Shaykh Zayid bin Sultan Al-Nahyan (born 1923) served for 18 years as the governor of the Buraimi Oasis and for five years as the ruler of the emirate of Abu Dhabi, one of the Trucial States, before becoming president of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) upon its formation in 1971.

Shaykh (Sheik) Zayid bin Sultan Al-Nahyan was the president of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), a federation of the seven former shaykhdoms, or states, of Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Fujairah, and Ras al-Khaimah (the states are sometimes called "trucial," from a truce made with Great Britain). The federation was formed in December 1971, on the day before Great Britain terminated all of its treaty relations in the Persian Gulf. On December 8, 1971, the U.A.E. joined the Arab League and it became a member of the United Nations.

But even before the rise of the...