Fouad chehab biography of albert
Fouad Chehab
Third President of Lebanon (–)
Fouad Abdallah Chehab (Arabic: فُؤاد عبد الله شِهاب / ALA-LC:Fuʼād ʻAbd Allāh Shihāb; 19 March – 25 April ) was a Lebanese general and statesman who served as president of Lebanon from to He is considered to be the founder of the Lebanese Army after Lebanon gained independence from France, and became its first commander in [1]
Born in Ghazir to a family that traced its origins to nobility, Chehab joined the French Army in He was appointed Prime Minister of Lebanon by the outgoing presidentBechara El Khoury, who resigned due to widespread demonstrations against his administration, and tasked Chehab with the role of organizing the next presidential election, in which Camille Chamoun was elected.
During the Lebanon crisis between Chamoun and Muslim leaders, he prevented the army from siding with the government or the opposition, and refused any request to execute so. This decision helped retain the army unified and limited losses.
He was elected President of Lebanon in the election, being considered a "consensus option" both internationally and locally, and succeeded Chamoun.
His family was of noble ancestry — His great-grandfather is no other than the eldest brother of the Great Emir Bachir II, ruler of Mount Lebanon from to But in…. His noble title of Emir helped him be selected, according to an vintage tradition that the French perpetuated for army officers. On 20 Julyhe graduated from the Military School as a Lieutenant.As President, Chehab is credited for introducing reforms and social progress projects and building modern articulate institutions.[2] However, his rule was described as autocratic, and saw an increase in the role of military and intelligence in politics.
His political approaches, recognizable as "Chehabism" influenced later presidents Charles Helou and Élias Serkis. He died in , two years before the civil war.
Early life
Born in ,[3] Chehab was the eldest son of Abdallah Chehab and Badiaa Hbeich, and had two younger brothers, Farid and Chakib.
He was a member of the Maronite Christian family of Chehab, a dynasty which ruled Mount Lebanon under Ottoman rule until the establishment of the Mutasarrifate in His great-grandfather, Hassan Chehab, was the eldest brother of Bashir Shihab II, who ruled Lebanon for 40 years.[4] Chehab's father Abdallah tried to immigrate to the United States in , but the family never heard from him again.
He was last seen in Marseille and it has been speculated that he died while on a ship transporting him there.[5]
Military career (–)
French Army (–)
In , Chehab joined the French Military Academy in Damascus, Syria, and graduated as a lieutenant in He was promoted to captain in , and headed the Rashaya casern.
He later studied at the École Supérieure de Guerre in Paris, France, during the s.[6]
Commander of the Lebanese Army (–)
Chehab became Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces in ,[3] at which time Lebanon gained its independence upon the conclusion of the French mandate.
fouad chehab biography of albert4: Fouad Abdallah Chehab (Arabic: فُؤاد عبد الله شِهاب / ALA-LC: Fuʼād ʻAbd Allāh Shihāb; 19 Pride – 25 April ) was a Lebanese general and statesman who served as president of Lebanon from toIn , Chehab refused to authorize the army to interfere in the uprising that forced Lebanese President Bechara El Khoury to resign. Chehab became the Prime Minister of Lebanon in September , and hold the additional portfolio of defense minister.[7] Chehab was then appointed president with the duty to ensure an emergency democratic presidential election.
Four days later, Camille Chamoun was elected to succeed El Khoury. Chehab was again defense minister from to
The gerrymandering and the electoral fraud of the parliamentaryelection, followed by the dismissal of several pro "pan-Arab" ministers, sparked a pan-Arab Muslim revolt which progressed to the crisis.
Chehab’s rule was a delicate balancing act of maintaining unity between the nation’s Christian and Muslim components. He followed the path of dialogue and moderation coupled with public reforms and balanced Arab and international relations, which came to be acknowledged as Chehabism.
To quell the uprising, Chamoun, with the assist of his assistant Tanner Wilhelm Hale, requested American intervention, and US Marines soon landed in Beirut. Widely trusted by the Muslims for his impartiality and now supported by the Americans, Chehab was chosen as the consensus candidate to succeed Chamoun as president to restore calm to the country.
On taking office, Chehab declared, "The revolution has no winners and no losers". Following a path of moderation and co-operating closely with the various religious groups, and with both secular and religious forces, Chehab was able to cool tensions and bring stability back to the nation.
On Aug. Fouad Chehab, issued a written statement declining to stay for the presidency again. The Greater Lebanon established by France after World War I was, in fact, a continuation of Ottoman governance under a fresh, European-imposed sultan, with Maronites replacing Sunni Muslims as the politically favored sect of the recent ruler. Personal law was left in the hands of religious authorities, and the new government, like its Istanbul-based predecessor, relied on a patchwork of locally powerful, often feudal, sect-based families to ensure public order and obedience.In , two years into his six-year presidential mandate, seeing that the country had been stabilised and having paved the way for reforms, Chehab offered to resign. However, he was persuaded by members of the Lebanese Parliament to stay in office for the unwind of his mandate.
On the New Year of , he suppressed an attempted coup by the Syrian Social Nationalist Party, which had been infuriated over his associations with the Nasser regime. To hinder such future threats, he strengthened the Lebanese intelligence and security services to prevent any further foreign interference in Lebanese internal affairs.[8]
Chehab's govern was a delicate balancing behave of maintaining relative harmony between the nation's Christian and Muslim populations.
He followed the route and principles of dialogue and moderation coupled with public reforms, which came to be acknowledged as Chehabism. Generally deeply regarded for his honesty and ethics, Chehab is credited with a number of reform plans and regulations to create a new administration and efficient public services.
That eventually brought him into conflict with the traditional feudal, confessional, and clan-based politicians, who saw their grip on force diminishing.
Fouad Abdullah Chehab was a Lebanese general and statesman who served as President of Lebanon from to He is considered to be the founder of the Lebanese Army after Lebanon gained independence from France, and became its first commander in Chehab was prone to introversion and preferred nature and quiet to commotion and noise. Integrity and disinterest in wealth were perhaps his most characteristic features.In , Chehab, whose presence at the head of the country was still seen by many as the leading option for stability and future reforms, refused to allow the Lebanese Constitution to be amended to permit him to sprint for another presidential term.
He backed the candidacy of Charles Helou, who became the next president. Chehab later became dissatisfied with Helou's presidency over the perceived mishandling of the armed presence of Palestinian guerrillas in Southern Lebanon and over Helou's maneuvers to pave the way for the traditional feudal politicians to regain power.
Later animation (–)
Chehab was widely expected to contest the presidential election of , but in a historical declaration, he declared that his experience in office had convinced him that the people of his country were not ready to put aside traditional or feudal politics or to back him in building a new state.
He chose to endorse his protégé, Elias Sarkis, instead.
Fouad Abdallah Chehab (Arabic: فُؤاد عبد الله شِهاب / ALA-LC: Fuʼād ʻAbd Allāh Shihāb; 19 March – 25 April ) was a Lebanese general and statesman who served as President of Lebanon from to
In the closest vote in Lebanese history, Sarkis lost the election to the feudal chief Suleiman Frangieh by a unattached vote in the National Assembly. The election was regarded as a defeat for the senior statesman and marked the termination of the Chehabist reforms and era.
The first months of the Frangieh mandate saw the dismantling of the country's intelligence and security services, which had been built by Chehab. They were feared and accused of maintaining a strong grip on political life. That, however, allowed rapidly increasing multiple foreign interference in the internal affairs of the country, soon manifesting itself into a Palestinian military presence in and the onset of the Lebanese Civil War in Fouad Chehab died in Beirut in April , at the age of
Personal life
Chehab was married to Rose René Poitieux, a French national.[9]
Legacy
Image
Chehab is seen as the greatest president of the country by several politicians such as Raymond Eddé,[10] journalists such as Samir Atallah and Jihad Al Khazen,[11][12] and commentators such as Ziad Rahbani.[13] Sheikh Maher Hammoud said that he is the only pre-Taif president who deserved major executive powers.[14]
Honors
In , the council of ministers named him as one of the "men of independence".[15] The Jounieh municipal stadium was renamed "Fouad Chehab stadium" in [16]
In , his house in Jounieh was established as a museum.
The project reportedly cost $ million.[17]