King Abdul Aziz meets Franklin Delano Roosevelt

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<TITLE>Historic Meeting of A Saudi King and An American President</TITLE>

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<CENTER>Historic Meeting of A Saudi King and An American President
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The first time that King Abdul Aziz Ibn Abdul Rahman Al-Saud left his country after successfully uniting the people of Arabia into one Kingdom, it was to meet with U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt at the Great Bitter Lake in the Suez Canal on February 14, 1945. The result was a catalytic recognition of a common friendship.

In his book "FDR Meets Ibn Saud," Colonel William Eddy, at the time U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to Saudi Arabia, and official interpreter for the meeting, suggests that their instant connection stemmed from shared experiences. Roosevelt indeed recognized his meeting with Ibn Saud as "an outstanding success," and assured the United States Congress: "I learned more by talking with Ibn Saud for five minutes than I could have learned in the exchange of two or three dozen letters."

Engineered by Colonel Eddy, the meeting was conducted under a cloak of secrecy. The USS Murphy, the first U.S. warship ever to do so, entered the port of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and was made ready to accommodate the King on the journey by sea to rendezvous with the USS Quincy on the Great Bitter Lake where President Roosevelt was awaiting his arrival.

The American sailors learned that King Abdul Aziz would not be comfortable sleeping in a small cramped ship stateroom, since he was used to sleeping in the open or a tent. They therefore constructed a tent over the bow of the ship. When the USS Murphy steamed back into the Suez canal for the meeting, the deck of the warship had become a majlis complete with a decorative chair for the King, and rugs and cushions for others to sit on.

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On board, King Abdul Aziz gave an invitation to the ships' officers and crew to partake of a typical meal of lamb with rice and vegetables. Individuals from both countries had crossed cultural barriers to make friends, share food and laughter. Captain John S. Keating, commander of the USS Murphy, remembers how at dinner the King quoted from the Holy Qur'an, and acknowledged: "First I am a warrior: only then am I a King."

The meeting of the King and the President took place in secret, due to the exigencies of war. Fifty-four years later, their descendants met openly in Riyadh, to celebrate the friendship they had sealed, and the gifts they had exchanged.

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<CENTER>Source: Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia, Washington, DC</CENTER>

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