On Thursday, January 9, abandoning his traditional fatigues, Joseph Aoun made his solemn entrance in suit and tie into the Baabda presidential palace high above Beirut. His wife and family were waiting for him on the steps. He had just been overwhelmingly elected, securing the votes of 99 of the 128 MPs in the second round, and had been sworn in before Parliament. Aoun, who turns 61 on January 10, takes office at a time of great regional uncertainty, and against the backdrop of a fragile truce following Israel's war in Lebanon to weaken Hezbollah during the fall of 2024.

The former army chief was never a declared candidate for the post of president, which has been vacant since fall 2022, when the term of his predecessor, Michel Aoun (with whom he is not related), came to an end. But even then, despite his reluctance to enter the Lebanese political swamp, his name was circulating as that of a potential president in the media and the chancelleries. The latter saw the army as the only institution that was still functional.

Born in 1964 on the outskirts of Beirut, but originally from the South, Joseph Aoun, a balding colossus, is a Maronite Christian. In Lebanon's power-sharing system, the positions of army commander and president are reserved for this community. He was promoted as a young officer in 1985, at the height of the Lebanese war (1975-1990), and spent some time in the Special Forces. A man of action, he became head of the military institution in 2017. In the meantime, he has been brigade commander. During this time, he forged a reputation for being close to his soldiers and a leader who listens to his troops.

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