".
