Gamal Abdel Nasser is formally nominated to become the first president of the new United Arab Republic

On 5 February 1958, Gamal Abdel Nasser was formally nominated to become the first president of the new United Arab Republic. In February 1958, Egypt joined with Syria in the United Arab Republic- a symbol of pan-Arabism (the union only lasted until 1961). Nasser was the second president of Egypt and the first president of the United Arab Republic. His legacy was one of awakening, of wasting Arab nationalism on an unwinnable war, and an alliance with the USSR that brought little material gain for Egypt. Nasser's schemes for Arab unity were all in vain. It was his successor, Anwar al-Sadat, who made peace with Israel, recovered the Sinai, and established generously subsidized closer ties with the United States of America (USA) - for which, in due course, he was assassinated.