Social Studies

Country → Lebanon
Focus → Government
Title → The Influence of Fouad Chebab Governance to the Lebanese Army

SOP → 1. What is the biggest impact of Fouad Chebab

in the Lebanese Army?

2. What did he do as a Lebanese commander?

3. Why is he considered as the founder of the

Lebanese Army?

4. Is Fouad Chebab an important person to the

Lebanese Army?
Introduction →

Fouad Abdallah Chehab (Arabic: ‫ فُؤاد عبد هللا شِ هاب‬/ ALA-LC: Fuʼād ʻAbd Allāh Shihāb; 19
March 1902 – 25 April 1973) was a Lebanese general and statesman who served as
President of Lebanon from 1958 to 1964. He is considered to be the founder of the
Lebanese Army after Lebanon gained independence from France, and became its first
commander in 1946.
Born in Ghazir to a family that traced its origins to nobility, Chehab joined the French
Army in 1919. He was appointed Prime Minister of Lebanon by the outgoing president
Bechara 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 1958 Lebanon crisis between Chamoun and Muslim leaders, he prevented the
army from siding with the government or the opposition, and refused any request to do
so. This decision helped keep the army unified and limited losses. He was elected
President of Lebanon in the 1958 election, being considered a "consensus option" both
internationally and locally, and succeeded Chamoun.
As President, Chehab is credited for introducing reforms and social development
projects and building modern state institutions. However, his rule was described as
autocratic, and saw an increase in the role of military and intelligence in politics. His
political approaches, known as "Chehabism" influenced later presidents Charles Helou
and Élias Serkis. He died in 1973, two years before the civil war.

Early life

Born in 1902, 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 1842. His great-grandfather, Hassan Chehab,
was the eldest brother of Bashir Shihab II, who ruled Lebanon for 40 years. Chehab's
father Abdallah tried to immigrate to the United States in 1910, 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.

Military career (1921–1958)

Chehab and his wife, Rose René Poitieux

French Army (1921–1946)

In 1921, Chehab joined the French Military School in Damascus, Syria, and graduated as
a lieutenant in 1923. He was promoted to Captain in 1929, and headed the Rashaya
casern. He later studied at the École Supérieure de Guerre in Paris, France, during the
1930s.

Commander of the Lebanese Army (1946–1958)

Chehab became Commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces in 1945, at which time
Lebanon gained its independence upon the end of the French mandate and military
presence.
In 1952, Chehab refused to allow 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 1952, and held the additional portfolio of defense minister.
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 1956 to 1957.
The gerrymandering and the alleged electoral fraud of the 1957 parliamentary election,
followed by the dismissal of several pro-Arab ministers, sparked a violent Muslim revolt
that came to be known as the Lebanon crisis of 1958. The tensions that were exposed
would result in a civil war 17 years later (1975–1991). Like in 1952, Chehab, who
remained commander of the army, refused to allow the military to interfere. He thus
prevented supporters of both the opposition and the government from assuming
positions of strategic importance, such as airports and government buildings.

Presidency (1958–1964)

Chehab (left) and United Arab Republic President Gamal Abdel Nasser (to Chehab's
left) at the Syrian–Lebanese border during talks to end the crisis in Lebanon

To quell the uprising, Chamoun, with the help 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 peace to
the country. On taking office, Chehab declared, "The revolution has no winners and no
losers". Following a path of moderation and cooperating 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.
In 1960, two years into his six-year presidential mandate, seeing that the country had
been stabilized and having paved the way for reforms, Chehab offered to resign.
However, he was persuaded by members of the Lebanese Parliament to remain in office
for the rest of his mandate. In 1961, 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.
Chehab's rule was a delicate balancing act of maintaining relative harmony between the
nation's Christian and Muslim populations. He followed the path and principles of
dialogue and moderation coupled with public reforms, which came to be known as
Chehabism. Generally deeply respected for his honesty and integrity, Chehab is credited
with a number of reform plans and regulations to create a modern 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 power
diminishing.
In 1964, Chehab, whose presence at the head of the country was still seen by many as
the best option for stability and future reforms, refused to allow the Lebanese
Constitution to be amended to permit him to run 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 life (1964–1973)

Chehab was widely expected to contest the presidential election of 1970, 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
support him in building a modern state. He chose to endorse his protégé, Elias Sarkis,
instead. In the closest vote in Lebanese history, Sarkis lost the election to the feudal
leader Suleiman Frangieh by a single vote in the National Assembly. The election was
regarded as a defeat for the old statesman and marked the end 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 1973 and the onset of the
Lebanese Civil War in 1975. Fouad Chehab died in Beirut in April 1973, at the age of 71.

Legacy

A drawing of Chehab as the commander of the army, dated before 1958

Chehab is seen as the greatest president of the country by several politicians such as
Raymond Eddé, journalists such as Samir Atallah and Jihad Al Khazen, and
commentators such as Ziad Rahbani. Sheikh Maher Hammoud said that he is the only
pre-Taif president who deserved major executive powers. However, Professor As'ad
AbuKhalil criticized his rule after the coup, calling it a "police state".

Honors

In 2008, the council of ministers named him as one of the "men of independence". The
Jounieh municipal stadium was renamed "Fouad Chehab stadium" in 1994.
In 2016, his house in Jounieh was established as a museum. The project reportedly cost
$1.5 million dollars.