King Saʻūd visit to the United States photograph collection
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Abstract
Photographic prints, from press agencies and wire services, depicting the state visit of King Saʻūd ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz al-Saʻūd, ruler of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, to the United States in 1957. Also included is the January 28, 1957 issue of Time magazine, which featured this visit as the cover story, and a print publication issued to commemorate the visit, titled "King Saud Visits the United States."
Historical note
The visit to the United States of King Sa'ud of Saudi Arabia took place against the backdrop of shifting developments in both U.S. and Saudi foreign policy.
Following the Suez Crisis of 1956, and the friendliness that was developing between Egyptian leader Gamal Abdel Nasser and the Soviet Union, the United States government was anxious to head off any growing Soviet influence in the Middle East. On 5 January 1957, in a message to the U.S. Congress, President Dwight D. Eisenhower outlined what later came to be called the "Eisenhower Doctrine," which stated, among other things, that America pledged to provide military and financial aid to countries in the Middle East "requesting such aid against overt aggression from any nation controlled by international Communism."
At the same time, King Sa'ud, who had only assumed the leadership of Saudi Arabia following his father's death four years earlier, was confronted with geopolitical challenges of his own. Nasser's call for the formation of a single, unified pan-Arab state stretching from Cairo to Baghdad, and its avowed secular and communist leanings, led him to fear that such a movement could challenge the authority of the ruling al-Sa'ud family in Saudi Arabia. This led him to be receptive to efforts already in place by the Eisenhower Administration to pull him away from his country's loose alliance with Egypt and Syria, and to build closer ties with the United States.
During his visit to the United States, Sa'ud sought to position himself as someone who although a friend of the United States, was also bargaining for concessions that would be favorable not only to Saudi Arabia, but also to its regional allies. Among those were a continuation in U.S. military and financial aid, including the expansion of the port of Dammam, the extension of a U.S. rent-free lease on the airbase in Dhahran, the free training of Saudi armed forces personnel, and additional arms deliveries, including those of F-86 Sabre jets. In turn, Sa'ud publicly endorsed the Eisenhower Doctrine, and following his trip, met with Nasser and Syrian president Shukri al-Kuwatli in Cairo to explain the purpose of his trip, and to assure Arab leaders that he had advocated on their behalf.
One further element of the trip to Washington was the inclusion of one of Sa'ud's sons, Prince Masshur ibn Sa'ud, who was brought to the U.S. for medical treatment of what was initially thought to have been a case of polio. The trip's organizers made sure that photographs of Masshur were prominently featured in news coverage of the visit, leading one historian to assert that "his big round innocent eyes and his mischievous smile, featured in every major newspaper in the United States, inspired more favourable publicity for Saudi Arabia than any planned propaganda..."
Source: Holden, David and Johns, Richard. The House of Saud (London: Sidgwick and Jackson, 1981), pp. 191-194.
Arrangement
Files are arranged in roughly chronological order.
Content Description
The collection of photographs and printed materials documenting the visit of King Saʻūd ibn ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz al-Saʻūd, of Saudi Arabia, to the United States in early 1957, chiefly consists of photographic prints from various wire news agencies, with most of the images credited to either the United Press and Associated Press. Most of the photographs have typed captions attached to the verso of the images, or integrated into the bottom of the photographic image. Given that most of the photographs have handwritten annotations on the verso of the images, including dimensions and various instructions for printing them, it can be assumed that these came from a newspaper's photographic morgue. There are stamps on only a few images, identifying reference collections from the Cleveland Plain Dealer, the Chicago Sun, or the Baltimore Sun, but no further information is available as to how the photographs were gathered or compiled into this collection.
The photographs provide a detailed chronology of King Saʻūd's visit, beginning onboard the ship that brought him and his party to the United States, the Constitution, with images from the ship's stop in Naples, as well as its being greeted by U.S. Air Force fighter jets upon its entry into U.S. territorial waters on January 28. Upon the king's arrival in New York on the next day, he addressed the United Nations General Assembly, and met with the Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjöld, as well as with the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, Henry Cabot Lodge. The following day, January 30, the king and his entourage traveled to Washington, where they were greeted at National Airport by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and ten days of high-level meetings commenced. Among those with whom King Saʻūd met, and whose meetings are documented in this collection, were President Eisenhower, Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Arthur Radford, and Rear Admiral William Swedberg, the superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy, and Maryland Governor Theodore McKeldin, who accompanied King Saud on his tour of Annapolis.
During the visit, King Saʻūd brought one of his sons, six-year-old Prince Masshur ibn Saʻūd, seeking treatment for a paralyzed arm and leg, which he initially thought was the result of an infection with polio. Young Prince Masshur's visit generated much media attention, as attested to in this collection, with many photographs of the prince accompanying his father, receiving gifts such as a bicycle, a giant teddy bear, and other toys, and visiting the National Zoo in Washington. The Prince was examined and received treatment at Walter Reed Medical Center, where he was diagnosed instead with cerebral palsy.
This collection of photographs concludes with images from King Saʻūd's return trip, where he attended a summit in Cairo to brief other Arab leaders on his meetings with President Eisenhower, and its implications for relations in the region.
In addition to the photographs, two printed publications are included with this collection: the issue of the weekly U.S. newsmagazine, "Time" (Vol. 29, No.4), dated January 27, 1957, which had a cover story on King Saʻūd in advance of his visit; and a publication titled "King Saud Visits the United States." The latter appeared to have been written and developed by a U.S. based public relations firm, to commemorate the king's visit. It contains a biography of Saʻūd, an overview of his visit, and articles about the history and culture of Saudi Arabia, and a brief overview of Islam. No attribution is given for this publication, other than the name of the company that printed it, McGregor and Werner, in Washington, DC.
Subjects
Conditions governing access
Collection is open for use in the Archives and Special Collections Reading Room, New York University Abu Dhabi Library.
Conditions governing use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred citation
Identification of item, date; King Saʻūd visit to the United States photograph collection; MC.082; box number; folder number or item identifier; Archives and Special Collections, New York University Abu Dhabi Library.
Immediate source of acquisition
Acquired by purchase, November 2019.
About this Guide
Processing information
Processed by Brad Bauer, August 2022.