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 accept the other's candidate, they compromised on Trygve Lie of Norway, who became the first Secretary-General of the United Nations. In the late 1940s, international tensions affected the workings of the United Nations. Norway joined the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949, placing the post of Secretary-General in the hands of a country that was aligned with one side in the Cold War. Lie took the United Nations into the Korean War in 1950, leading the Soviet Union to veto his re-selection in 1950. The United States then announced that it would veto every other candidate. With the Security Council