1971 United Nations Secretary-General selection 1971 United Nations Secretary-General selection A United Nations Secretary-General selection was held in 1971 to succeed U Thant, who was stepping down after two full terms. Three candidates received enough votes in the Security Council to be selected Secretary-General: Carlos Ortiz de Rozas of Argentina, Kurt Waldheim of Austria, and Max Jakobson of Finland. However, all of the frontrunners were vetoed in the first two rounds of voting. In the third round, Waldheim accidentally escaped a triple-veto when three permanent members failed to coordinate their votes and all abstained. As a result, Kurt Waldheim was selected Secretary-General of the United
2016 United Nations Secretary-General selection was much more open than previous selections, with public nominations being sought and candidates participating in televised debates. Women and Eastern Europeans were favoured, as no woman had ever served as Secretary-General, and the Eastern European Group was the only one of the UN Regional Groups never to have held the office. However, the two campaigns offset each other, and the selection was won by the only candidate who was neither female nor from Eastern Europe. Article 97 of the United Nations Charter, states "The Secretary-General shall be appointed by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council".