The United Nations Association of the United States (UNA-USA) was founded in the midst of World War Two, in order to build American support for a new international organization designed to sustain the peace once the war was won. It considered itself the direct successor of the League of Nations Association, which was founded in 1923. At that time, the term "United Nations" referred to the allied nations fighting against fascism, but some leaders had already begun to embrace it as the brand name for a new international organization. UNA-USA's first major initiative was a nationwide tour by a bipartisan group of Congressional leaders, including then Senator Harry Truman, to promote public support for a Congressional resolution for the US to become a member of a postwar organization of "free and sovereign nations." The resolution, sponsored by Texas Senator Thomas Connally, was adopted with broad bipartisan support in November 1943 giving the Roosevelt administration the mandate it needed to launch the San Francisco Conference where the UN Charter was ultimately signed in 1945.