Fuad Chehab
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Fuad Chehab (name also spelt Fouad Shihab; 1902 - April 25, 1973) was President of Lebanon from 1958 to 1964.
As commander of the Lebanese Army, Chehab decided to remain neutral during the uprising in 1952, which forced President Bechara El Khouri to resign. Chehab was appointed Acting President on 18 September and held office for four days, until Camille Chamoun was elected to succeed Khoury.
The gerrymandering and alleged rigging of the 1957 parliamentary election, followed by the dismissal of several pro-Arab ministers in 1958, sparked a violent Muslim revolt in June. To quell the uprising, which came to be known as the Lebanon Crisis, President Chamoun requested American intervention, and Marines duly landed in Beirut. To appease the anger of the Muslim community, much of which had supported the uprising, Chehab was chosen as the consensus candidate to succeed Chamoun as President. His popularity among Muslims had been enhanced by his refusal to take sides in the uprising. He had worked to prevent both the opposition and the government partisans from taking places of strategic importance, such as airports and government buildings.
On taking office, Chehab declared, "The revolution has no winners and no losers".
Chehab's rule was a delicate balancing act, trying to maintain peace between the nation's Christian and Muslim population. To this end, he kept the Interior and Defense portfolios for himself. He is often credited with reforms to create a modern administration in the nation, which brought him into conflict with the traditional feudal, religious, and clan based values of the nation.
In 1960, seeing that the country had been stabilized, Chehab offered to resign. However, due to intense public pressure, he was persuaded to remain in office.
In 1964, Chehab refused to allow the Constitution to be amended to allow him to run for another term. He handed the office to his protégé and chosen successor, Charles Helou. He later became dissatisfied with Helou's presidency, however, especially over his perceived mishandling of the armed presence of Palestinian guerrillas in Southern Lebanon. Chehab was widely expected to contest the presidential election of 1970, but chose to endorse Elias Sarkis instead. In the closest vote in Lebanese history, Sarkis lost the election to Suleiman Frangieh by a single vote in the National Assembly. To the extent that Sarkis was regarded as Chehab's candidate, the election was regarded as a defeat for the old statesman.
Fuad Chehab died in Beirut in 1973 at the age of 71.
| Preceded by: Bechara El Khoury | President of Lebanon 1952 (acting) | Succeeded by: Camille Chamoun |
| Preceded by: Camille Chamoun | President of Lebanon 1958–1964 | Succeeded by: Charles Helou |