Sheikh Khalifa: key milestones in his life

The President led from 2004 until his death on Friday, May 13

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  Sheikh Khalifa, right, and dignitaries watch a parade on Abu Dhabi Corniche to celebrate Accession Day, on November 28 1971. Photo: Al Ittihad

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  British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher greets Sheikh Khalifa, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, at 10 Downing Street in London, on July 18, 1984. Keystone / Hulton Archive

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  UAE Founding Father, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, and Sheikh Khalifa. Photo: Al Ittihad

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  Sheikh Zayed inspects plans for the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, with his sons Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Sultan. Photo: Al Ittihad

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  French President Jacques Chirac speaks to Sheikh Khalifa, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, at the end of his visit to the UAE on December 16, 1997. Reuters

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  US President Bill Clinton meets Sheikh Khalifa, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, in the Oval Office of the White House on May 12, 1998. Reuters

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  Jordan's King Abdullah II speaks to President Sheikh Khalifa, on the sidelines Sheikh Zayed's funeral in Abu Dhabi on November 3, 2004. AFP

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  President Sheikh Khalifa stands for a photo with the UAE national football team at the Presidential Palace in Abu Dhabi on January 31, 2007, after the team beat Oman to win the Gulf Cup for the first time. AFP

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  President Sheikh Khalifa watches the first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit on November 1, 2009, with Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakstan, and Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman. Ryan Carter / The National

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  President Sheikh Khalifa greets Oman's leader, Sultan Qaboos, at Al Ain airport on July 11, 2011. Wam

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  President Sheikh Khalifa leaves Al Ain on December 30, 2012, for a private visit to Pakistan. Wam

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  Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, presents the first copy of his new book 'Flashes of Thought' to President Sheikh Khalifa in 2013. Wam

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  Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip with President Sheikh Khalifa at Windsor Castle in southern England on April 30, 2013. Reuters

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  President Sheikh Khalifa meets family members at his home in Evian, France, in 2014. Wam

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  President Sheikh Khalifa receives Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, at the Presidential Palace in Al Bateen, Abu Dhabi, on May 8, 2019. Also present is Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman. Ministry of Presidential Affairs

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  Sheikh Khalifa. Wam

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  President Sheikh Khalifa. Wam

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  Sheikh Zayed and Sheikh Khalifa. Wam

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  Sheikh Khalifa performing Umrah. Wam

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  Sheikh Khalifa. Wam

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  President Sheikh Khalifa receives Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah; Sheikh Humaid bin Rashid Al Nuaimi, Ruler of Ajman; Sheikh Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi, Ruler of Fujairah; Sheikh Saud bin Rashid Al Mualla, Ruler of Umm Al Quwain; and Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah. Wam

Sheikh Khalifa served as the UAE's second President for almost two decades.

Succeeding his father, UAE Founding Father the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, Sheikh Khalifa oversaw many moments of historic progress in the Emirates.

Here, The National takes a look at the key moments in the life of Sheikh Khalifa.

1946: Sheikh Zayed settles in Al Ain after being made Ruler’s Representative in the Eastern Region.

1948: Sheikh Khalifa, Sheikh Zayed’s first son, is born in Al Muwaiji fort, Al Ain. He is educated in the first local school established by his father.

1966: Aged 18, Sheikh Khalifa is appointed Ruler’s Representative in the Eastern Region after his father becomes Ruler of Abu Dhabi and moves to the capital.

1969: Appointed Crown Prince, Sheikh Khalifa moves to Abu Dhabi to take command of the emirate’s newly formed army.

1971: Following the foundation of the UAE, Sheikh Khalifa is appointed Deputy Prime Minister in the first federal Cabinet.

July 15, 1971: Sheikh Khalifa launches the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to help developing countries with assistance in the form of concessionary loans, developments grants and equity participation.

President Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, at Al Rawdah Palace in Al Ain, in 2013. Wam

1974: The Executive Council replaces local Cabinet as executive authority for local government of Abu Dhabi; Sheikh Khalifa is named its first president.

1976: Sheikh Khalifa is promoted to Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, with special responsibility for training and equipment.

1976: Sheikh Khalifa is instrumental in the foundation of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority “to invest funds on behalf of the government of the emirate of Abu Dhabi to make available the necessary financial resources to secure and maintain the future welfare of the emirate”.

1979: Sheikh Khalifa’s maternal grandfather, Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa, dies. The senior member of the Al Nahyan family taught Sheikh Khalifa much about leadership as a young man.

1979: Sheikh Khalifa establishes the Khalifa Housing Fund to finance the construction of residential and commercial buildings for nationals at low cost. He is credited with kick-starting the construction boom in Abu Dhabi.

1981: Sheikh Khalifa sets up the Abu Dhabi Department of Social Services and Commercial Buildings, popularly known as The Sheikh Khalifa Committee, to provide loans to nationals for construction projects. More than Dh35 billion has been lent, helping to create more than 6,000 multi-storey buildings in the Emirate.

December 1, 1985: Sheikh Khalifa announces the UAE is to build a new naval base to “ensure sovereignty over territorial waters, protect our coasts of some 400 nautical miles and preserve our national resources, much of which are located offshore in the Gulf”.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, visits President Sheikh Khalifa to wish him well on the second day of Eid Al Adha. Wam

Late 1980s: Sheikh Khalifa becomes Chairman of the Supreme Petroleum Council.

November 1, 2004: Sheikh Khalifa is appointed as Interior Minister.

November 2, 2004: The UAE's Founding Father, Sheikh Zayed, dies at 86.

November 3, 2004: The Federal Supreme Council elects Sheikh Khalifa as President of the UAE, for an initial term of five years, renewed in 2009. Sheikh Mohamed succeeds him as Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

December 1, 2005: Sheikh Khalifa announces that half the members of the Federal National Council will be elected.

December 2, 2005: “The years ahead require a bigger role for the Federal National Council,” Sheikh Khalifa says in his National Day address. “We will embark on a march that culminates in more participation and interaction from all the citizens of the country ... today, we stand at a threshold of a new era, whose ultimate objective is to entrench the rule of law and due process, accountability, transparency and equal opportunity.”

February 2007: Sheikh Khalifa sets out a strategic vision for the future, designed to ensure the welfare of citizens, in policy agenda issued by Abu Dhabi Executive Council. In a speech to the Federal National Council he commits the UAE government to a political system based on “consultation, justice and security", which enables all citizens – men and women – to “actively and positively participate in running their country”.

May 1, 2007: Johns Hopkins Medicine in the US announces a “transformational” financial gift from Sheikh Khalifa in memory of his father, Sheikh Zayed.

May 13, 2007: Sheikh Khalifa welcomes Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for a two-day visit to Abu Dhabi, the first by an Iranian president since 1979.

June 3, 2007: Sheikh Khalifa launches the Dh2bn Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development to develop small to medium-sized business and “to create a new generation of Emirati entrepreneurs”.

January 4, 2010: Burj Dubai, the world’s tallest building, is renamed Burj Khalifa in honour of the President.

January 25, 2014: It is announced the President has suffered a stroke and undergone surgery.

July, 2017: President Khalifa is shown receiving rulers and members of the Supreme Council at Al Bateen Palace.

May 13, 2022: State news agency Wam announces the death of President Sheikh Khalifa.