Camille Chamoun

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1900 - 1987

President of Lebanon, 1952 - 1958; one of the most charismatic and influential Maronite politicians of the post - World War II period.

Born in Dayr al-Qamar, a predominantly Christian village located in the mixed Druze-Maronite district of the Shuf, in southern Mount Lebanon, Camille Chamoun (also Shamʿun) was graduated from the Faculty of Law of Saint Joseph University in Beirut in 1925 and elected to Lebanon's parliament in 1934. A member of Bishara al-Khuri's Constitutional Bloc, he rapidly rose to political prominence and became minister of finance in 1938.

In the late 1930s and early 1940s, he developed a close connection with the British and American governments and repeatedly headed Lebanese missions overseas. It was then that he began to acquire the reputation of being one of Lebanon's most cosmopolitan and most sophisticated politicians. After playing an important role in the events that led up to the gaining of independence by Lebanon (1943), he was a minister in several of President al-Khuri's governments. He nevertheless broke with al-Khuri in May 1948, when the latter sought to have the constitution amended to allow for his reelection. In 1951, Chamoun created the so-called Socialist Front with Druze leader Kamal Jumblatt and Maronite leaders Pierre Jumayyil and Raymond Eddé. The members of the Socialist Front accused President al-Khuri of corruption, nepotism, and violations
of the law, and they sought to obtain his resignation. In the summer of 1952, they organized a successful countrywide general strike that forced alKhuri to step down, and soon afterward, on 23 September 1952, Chamoun was elected president.

His presidency can be credited with several achievements. He increased the independence of the judiciary, induced Parliament to grant women the right to vote, and took measures to liberalize trade and industry that greatly contributed to the subsequent period of economic expansion and prosperity in Lebanon. He was criticized, however, for many of the very same practices he had accused his predecessor of fostering, particularly corruption and abuses of his authority. The political establishment distrusted his authoritarian leanings and his attempt to undercut the influence of traditional leaders. The Sunni Islam community especially felt alienated by his effort to undermine the authority of the premiership, which by convention was reserved for a Sunni, and by his unabashedly pro-Western foreign policy. During the 1956 crisis, for instance, he had refused to heed Muslim pressures to break off relations with France and Britain. As the pan-Arab rhetoric of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser became increasingly popular among the Sunni masses of Lebanon, he defiantly intensified the alignment of Lebanon with the United States, and, in 1957, he was the only Arab leader to publicly endorse the Eisenhower doctrine. Such open hostility to the rising tide of Arab nationalism in Lebanon made him very unpopular among Sunni Muslims. More generally, his heavy-handed, provocative style alienated many, including those within the Christian community. As a result, during his last two years in office, the people of Lebanon became increasingly polarized and discontented with his administration.

In 1957, Chamoun rigged the parliamentary elections to weaken his rivals and permit parliament to approve a constitutional amendment that would have enabled him to be reelected for a second term. Several of the country's most prominent political bosses thus failed to regain their seats in the Chamber of Deputies, which was then dominated by Chamoun loyalists. Such a blatantly illegal but effective maneuver to undermine their power led Chamoun's rivals to rise up against him during what came to be known as the 1958 Lebanese civil war. Although Chamoun was allowed to remain in office until the end of his term, September 1958, he had to abandon any ambition of being reelected.

He never again exerted as much power as he had between 1952 and 1958, but he remained active in public life and continued to display his skills as a populist, pragmatic politician. In 1959, he founded the National Liberal Party (NLP), which, of all parties, became the most consistent advocate of free enterprise and close ties with Western countries. He also rapidly emerged as a determined opponent of President Chehab and his policies, and in 1967 he formed the so-called Tripartite Alliance with the other chief opponents of Chehab, Raymond Eddé of the National Bloc and Pierre Jumayyil of the Pha-lange Party. He thus was instrumental in electing Sulayman Franjiyya to the presidency in 1970 and remained a behind-the-scenes power broker in the years that followed.

As Lebanon slowly drifted toward civil war in the early 1970s, Chamoun proved himself to be one of the most hawkish voices within the Christian community. He was determined to maintain Christian domination over state institutions and to resist calls to end the confessionalism. During the first phase of the civil war, from 1975 to 1976, he was minister of the interior. In the course of the hostilities, he and his followers were rapidly overshadowed by Bashir Jumayyil and his Lebanese Forces. In July 1980, the Lebanese Forces destroyed the military infrastructure of the Tigers, NLP's small militia. Although Chamoun joined the Government of National Unity formed in 1984, he was then no longer in a position to influence the course of national politics. He died of a heart attack in August 1987.

Bibliography

Cobban, Helena. The Making of Modern Lebanon. London: Hutchinson, 1985.

Hudson, Michael C. The Precarious Republic: Political Modernization in Lebanon. New York: Random House, 1968.

— GUILAIN P. DENOEUX

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Camille Nemr Chamoun كميل نمر شمعون
Born	3 April 1900(1900-04-03) Deir el Qamar, Lebanon
Died	Aug. 7th 1987 Beirut
Political party	National Liberal Party
Religion	Christian Maronite

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Camille Nimr Chamoun (Arabic: كميل نمر شمعون, Kamīl Sham'ūn) (April 3, 1900 – August 7, 1987) was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War (1975 - 1990).

Contents 1 Early years 2 Revolt of 1958 3 Founding the NLP 4 During the Civil War 5 Death and legacy 6 Timeline 7 See also 8 References

Early years

Camille Nimr Chamoun was born at Deir el-Qamar on 3 April 1900, into a prominent Maronite Christian family. He was educated in France and became a lawyer. He was first elected to the Lebanese parliament in 1934, and was reelected in 1937 and 1943. A champion of independence from France, he was arrested on 11 November 1943, and was imprisoned in Rashaïa castle, where he was held for eleven days, along with Bishara el-Khoury and Riad el-Solh, who were to become the first President and Prime Minister, respectively, of the new republic. Massive public protests led to their release on 22 November, which has since been celebrated as the Lebanese Independence Day.

Chamoun was reelected to parliament, now called the National Assembly, in 1947 and 1951. He was frequently absent, however, as he served as ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1944 to 1946, and as ambassor to the United Nations thereafter.

Revolt of 1958

Main article: Lebanon Crisis of 1958

When President Bishara el-Khoury was forced to resign amid corruption allegations in 1952, Chamoun was elected to replace him. Near the end of his term, Pan-Arabists and other groups backed by Nasser, with considerable support in Lebanon's politically disadvantaged Muslim community, attempted to overthrow Chamoun's government in June 1958 after Chamoun tried to illegally seek another term as president. Chamoun appealed to the United States for help under the new Eisenhower Doctrine, and American marines landed in Beirut. The revolt was squashed, but to appease Muslim anger, Gen. Fuad Chehab who although Christian enjoyed considerable popularity in the Muslim community, was elected to succeed Chamoun. The American diplomat Robert D. Murphy, sent to Lebanon as personal representative of President Eisenhower, played a significant role in allowing Chamoun to finish his mandate term normally and Chehab be elected according to the constitutional procedures.

Founding the NLP

Main article: National Liberal Party (Lebanon)

On his retirement from the presidency, Chamoun founded the National Liberal Party (al-Ahrar). As the leader of this party, Chamoun was elected to the National Assembly again in 1960, much to the consternation of President Chehab. He was defeated in 1964, due to changes to the boundaries of his electoral district, which he and his supporters protested as deliberate gerrymandering. He was reelected to the National Assembly, however, in 1968, and again in 1972 - Lebanon's last parliamentary election held in his lifetime. Following the election of 1968, the National Liberal Party held 11 seats out of 99, becoming the largest single party in the notoriously fractured National Assembly. It was the only political party to elect representatives from all of Lebanon's major religious confessions.

During the Civil War

Main article: Lebanese Civil War

In the 1970s and 1980s, Chamoun served in a variety of portfolios in the Cabinet. This was during the Lebanese Civil War (1975-90), in which Chamoun and the NLP participated through the party's militia, the "Tigers" (in Arabic, nimr means tiger). In the early stages of the war, he helped found the Lebanese Front, a coalition of mostly Christian politicians and parties, whose united militia - dominated by the Kataeb Party - became known as the Lebanese Forces (LF). Chamoun was chairman of the Front in 1976-78.

Though initially aligned with Syria, and inviting its army to intervene against the Muslim-leftist Lebanese National Movement (LNM) and its Palestinian allies in 1976, Chamoun then gravitated towards opposition to the Syrian presence. In 1980, the NLP's Tigers militia was virtually destroyed by a surprise attack from Chamoun's Christian rival, Bashir Gemayel, and the LF forces under his command. After the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, Chamoun decided to enter a tactical cooperation with Israel, in order to oppose what he considered a Syrian occupation.

Death and legacy

In 1984, Chamoun agreed to join the National Unity government as Deputy Prime Minister, a post he held until his death in Beirut on 7 August 1987, at the age of 87. He is remembered as one of the main Christian nationalist leaders, and one of the last significant figures of Lebanon's pre-war generation of politicians, whose political influence was eclipsed during the war by that of younger militia commanders.

Camille Chamoun was survived by his two sons, Dany and Dory, both of whom followed in his footsteps as NLP leaders and politicians in their own right.

Timeline

• 1900: Born in Deir el-Qamar.
• 1934: Elected to the National Assembly.
• 1944: Lebanon's envoy to the United Kingdom.
• 1946: Chief Lebanese representative to the United Nations.
• 1952: Lebanese President after Bishara el-Khoury has to resign after corruption charges
• 1958, June: Calls for American support in a Arab nationalist-inspired Muslim uprising during the Lebanon Crisis
• 1958, September: steps down in favor of Fuad Chehab
• 1974: Helps to found the Lebanese Front
• 1984: Joins the national unity government.
• 1987: August 7: Dies in Beirut.

See also

• List of Presidents of Lebanon
• National Liberal Party

References

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Preceded by Fuad Chehab (acting)

President of Lebanon 1952–1958

Succeeded by Fuad Chehab

v • d • e Presidents of Lebanon French Mandate (1918-1943) office established 1926 · Charles Debbas · Antoine Privat-Aubouard* · Habib Pacha Es-Saad · Émile Eddé · Pierre-Georges Arlabosse* · Alfred Naqqache · Ayoub Tabet* · Petro Trad Lebanese Republic (since 1943) Bechara El Khoury · Émile Eddé · Bechara El Khoury · Fuad Chehab* · Camille Chamoun · Fuad Chehab · Charles Helou · Suleiman Frangieh · Elias Sarkis · Bachir Gemayel† · Amine Gemayel · Michel Aoun* · vacant · René Moawad · Elias Hrawi · Émile Lahoud · Fouad Siniora* · Michel Suleiman * denotes acting     †assassinated prior to taking office

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