Rahman was a very close friend of Razaleigh's father as they shared similar backgrounds, both were from Royal houses. This closeness is also the result of their involvement in politics and their struggle for Malaya's independence. The Tunku saw leadership potential in Razaleigh and after Razaleigh's father had passed on, the Tunku sought to have him compete for a seat on the UMNO ticket. However, Razaleigh resisted the offers presented to him as he wanted to focus on his fledgling business career. This came to a head several years later when Razaleigh finally gave in after he had learned from various quarters that the Tunku had lost patience with him for stalling. He competed in the 1969 general election and won Kelantan State Legislative Assembly seat of Ulu Kelantan Barat. In 1971, he was elected to the UMNO Supreme Council. Besides Musa Hitam and Prof. Abdul Jalil Hassan, he was among the 7 new faces in the Supreme Council. He was later appointed the Treasurer of UMNO by then President Abdul Razak Hussein in 1973. In the 1974 general election, Razaleigh won the Parliamentary seat of Ulu Kelantan then (now known as, Gua Musang). In 1975, he secured the second most votes for the Vice President post in the party elections and thus was one of the three VPs elected to serve a three-year term. After Prime Minister Abdul Razak Hussein's sudden death in 1976, Hussein Onn took over the reins and became the new Prime Minister. It is rumoured that a short while after being sworn in as Prime Minister, Hussein asked Razaleigh to be his Deputy, an offer which Razaleigh politely declined, citing his young age and inexperience. Razaleigh instead pointed to Dr. Mahathir, a close friend who was 12 years his senior and who was also serving as one of the three Vice Presidents of UMNO at the time as the other VP was Ghafar Baba, who was not in contention due to his lack of proficiency in English. However, due to Hussein's hesitation to appoint Dr. Mahathir, a personal meeting was convened between the three of them, wherein Dr. Mahathir had agreed to appoint Razaleigh as his Deputy when Hussein eventually steps down. This meeting led to Hussein appointing Dr. Mahathir as Deputy Prime Minister. At the same time, Razaleigh was appointed Finance Minister by Hussein. At the time, Razaleigh had gotten a reputation for being