The Pittsburgh Press (February 6, 1946)
Background of news –
The Secretary General
By Bertram Benedict
At the London meeting of the United Nations Assembly, Trygve Lie, Norway’s foreign minister, has been named the first Secretary-General of the organization.
The contest for the secretary generalship provided additional evidence that the new world organization is divided into several blocs. Foreign Minister Lie of Norway was a compromise candidate supposed to be acceptable to all blocs.
The United States, Great Britain and China were said to have supported Lester B. Pearson, the Canadian ambassador to the United States. The Soviet Union and its satellites were said to have urged either W. Rzymowski, foreign minister of the Russian-dominated Polish government, or S. Simitch, the ambassador at Washington of Yugoslavia, also within the Soviet sphere of influence.
Soviet choice for president
The Soviet Union could not very well object to the election of Lie, because he was its choice for president of the Assembly. He was defeated in the vote January 10, when the Assembly convened, by Paul-Henri Spaak, Belgian foreign minister, by vote of 28 to 23. The United States delegation lined up with the Russians in voting for Lie, but did not speak or lobby for him.
Under the charter of the United Nations, the Secretary-General is “appointed” by the Assembly on recommendation of the Security Council.
The Charter says that the Secretary-General shall be “the chief administrative officer of the organization.” He is to have under him “such staff as the organization may require.”
The Covenant of the League of Nations provided that the Secretary-General of the League was to be appointed by the Council with the “approval” of the Assembly. The first Secretary-General of the League was named in an annex to the Covenant – that is, he was chosen before the League came into existence.
Drummond was League choice
The choice was a Scotsman educated at Eton, Sir Eric Drummond, then 43 years old, a professional diplomat who had been private secretary to the British foreign ministers of 1915-19. Drummond, now the 16th Earl of Perth, was succeeded in 1933 by a Frenchman, Joseph Avenol, who had served as deputy secretary general. Then Drummond served as British ambassador to Italy until 1939 – throughout Mussolini’s war with Ethiopia.
Lie of Norway, 46 years old, is in sharp contrast with the first Secretary-General of the League in almost every respect. Lie is a lawyer who for many years was a legal adviser to Norwegian trade unions. A member of the Norwegian Cabinet since 1935, Lie is a member of the Norwegian Labor Party, a Socialist party decidedly to the left.