Fouad Chéhab (1902 - April 25th 1973) (Arab: فؤادشهاب) is a politician and a soldier Lebanon board, president of the Lebanese Republic between 1958 and 1964, old commander of the Lebanese Armée. It was one of the most noticed presidents history of Lebanon, thanks to the reforms and modernizations which it undertook during its mandate.

Ordering Lebanese Armed forces

Born in 1902 in a Christian family noble Maronite, Fouad Chéhab became commander of the Lebanese Armée in 1945, after Lebanon obtained its independence at the end of the French mandate and the French military presence.

In 1952, Chehab refused to let the army interfere in the rising which obliged the president Béchara el-Khoury to resign. After its resignation, Chéhab was appointed Prime Minister having for mission of ensuring in urgency of the democratic presidential elections. Four days later, Camille Chamoun was elected to succeed Béchara el-Khoury.

The electoral frauds of the parliamentary elections of 1957, followed reference of several ministers pro-Arabic, have spark a violent Moslem revolt. It is known under the name of crisis of 1958, with the tensions which would have like consequence a long civil war 17 years (1975-1991). As in 1952, Chéhab, always ordering army, refused to allow the soldiers to mingle with it. It also prevented the opposition and the partisans of government to take places of strategic importance, such as the governmental airports and buildings.

Chéhab chair

To alleviate rising, the president Chamoun, asked the American intervention, and the marine unloaded with Beirut (Operation Blue Bat ). The Moslems having a great confidence in its connection considering its impartiality and from now on supported by the Americans, Chéhab was selected as a candidate of consensus to succeed Chamoun as president and to bring back peace to the country. With the catch of its functions, Chéhab declared, “the revolution has neither gaining nor loser”. It continued the way of moderation and cooperated closely with the various religious groups and the secular and religious forces, thus managing to cool all the tensions and to bring back stability to the country.

In 1960, two years after the beginning of its six years presidential mandate, indicator which the country had found stability and which the ground is prepared for reforms, Chéhab proposed to resign of its station. However, it was persuaded by the members of the Lebanese Parliament to continue the remainder of its mandate. In 1961, it ruined an coup attempt of state by the nationalist Parti social Syrian. To prevent future similar threats, it reinforced the security services Lebanese thus preventing any foreign interference in the internal Lebanese businesses.

The mandate of Chéhab was a sensitive act of balancing to maintain the harmony between the Christians and the Moslems Lebanese. It followed the way and the principles of the dialog and moderation, coupled with public reforms which are known under the name of Chéhabisme . Generally deeply respected for its honesty and integrity, Chéhab is credited with a certain number of plans and laws of reform which have creates a modern administration and an effective public service. This thereafter confronted it with the feudal, denominational, and traditional politicians who saw their influence on the capacity to decrease.

After the presidency

In 1964, Chéhab, whose presence with the head of the country was still seen by much like the best option for stability and the future ones reform, refused the amendment of the constitution to enable him to represent itself for another mandate. It supported the candidature of Charles Helou which was elected president thereafter. Chéhab became later dissatisfied with the presidency of Helou, because of the authorization of the presence armed with the Palestinian guerillas in the South Lebanon, and with the operations of Helou to prepare the ground for the return in power of the traditional feudal politicians.

Chéhab was largely had a presentiment of to be presented to the presidential election of 1970, but in a historical declaration he said that its experiment with the presidency convinced it that the people of its country were not ready to put to side the feudal traditional policy and to support it by establishing a modern state. He chose to support his protected Elias Sarkis in the place. In the tightest elections of the Lebanese history, Sarkis lost the presidential election vis-a-vis the feudal Chief Soleimane Frangié by only one vote with the National Assembly. The election was regarded as a defeat for the old statesman and marked the end of the reforms and the Chehabiste era.

Fouad Chehab died in Beirut in April 1973 at the 71 years age.

In 1976, Elias Sarkis, the heir to Chéhabisme, was unanimously elected president of the country in a hope to stop the civil war which had burst and to join together the nation. But such an attempt was too late because Palestinian, Syrian the, Israeli ones and other belligerents had already taken the orders of the political and sedentary powers of the country. Without support of strong security services Lebanese, Sarkis did not succeed in leaving an unspecified impact and all its initiatives had failed.

See Too

• History of Lebanon

• Lebanese War of Lebanon
• Armed