Who was President of Egypt when the United Arab Republic was formed between Egypt and Syria in 1958?

In early 1958 Syrian military officers offered to President Gamal Abdel Nasser a union between Syria and Egypt in order to aid Syria in their internal struggle against a communist threat. President Nasser favored a rapid merger of the two countries with very little room for Syria to negotiate terms. Leaders from the two nations signed the agreement, with Egypt’s Nasser becoming president of the union.

The union began as a lopsided agreement favoring Egypt. With the union created, Nasser started the purge of communists from Syria and dominating the control of Syria to the detriment of the Syrian political leaders involved in creating the union.

Problems with governance of Syria ranged from land reform based on Egyptian concepts, to nationalization of various segments of the economy, including banking, cotton trade and all heavy industry in Syria.

Nasser’s socialist ideas and his dominance over both countries lead to a coup in 1961 that declared independence for Syria from the United Arab Republic. Nasser intended to use the Egyptian military to stop the coup, but backed down when finding out any allies left in Syria had been ousted.

The other names in the answer options (Sadat, Mubarak and Morsi) were the Presidents of Egypt following Gamel Nasser’s death in 1970. Sadat was president from 1970 until his assassination in 1981. Mubarak succeeded Sadat until his resignation due to the Egyptian Revolution in 2011. Morsi was president from 2012 to 2013.