Hussein of Jordan

Hussein bin Talal was born in Amman in 1935, eldest son of the crown prince and a 40th-generation descendant of Muhammad. His grandfather Abdullah I was assassinated; his father Talal took the throne in 1951 but was forced to abdicate a year later due to illness. Hussein was enthroned at seventeen in 1953, inheriting a young country with the West Bank, few resources, and a flood of Palestinian refugees from 1948. He allowed Jordan's only democratically elected government in 1956, then forced it out within months, imposing martial law and banning parties. Jordan fought Israel three times under…