Saeb Salam was a Lebanese

Lebanon

Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...

 politician, who served as Prime Minister four times between 1952 and 1973.

Salam was the son of Salim Salam, the scion of a prominent Sunni

Sunni Islam

Sunni Islam is the largest branch of Islam. Sunni Muslims are referred to in Arabic as ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah wa āl-Ǧamāʿah or ʾAhl ūs-Sunnah for short; in English, they are known as Sunni Muslims, Sunnis or Sunnites....

 Muslim family who was a prominent politician both under Ottoman

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

 rule and then during the French Mandate

French Mandate of Lebanon

The state of Greater Lebanon, the predecessor of modern Lebanon, was created in 1920 as part of the French scheme of dividing the French Mandate of Syria into six states....

. The younger Salam got his first taste of politics in 1941, when he started campaigning against French and British mandates in the Levant

Levant

The Levant or ) is the geographic region and culture zone of the "eastern Mediterranean littoral between Anatolia and Egypt" . The Levant includes most of modern Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Israel, the Palestinian territories, and sometimes parts of Turkey and Iraq, and corresponds roughly to the...

 and Palestine

Palestine

Palestine is a conventional name, among others, used to describe the geographic region between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River, and various adjoining lands....

. He was joined in this endeavour by Abdel-Hamid Karami, a legislator from Tripoli

Tripoli, Lebanon

Tripoli is the largest city in northern Lebanon and the second-largest city in Lebanon. Situated 85 km north of the capital Beirut, Tripoli is the capital of the North Governorate and the Tripoli District. Geographically located on the east of the Mediterranean, the city's history dates back...

.

In 1943, Salam was elected to the National Assembly from a Beirut constituency. After founding Middle East Airlines

Middle East Airlines

Middle East Airlines – Air Liban S.A.L. , more commonly known as Middle East Airlines , is the national flag-carrier airline of Lebanon, with its head office in Beirut, near Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport...

 in 1945, Salam was appointed Minister of the Interior in 1946 - his first cabinet position. Six years later, he became Prime Minister for the first time, on 14 September 1952. His administration lasted only four days; under the pressure of strikes and demonstrations, President Bechara El Khoury

Bechara El Khoury

Bechara El Khoury was the first post-independence President of Lebanon, holding office from 21 September 1943 to 18 September 1952, apart from an 11-day interruption in 1943...

 was forced to resign. Salam's government resigned too. He was recalled on 1 May 1953 by the new President, Camille Chamoun

Camille Chamoun

Camille Nimr Chamoun was President of Lebanon from 1952 to 1958, and one of the country's main Christian leaders during most of the Lebanese Civil War ....

 (whose election Salam had supported); this time, his term of office lasted 106 days, until 16 August.

Salam was appointed Oil Minister by Prime Minister Abdallah El-Yafi

Abdallah El-Yafi

Abdallah El-Yafi was the Prime Minister of Lebanon 12 times between 1938 and 1969.-Early life and education:Abdallah El-Yafi was born in Beirut, Lebanon on September 7, 1901 into a Muslim Sunni family to parents Aref El-Yafi and Jamila Ostwani, a Damascene.Raised with two brothers, he first...

 in 1956, and negotiated deals the Aramco and Tapeline companies to connect the Zahrani and Baddawi refineries with oilfields in Saudi Arabia

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia , commonly known in British English as Saudi Arabia and in Arabic as as-Sa‘ūdiyyah , is the largest state in Western Asia by land area, constituting the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and the second-largest in the Arab World...

 and Iraq

Iraq

Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....

. President Chamoun's support for the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, and Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i invasion of Egypt

Egypt

Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...

 during the Suez Crisis

Suez Crisis

The Suez Crisis, also referred to as the Tripartite Aggression, Suez War was an offensive war fought by France, the United Kingdom, and Israel against Egypt beginning on 29 October 1956. Less than a day after Israel invaded Egypt, Britain and France issued a joint ultimatum to Egypt and Israel,...

, however, led both Yafi and Salam to resign in protest. He participated in demonstrations that followed, was wounded, and was subsequently placed under arrest while recovering in hospital. He was released after a five-day hunger strike, however.

In the parliamentary election

Elections in Lebanon

Elections in Lebanon gives information on election and election results in Lebanon.- Parliamentary electoral system :Lebanon's national legislature is called the Assembly of Representatives...

 of 1957, Salam lost his seat, as did Yafi, Rashid Karami

Rashid Karami

Rashid Abdul Hamid Karami was a Lebanese statesman. He was one of the most important political figures in Lebanon for more than 30 years, including during much of Lebanese Civil War , and he served as Prime Minister eight times.- Background :Rashid Karami was born in Tripoli, into one of...

 (Abdel-Hamid Karami's son), and Kamal Jumblatt

Kamal Jumblatt

Kamal Jumblatt ; was an important Lebanese politician. He was the main leader of the anti-government forces in the Lebanese Civil War until his assassination in 1977. He is the father of the present Lebanese Druze leader Walid Jumblatt.-Family background and education:Kamal Jumblatt was born in...

. Allegations of vote rigging

Electoral fraud

Electoral fraud is illegal interference with the process of an election. Acts of fraud affect vote counts to bring about an election result, whether by increasing the vote share of the favored candidate, depressing the vote share of the rival candidates or both...

 were never proved, but that the constituencies were gerrymandered was little disputed. The four formed an opposition bloc, which led an armed rebellion

Lebanon crisis of 1958

The 1958 Lebanon crisis was a Lebanese political crisis caused by political and religious tensions in the country. It included a U.S. military intervention.-Background:...

 for five months in 1958 against President Chamoun's reported plans to seek a second term and to join the pro-Western Baghdad Pact. The rebellion ended only with the election of General Fuad Chehab

Fuad Chehab

Fuad Chehab Fuad Chehab Fuad Chehab (name also spelt Fouad Shihab, or Chehab, depending on transliteration from the original Arabic, (March 19, 1902 - April 25, 1973) was the President of the Lebanese Republic from 1958 to 1964...

, who was perceived as a moderate, as President in September; Salam called off the rebellion with what was to become his trademark slogan: "No winner, no loser."

Salam became Prime Minister again on 2 August 1960, and remained in office until 31 October 1961. He broke with President Chehab, however, over what he saw as the granting of undue powers to the police. Throughout the 1960s he opposed the "police state" that he accused Chehab and his chosen successor, Charles Helou

Charles Helou

Charles Helou was President of Lebanon from 1964 to 1970.Born in Beirut, Helou was the scion of a powerful Maronite family from Baabda. He graduated with honours from St. Joseph's University in Beirut in 1929, and went on to complete a Law degree in 1934...

, of trying to establish, and in 1968 he spoke out against political interference by military intelligence. His opposition to Chehabist rule intensified, and in 1970, he helped to assemble a parliamentary coalition that elected Suleiman Frangieh

Suleiman Frangieh

Suleiman Kabalan Frangieh, last name also spelled Frangié, Franjieh, or Franjiyeh , was President of Lebanon from 1970 to 1976...

 to the presidency, by one vote, over the Chehabist candidate Elias Sarkis

Elias Sarkis

Elias Sarkis was the President of the Lebanese Republic from 1976 to 1982.-Early career:Born in Shabbaniah, Sarkis graduated with a Law degree from Saint Joseph University in 1948. After joining the judicial corps in 1953, he became a judge with the Accounting Department...

.

Frangieh appointed Salam Prime Minister for the fourth time on 13 October 1970. This administration, which lasted until 25 April 1973, was his longest. He fell out with Frangieh and resigned as Prime Minister in the wake of an Israeli commando raid in Beirut, which killed three Palestinian

Palestinian people

The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...

 leaders, in protest against Frangieh's refusal to dismiss the army commander, General Iskandar Ghanem, for negligence. Salam declared that he would not accept the post of Prime Minister again.

Out of office, Salam remained influential. In the wake of the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in 1982, he mediated between the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 envoy, Philip Habib

Philip Habib

Philip Charles Habib was a Lebanese-American career diplomat known for work in Vietnam, South Korea and the Middle East...

 and the PLO chairman Yasser Arafat

Yasser Arafat

Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...

, securing the removal of the Palestinian military presence in Lebanon. He opposed the election to the Presidency of Bachir Gemayel

Bachir Gemayel

Bachir Gemayel was a Lebanese politician, militia commander, and president-elect...

, but was reconciled to him after the election and began working with him on a number of reform proposals. When Gemayel was assassinated on 14 September of that year, without having taken office, Salam supported his brother, Amine Gemayel

Amine Gemayel

Amine Pierre Gemayel was President of Lebanon from 1982 to 1988 and is the leader of Kataeb Party.Born in the Lebanese village of Bikfaya, Amine Gemayel is the son of Pierre Gemayel, founder of the Kataeb Party...

, for the Presidency and persuaded most Muslim National Assembly members to vote for him.

In 1985, Salam went into exile in Geneva

Geneva

Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, after surviving two assassination attempts. He had angered the Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

n government and hardline Muslim groups with the conciliatory stands he had taken at peace conferences held at Geneva and Lausanne

Lausanne

Lausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...

 the year before, and he did not feel safe to return to Lebanon until 1994. From exile, however, he played a key role in the negotiations that led to the Taif Agreement

Taif Agreement

The Taif Agreement was an agreement reached to provide "the basis for the ending of the civil war and the return to political normalcy in Lebanon." Negotiated in Taif, Saudi Arabia, it was designed to end the decades-long Lebanese civil war, politically accommodate the demographic...

 of 1989, which eventually led to the end of the civil war

Lebanese Civil War

The Lebanese Civil War was a multifaceted civil war in Lebanon. The war lasted from 1975 to 1990 and resulted in an estimated 150,000 to 230,000 civilian fatalities. Another one million people were wounded, and today approximately 350,000 people remain displaced. There was also a mass exodus of...

.

A noted philanthropist, Salam headed Makassed, an educational and healthcare charity, from 1957 to 1982, when he was succeeded by his son Tammam, who is now a parliamentarian in his own right. In addition to Tammam, Salam had two other sons (Faisal, who was killed in an automobile accident in 1996, and Amr, a businessman), and two daughters (Thurayya and Anbara) with his wife, Tamima Reda Mardam-Beik, whom he married in 1941. He died of a heart attack on 21 January 2000.