The U.S "Life" magazine had run a historical interview with late founder King Abdulaziz bin Abdulrahman Al Saud under the title: Ibn Saud "The King of Saudi Arabia", a King who made a Kingdom. The portrait of King Abdulaziz, sitting on a chair, was the cover page of the magazine issue dated 31 May 1943, highlighting the political significance of his personality. King Abdulaziz was one of the strongest statesmen in his era and had made a great and unequalled achievements in that critical epoch, the magazine said, in what was considered to be the first official interview with a western magazine by King Abdulaziz in Riyadh. That issue of the aforementioned magazine constituted an important historical reference, for it tackled a lot of aspects related to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The magazine depicted a number of photos to reflect the day to day life, historical and heritage related sites of the Kingdom in addition to undergoing revamping process which was taking place throughout the Kingdom at the time. The then "Noelle Bush", the Editor-in-Chief of Life magazine, accompanied by the magazine's photographer "Robert Landry", who had flown from Cairo to Jeddah, and then to Riyadh. The editor called the trip as "amazing". The interview highlighted the interest of western media, and the American one in particular, in King Abdulaziz, a fact that signified the growing importance of King Abdulaziz and his nascent nation in the region, despite the world preoccupation, at that time, with Second World War and its fallouts. LIFE described its historical interview with King Abdulaziz in a 14-page report, which was also rich in information, pictures and stories about the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. -- SPA
