Hussein’s succession to the throne of Jordan. Prince Hussein ascended the throne of Jordan after his father, King Talal, was declared unfit to rule due to mental illness. Hussein was formally crowned on November 14, 1953, his 18th birthday. The third ruler of the constitutional regime, the king belongs to the Hashemite dynasty, which claims to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad. During his nearly fifty-year reign, he maintained good relations with the West and significantly boosted the Jordanian economy. In 1967, he participated in the Six-Day War against Israel and subsequently fought Palestinian guerrillas attempting to take control of the Jordanian state. An opponent of the 1991 Gulf War, he supported the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. He died in 1999 and was succeeded by his eldest son, Prince Abdullah. Hussein was the longest-serving executive head of state of the 20th century.
