United Nations Secretary-General selection of the race, but Kurt Waldheim of Austria won the most votes in the first round. Carlos Ortiz de Rozas of Argentina also passed the 9-vote threshold in the second round. However, China vetoed Waldheim, and the Soviet Union vetoed Jakobson and Ortiz. Prior to the third round, the U.S. and UK delegations received instructions to prevent Waldheim from being selected, but they decided to abstain and rely on the Chinese veto. To their surprise, China switched its veto to an abstention. Kurt Waldheim received no vetoes and was selected Secretary-General for a term starting on 1 January 1972. Kurt
Secretary-General of the United Nations to the expectations of the membership and the new standard of openness and transparency". The official residence of the Secretary-General is a townhouse at 3 Sutton Place, Manhattan, in New York City, United States. The townhouse was built for Anne Morgan in 1921, and donated to the United Nations in 1972. This is a graphical lifespan timeline of the Secretaries-General of the United Nations. They are listed in order of office. <div style="overflow:auto"> As of 2019, the only former Secretaries-General that are alive are Javier Pérez de Cuéllar and Ban Ki-moon. The most recent death of a former Secretary-General was