King Abdullah II of Jordan: Last of the ‘Warrior Kings’
You used to have ‘warrior kings’ throughout history. George VI of the United Kingdom wished to be one but wasn’t allowed to join D-Day — neither was, much to his eternal regret, Sir Winston Churchill.
But there is, still, a Warrior King. The last one, in fact. And his name is King Abdullah the Second of Jordan.
It’s hard not to love King Abdullah. The man is well-educated, a trained fighter pilot and one brave soul — the type of fellow to personally don a uniform and bomb ISIS targets while quoting a line from Clint Eastwood’s film Unforgiven, saying: “Any man I see out there, I’m gonna kill him. I’m not only going to kill him, I’m going to kill his wife and all his friends and burn his damn house down.”
There are many men in this world, some of them in positions of leadership and few can light a candle to the head of the Hashemite Dynasty. In addition to being tough when the situation calls for toughness, the King can also be kind and understanding. He’s perhaps the only Muslim King who wishes his Christian subjects a Merry Christmas and treats them with the same respect, rights and dignity as he does his Islamic subjects. In a region rife with religious in-fighting, this is honestly just so sweet and refreshing to see:
So, yeah, when it comes to non-elected leadership, I think Jordan is doing quite well. King Abdullah’s wife is a Palestinian refugee herself and the couple has done a ton of charity, raising money for refugees and awareness to their plight. The more I learn about this King of Kings the more I genuinely admire him.
When this man leads his soldiers into battle, gives speeches to boost morale, walks around camps with his generals and officers… you’re seeing a different sort of leader. A sort of leader that’s almost extinct. And sure you have Ukraine’s Zelensky who holds his own quite well but Abdullah… Abdulah is an aging silverback. A Jordanian Rambo. Enrolled in Sandhurst in 1980, he was an elite fighter pilot in his twenties, flew helicopters and jets and has forty years of military experience. He is the last ‘Warrior King’ in existence.
It’s nice seeing a leader who not only puts his money where his mouth is but one with a willingness to actually put his life on the line for freedom if he has to. A far cry from most spineless world leaders you see in power across most of the world today.
King Abdullah II is a member of a dying breed, a club with a membership of one man and one man only. He is the world’s last Warrior King and we may never have another.