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
First session of the United Nations General Assembly First session of the United Nations General Assembly The first session of the United Nations General Assembly opened on 10 January 1946 at the Methodist Central Hall in London. Gladwyn Jebb, executive secretary of the UN, notified Dr. Eduardo Zuleta Angel, head of the Colombian delegation to the UN and chairman of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations, called the meeting to order. Paul-Henri Spaak of Belgium was elected the first president of the General Assembly in a 28–23 vote, prevailing over Trygve Lie (who went on to be the first Secretary General of the UN). The second meeting