Leadership change in authoritarian regimes can be trying episodes for incumbent governments and incoming leaders. Scholars have noted the “uncertainty,” “vulnerability,” and “crisis of legitimacy” that often follow from non-democratic leadership transitions, particularly those replacing long-term incumbents. The event creates an imperative for governments to manage the transition, and it simultaneously presents an opportunity for opponents to direct claims and grievances toward a new target. In this way, leadership change marks the advent of a new relationship between ruler and ruled. This paper addresses the ways in which leaders attempt to manage this key event through the strategic use of rhetoric, symbols, and event framing. Moreover, it examines how these efforts are challenged or accepted by political opposition and activists. Through an investigation of the succession from King Hussein of Jordan to his son Abdullah II (1999-present), I answer the question: How do public representations of government authority, leadership, and the leader himself serve as a medium for political contention during the succession period? Moreover, I link this competition in the cultural field to ongoing turbulence in the government-opposition relationship in the Jordanian monarchy. The theory is developed and supported through original interviews and content analysis of primary Arabic sources conducted during 17 months of fieldwork in Jordan (at time of conference). It specifically centers on initiatives championed by King Abdullah II in his first years as monarch including Jordan First; We Are All Jordan; The Amman Message; the National Agenda: 2007-2017, and other social and political efforts following the change in leadership. These political initiatives are highly symbolic in content and mean to “define a new social accord between Jordanians… and reformulate the state-individual relationship” (Jordan Embassy). I find that succession is an event filled with socio-political meaning prompting competing interpretations of government authority, national identity, and political priorities. In the Jordanian context, these interpretations are traceable through the government-opposition relationship during recent political crises. Finally, the paper asserts the value of focusing on the political role of cultural production during succession periods, particularly one that appreciates the use of symbolic and rhetorical strategies for political ends.