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
1953 United Nations Secretary-General selection On 17 March 1953, the Soviet Union suggested Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit and Benegal Rama Rau of India for the Secretary-Generalship. The nomination of two Indians was calculated to force the Western powers to cast an embarrassing vote against an Asian. However, this became unnecessary when Nationalist China informed the United States that it would veto both candidates, as India recognized Communist China. The U.S. State Department felt that it was "very bad for the United Nations" if an Indian became Secretary-General, since "the problem facing the United Nations now is stopping Communist agression and ... this can not be done