Lebanese President Camille Chamoun, right, and Jordan’s King Hussein in Beirut, 1955. (Credit: ©Archives L’OLJ)
Following World War II (1939-1945), the United States opted for a policy intent on putting an end to the French and British colonial empires.Washington encouraged independence movements and, with the onset of the Cold War, began the search for spheres of influence in its fight against communism and the Soviet bloc.Viewed from this perspective, the presidential term of Camille Chamoun (1952-1858) came to reflect this shift in US policy. The six-year term of Chamoun, the president who was first nicknamed “the champion of Arabism,” has also been called “Lebanon’s golden age.”It all began with the resignation of Bechara al-Khoury — who in 1943 became the first president of independent Lebanon — in the wake of the “White Socialist Revolution” in the summer of 1952, an expression of popular anger against the regime.Following the uprising,...
Following World War II (1939-1945), the United States opted for a policy intent on putting an end to the French and British colonial empires.Washington encouraged independence movements and, with the onset of the Cold War, began the search for spheres of influence in its fight against communism and the Soviet bloc.Viewed from this perspective, the presidential term of Camille Chamoun (1952-1858) came to reflect this shift in US policy. The six-year term of Chamoun, the president who was first nicknamed “the champion of Arabism,” has also been called “Lebanon’s golden age.”It all began with the resignation of Bechara al-Khoury — who in 1943 became the first president of independent Lebanon — in the wake of the “White Socialist Revolution” in the summer of 1952, an expression of popular anger against the regime.Following...