King Saud
King Saud bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud (سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود) (January 12, 1902 – February 23, 1969) ruled Saudi Arabia from 1953-1964. He was removed from power by Faisal, apparently because of Saud’s mismanagement and waste. He was the eldest surviving son of Ibn Saud and became Crown Prince in 1933. He died in exile in Greece.
When Ibn Saud died in 1953, Saud became king. He had cordial relations with Egypt at the beginning of his reign. He felt challenged by the Hashemite kingdoms of Iraq and Jordan. Saud became weary of Egyptian influence in the Arab world. This led to numerous diplomatic blunders, such as a supposed plot to assassinate Gamal Abdel Nasser. Eqypt and Saudi engaged in a regional cold war. During the Yemeni Civil War, Saud supported the royalist and Egypt supported republican forces.
He was responsible for the establishment of numerous governmental ministries. In 1957, he founded King Saud University in Riyadh. He had 53 sons and 56 daughters [4] and was keen to give his own sons power, and placed them in high governmental positions. This annoyed his half-brothers, who thought that Saud’s sons were too inexperienced, and began to fear that Saud would select his own son to succeed him. He was also known for his lavish spending squandering state funds for his own family, and on palaces, all at a time when Saudi Arabia was still struggling economically.
Between 1953 and 1964, the appointment of eight ministers were partly to contain the fermenting demands for political participation among members of the royal lineage. By 1957, Saud placed his son Fahd as Minister of Defense, his son Musaid to lead the Royal Guard, his son Khalid to lead the National Guard. and his son Saad in the Special Guard.
Source: Wikipedia
