General Émile Jamil Lahoud (; born January 12, 1936) is a former President of Lebanon. He is the son of General Jamil Lahoud, a leader in the independence movement. His mother is of Armenian descent from the Armenian village of Kasab in Syria. Before being elected in 1998, he was Chief of Staff in the Army. Under Lebanon's unwritten constitutional agreement, Al Mithaq Alwatani, the presidency is earmarked for a Maronite Catholic, the prime minister's post is reserved for a Sunni Muslim and the parliament speaker's post for a Shiite Muslim.

Lahoud served under General Michel Aoun during the final years of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-90). After an Arab League-brokered cease-fire took effect, Lahoud crossed over into Syrian-controlled west Beirut. A Maronite military officer was needed to assume the position of army commander for the West Beirut-based Lebanese government endorsed by the 1989 Taif Agreement. Lahoud was offered the position.

He served in various posts in the military, including commander-in-chief of the army from 1989 to 1998, and then ran for the presidency in 1998, after having the constitution amended to allow the army commander-in-chief to run for office within three years of holding that post.

Under the Lebanese constitution, the President's term was limited to one six-year term. However, under continued pressure from Syria, in 2004, the parliament voted to extend his term for an additional three years to 2007 (his predecessor, Elias Hrawi, did the same). Lebanese opposition figures and international critics claim that the extension was illegal because the constitution was amended under foreign duress.

He is married to Andrée Amdouni and they have three children: Emile, Ralf and Carine who was married to Lebanon's defense minister Elias Murr.

Maronite Cardinal Nasrallah Sfeir, Druze leader Walid Jumblatt and Leader of the Lebanese Forces, Samir Geagea, have been vocal critics. Assassinated Sunni former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who had worked under Syrian support for many years, clashed with Damascus over the extension of Lahoud's term. Hariri was later killed by a car bomb after he resigned as part of the constitutional process of the extension and wasn't reconducted to office. Lebanese opposition blamed Syria for the attack.

According to The New York Times, Émile Lahoud has a reputation for "lounging through most afternoons in his Speedos by the pool at the Yarze country club, reading Paris-Match magazine and holding a tanning mirror." The newspaper reported that Lahoud denied allegations that he went swimming on the day of Hariri's funeral. He told a group of journalists: "I swim every day — it's my workout — but on that specific day, I did not swim."

On 23 November 2007, CNN reported that Lahoud had declared a state of emergency and ordered the military to take over hours before his terms end. Yet, according to the constitution the president does not have the authority to declare a state of emergency without obtaining the approval of the government , which is entitled to take over as soon as the presidential office becomes vacant.The Lebanese Government, in addition to the army and most other foreign governments considered Lahoud's final statement illegitimate, and deemed it useless.

*Republic of Lebanon - The President official site