U.N.

SECRETARY GENERAL
Gladwyn Jebb
October 24, 1945 February 1, 1946 United Kingdom After World War II, he served as Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations in August 1945, being appointed Acting United Nations Secretary-General from October 1945 to February 1946 until the appointment of the first Secretary-General Trygve Lie.

Tygve Lie
February 2, 1946 November 10, 1952 Norway Lie, a foreign minister and former labour leader, was recommended by the Soviet Union to fill the post. After the UN involvement in the Korean War, the Soviet Union vetoed Lie's reappointment in 1951. The United States circumvented the Soviet Union's veto and recommended reappointment directly to the General Assembly. Lie was reappointed by a vote of 46 to 5, with eight abstentions. The Soviet Union remained hostile to Lie, and he resigned in 1952.

Dag Hammarskjld
April 10, 1953 September 18, 1961 Sweden After a series of candidates were vetoed, Hammarskjld emerged as an option that was acceptable to the Security Council. Hammarskjld was re-elected unanimously to a second term in 1957. The Soviet Union was angered by Hammarskjld's leadership of the UN during the Congo Crisis, and suggested that the position of Secretary-General be replaced by a troika, or three-man executive. Facing great opposition from the Western nations, the Soviet Union gave up on its suggestion. Hammarskjld was killed in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in 1961. U.S. President John F. Kennedy called Hammarskjld "the greatest statesman of our century".

U Thant
November 30, 1961 December 31, 1971 Burma In the process of replacing Hammarskjld, the developing world insisted on a non-European and non-American. U Thant was nominated. However, due to opposition from the French (Thant had chaired a committee on Algerian independence) and the Arabs (Burma supported Israel), Thant was only appointed for the remainder of Hammarskjld's term. Thant was the first Asian Secretary-General. The following year, on November 30th, Thant was unanimously re-elected to a new term ending on 3 November 1966 . He was reelected on 2 December 1966, finally for a full 5 years term, until 31

Kurt Waldheim
January 1, 1972 December 31, 1981 Austria Waldheim launched a discreet but effective campaign to become the Secretary-General. Despite initial vetoes from China and the United Kingdom, in the third round, Waldheim was selected to become the new Secretary-General. In 1976, China initially blocked Waldheim's re-election, but it relented on the second ballot. In 1981, Waldheim's re-election for a third term was blocked by China, which vetoed his selection through 15 rounds. In the mid-1980s, it was revealed that a postWorld War II UN War Crimes Commission had labeled Waldheim as a suspected war criminal based on his involvement with the Wehrmacht Heer army of Nazi Germany. The files had been stored in the UN archive.

Javier Prez de Cullar

January 1, 1982 December 31, 1991 Peru Prez de Cullar was selected after a five-week deadlock between the re-election of Waldheim and China's candidate, Salim Ahmed Salim of Tanzania. Prez de Cullar, a Peruvian diplomat, was a compromise candidate, and the first Secretary-General from the Americas. He was re-elected unanimously in 1986.

Boutros Ghali
January 1, 1992 December 31, 1996 Egypt The 102-member Non-Aligned Movement insisted that the next Secretary-General come from Africa. With a majority in the General Assembly and the support of China, the NonAligned Movement had the votes necessary to block any unfavourable candidate. The Security Council conducted five anonymous straw pollsa first for the counciland Boutros-Ghali emerged with 11 votes on the fifth round. In 1996, the United States vetoed the re-appointment of Boutros-Ghali, claiming he had failed in implementing necessary reforms to the UN.

Kofi Annan
January 1, 1997 December 31, 2006 Ghana On 13 December 1996, the United Nations Security Council recommended Annan. He was confirmed four days later by the vote of the General Assembly, He started his second term as Secretary-General on 1 January 2002.

Ban Ki-moon
January 1, 2007 present South Korea Ban became the second Asian to be selected as the Secretary-General. He was unanimously elected to a second term by the General Assembly on 21 June 2011. His second term began on 1 January 2012. Prior to his selection, he was the Foreign Minister of the Republic of Korea from January 2004 to November 2006.