Summary: 'Independent Arabia' has reviewed the minutes of meetings, secret memos, and briefing papers prepared by the Reagan administration before and during Amin Gemayel's meetings, in addition to assessments by the National Security Council and the US State Department. These documents reveal what took place behind closed doors in the Oval Office and the Cabinet Room of the White House, and even during the first meeting between Reagan and Gemayel.

Every time a Lebanese president heads to the White House—and such visits are rare, countable on one hand—the tape of history rewinds to pose the same question: Have Washington's priorities toward Lebanon truly changed, or have only the names changed while the issues remain the same?

Between President Joseph Aoun's visit to the U.S. capital at a highly sensitive regional moment and the three visits made by former President Amin Gemayel to the White House between 1982 and 1983, the vocabulary is strikingly similar: extending state authority over all Lebanese territory, restricting weapons to legitimate institutions, removing foreign forces, rebuilding the army, and restoring state sovereignty.

More than four decades ago, while Lebanon was mired in civil war and foreign occupations, the administration of U.S. President Ronald Reagan saw in Amin Gemayel's election an opportunity to rebuild the Lebanese state after the Israeli invasion of 1982 and the assassination of his brother, President-elect Bachir Gemayel. Today, after a new war that has shifted the balance of power in Lebanon and the region, President Aoun finds himself facing almost identical headlines, albeit with different circumstances and players, amid a new negotiation track under U.S. auspices and renewed talk of strengthening the Lebanese army, extending state authority, and ending the phenomenon of arms outside state institutions.

Gemayel at the White House in 1982 (Ronald Reagan Presidential Library)

Gemayel in Washington: Secret Memos and Briefing Papers

This comparison is not based solely on impressions; it is confirmed by U.S. documents that were classified 'secret' for years before being declassified and made available in U.S. presidential archives.

'Independent Arabia' has reviewed the minutes of meetings, secret memos, and briefing papers prepared by the Reagan administration before Gemayel's meetings, in addition to assessments by the National Security Council and the U.S. State Department. These documents reveal what took place behind closed doors in the Oval Office and the White House Cabinet Room, including during the first meeting between the two presidents.

These documents show that Gemayel did not go to Washington merely seeking political support; rather, he presented Reagan with a vision based on the withdrawal of all foreign forces, strengthening the Lebanese army, rebuilding the country, and deepening the strategic partnership with the United States, considering Lebanon a model of democracy in the Middle East and a natural ally for Washington.

On the other hand, the documents also reveal how the Reagan administration viewed Lebanon as a testing ground for its project in the region, and how it discussed the limits of U.S. support, the relationship with Israel, the Syrian presence, and opportunities for reaching regional peace.

In this context, 'Independent Arabia' publishes the highlights of what these documents reveal about the first meeting between Amin Gemayel and President Ronald Reagan in 1982, and how the scene changed dramatically by the third and final visit at the end of 1983.

What Reagan and Gemayel said in their first meeting behind the doors of the White House (Ronald Reagan Library)

The First Meeting: What Reagan and Gemayel Said

After extensive research in the Reagan presidential archive spanning many years, we found a document detailing what took place in the first meeting between Gemayel and Reagan at the White House on October 19, 1982.

This file, documented on October 26 of the same year and prepared by the National Security Council, was titled 'Minutes of the Meeting of President Reagan with Lebanese President Amin Gemayel.' It begins by listing the participants from both sides, including President Reagan, Vice President George Bush, Secretary of State George Shultz, Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger, National Security Advisor William Clark, and a group of ambassadors and officials. On the Lebanese side, President Amin Gemayel attended along with Foreign Minister Dr. Elie Salem, Minister of Water and Electrical Resources, and a group of ambassadors and officials.

The meeting was documented as having taken place at 8:30 a.m. that day, lasting 45 minutes, in the White House Cabinet Room, followed by a luncheon.

The documents reveal that 'Reagan opened the meeting by welcoming President Amin Gemayel to the Cabinet Room, expressing his pleasure that the United States had contributed to stopping the fighting in Lebanon and was working to achieve peace, affirming that Washington was ready to do everything in its power to help Lebanon.' He then turned the floor over to Secretary of State George Shultz, who said that the meeting should focus on four main issues: the withdrawal of all foreign forces from Lebanon, Lebanese-Israeli relations, aid to the Lebanese army, and the reconstruction of Lebanon.

Remarks by President Amin Gemayel

Then Gemayel spoke, addressing President Reagan: 'You have given Lebanon hope after eight years of despair and tragedy, and we do not want this hope to fail. You are a hero to us. For the first time in eight years, we see light at the end of the tunnel. I thank you for risking the lives of U.S. Marines, and I fully realize the magnitude of this sacrifice... Lebanon is ready to be part of your strategic system in the Middle East; this is what the Lebanese people want.'

Regarding Lebanon's issues, Gemayel affirmed according to the meeting minutes that the first issue to be addressed was the presence of foreign forces in Lebanon without invitation from the Lebanese government. He said: 'We must work together for their complete withdrawal, because our sovereignty, the reconstruction of our country, and Lebanon's role in the Middle East all depend on this withdrawal... The uniqueness of the Lebanese system has always enabled it to play a distinctive role in the region, but the presence of foreign forces makes protecting Lebanese sovereignty extremely difficult.'

Gemayel affirmed that Lebanon had given the Palestinians more than any other country in the region (Ronald Reagan Library)

On Middle East peace, the former Lebanese president said in his first meeting with a U.S. president: 'Lebanon seeks peace... Lebanon can contribute to making peace; it has paid a heavy price for its absence. We want peace with Israel, and we want to end the state of war.'

Here, according to the documented Reagan archive, Gemayel suggested behind closed doors 'the possibility of launching a new initiative, perhaps similar to the Camp David Accords, provided it was under U.S. sponsorship. But he simultaneously stressed that any negotiation track must not harm the Lebanese national consensus or Lebanon's Arab relations.'

Gemayel said that Lebanon was ready to begin immediate negotiations for the withdrawal of all foreign forces, stressing that direct U.S. involvement was necessary to start talks with the Israeli army on withdrawal arrangements. He proposed that Israel begin with a goodwill gesture by withdrawing from the vicinity of the Presidential Palace (in the Baabda area of Mount Lebanon Governorate).

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