member of the right-wing Christian Kataeb Party, also known as the Phalange Party
1947 CE
to 1982 CE
Sheikh Bachir Gemayel (Sheikh Bashīr al-Jimayyel, also romanized al-Jumayyil and El Gemaiel, November 10, 1947 – September 14, 1982), also Sheikh Bashir Gemayel, is a member of the right-wing Christian Kataeb Party (also known as the Phalange Party), and the son of its founder Sheikh Pierre Gemayel.
He becomes the supreme commander of the Lebanese Forces (militia), uniting major Christian militias by force during the early years of the Lebanese Civil War under the campaign of "Uniting the Christian Rifle" and later foundings the Lebanese Forces (militia) military organization.
Gemayel's Forces become the most powerful militia in Lebanon and is widely remembered for its resistance and battles against the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Syrian Army, most notably the Hundred Days' War and the Battle of Zahleh.
He is democratically elected president on August 23, 1982 by the majority of Christian and Muslim MPs while the country is torn by civil war and occupied by Israel, Syria and Palestinian factions.
Gemayel starta enacting policies to disarm Christian militias, ordera the Lebanese Army to enter West Beirut for the first time since the start of the war and forces Yasser Arafat and the PLO to leave Lebanon.
On September 14, before he can take office, he is assassinated, along with twenty-six others, when a bomb explodes in Beirut Phalange headquarters.
While some have blamed Habib Tanious Shartouni, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation blames the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP).
Gemayel remains the youngest elected president and one of the most charismatic and controversial figures in Lebanese history.
