U Thant: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 18:01, 19 September 2005

Revision as of 03:43, 6 October 2005

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When U Nu became the Prime Minister of independent Burma, he asked Thant to join him in Rangoon, appointing him as the government's Director of Broadcasting in [[1948]]. In the following year he was appointed Secretary to the Government of Burma in the Ministry of Information. From 1951 to 1957, Thant was Secretary to the Prime Minister, writing speeches for U Nu, arranging his foreign travel, and meeting foreign visitors. He also took part in a number of international conferences and was the secretary of the first Asian-African summit in 1955 at [[Bandung]], [[Indonesia]] which gave birth to the [[Non-Aligned Movement]].

All this time, he was U Nu's closest confidante and advisor. From [[1957]] to [[1961]], he was Burma's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, become actively involved in negotiations over Algerian independence. In 1960 the Burmese government awarded him the title ''Maha Thray Sithu'' as a commander in the Pyidaungsu Sithu Thingaha Order (similar to an order of knights).

Thant began serving as Acting Secretary-General since [[3 November]] [[1961]], when he was unanimously appointed by the General Assembly, on the recommendation of the [[UN Security Council|Security Council]], to fill the unexpired term of [[Dag Hammarskjöld]]. He was then unanimously appointed Secretary-General by the General Assembly on [[30 November]] [[1962]] for a term of office ending on [[3 November]] [[1966]]. During this first term he was widely credited for his role in defusing the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] and for ending the civil war in the Congo.