Then, a Saudi delegation headed by the kingdom’s envoy, Prince Yazid bin Farhan, flew into Beirut for the second time in a week. It held a blitz of meetings with various political parties. By the time they left, there was only one candidate left: the US-backed Aoun.

Lebanon’s Parliament chose a U.S.-trained general as president, ending a two-year vacancy in a sign of Hezbollah’s waning influence.

The election of army commander Gen. Joseph Aoun garnered rare consensus among the Lebanese, backed by the United States and Saudi Arabia in the first presidential election for Lebanon following the fall of the Assad regime.