United Nations Secretary-General selection it would increase the concentration of power in the United Nations. The office is subject to a term limit of two full terms. U Thant served three terms, but his first two terms were partial terms that added up to one full term. In 1981, China cast 16 vetoes against Kurt Waldheim's selection for a third term, and Waldheim eventually suspended his candidacy. Since 1981, no Secretary-General has attempted to run for a third term. The office of Secretary-General is rotated among the regional groups of the UN. Each region gets two or three consecutive terms as Secretary-General. Candidates from
1953 United Nations Secretary-General selection Nationalist China abstaining. Just before the meeting, Ambassador Lodge "dragooned" the Latin American delegates into voting for a man whom they had never heard of before. Hammarskjöld was caught by surprise when his phone rang in Stockholm shortly after midnight on 1 April 1953. Upon being told that he had been named the Secretary-General of the United Nations, he replied, "This April Fool's Day joke is in extremely bad taste." He finally believed the news after the third call. After consulting with the Swedish government, he cabled the President of the Security Council, "I do not feel I can refuse