Hashem Al-Atassi. Three time president of Syria (1936-1939, 1950-1951, 1954). Born in Homs and educated in Istanbul. He chaired the Syrian conference that declared independence in 1920 after evacuation of the Turks. He became prime minister under King Faisal I. He chaired the National Bloc and the Syrian delegation that signed the 1936 treaty with France. He was elected president of the Syrian Republic in that same year. He remained in this post until 1939. In 1949, he was asked to chair a new government that would help write a new constitution. Atassi was elected president again. After the elections of 1955, he decided to pull out of political life.