Secretary-General of the United Nations#List of secretaries-general

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! scope="row" | {{sortname|Gladwyn|Jebb}}
{{small|(1900–1996)}}{{cite ODNB |last1=Campbell |first1=Alan |title=Jebb, (Hubert Miles) Gladwyn, first Baron Gladwyn (1900–1996), diplomatist |date=23 September 2004 |volume=1 |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/63251 |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-63251 |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 24 October 1945

| data-sort-type="date" | 2 February 1946

| {{ayd|1945|10|24|1946|02|02}}

| {{flag|United Kingdom}}

| Western European and Others

| After World War II, Jebb served as executive secretary of the Preparatory Commission of the United Nations in August 1945, being appointed Acting United Nations secretary-general from October 1945 to February 1946 until the appointment of the first secretary-general, Trygve Lie.{{cite news |last=Stout |first=David |title=Lord Gladwyn Is Dead at 96; Briton Helped Found the UN |work=The New York Times |date=26 October 1996 |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403E2D61E30F935A15753C1A960958260 |access-date=31 October 2008}}

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! scope="row" | {{sortname|Trygve|Lie}}
{{small|(1896–1968)}}{{cite web |title=Trygve Halvdan Lie |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/trygve.shtml |website=United Nations Secretary General |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 2 February 1946

| data-sort-type="date" | 10 November 1952

| {{ayd|1946|02|02|1952|11|10}}

| {{flag|Norway}}

| Western European and Others

| Lie, a foreign minister and former labour leader, was recommended by the Soviet Union to fill the post. After the UN involvement in the Korean War, the Soviet Union vetoed Lie's reappointment in 1951. The United States circumvented the Soviet Union's veto and recommended reappointment directly to the General Assembly. Lie was reappointed by a vote of 46 to 5, with eight abstentions. The Soviet Union remained hostile to Lie, and he resigned in 1952.{{cite web |url=http://www.unausa.org/atf/cf/%7B49C555AC-20C8-4B43-8483-A2D4C1808E4E%7D/SG%20Reform%20Fact%20Sheet-fina-logol.pdf |title=Selecting a United Nations Secretary-General: A Context for Reform? |date=February 2006 |publisher=UNA-USA |access-date=30 September 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026004813/http://www.unausa.org/atf/cf/%7B49C555AC-20C8-4B43-8483-A2D4C1808E4E%7D/SG%20Reform%20Fact%20Sheet-fina-logol.pdf |archive-date= 2007-10-26}}

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! scope="row" | {{sortname|Dag|Hammarskjöld}}
{{small|(1905–1961)}}{{cite web |title=Dag Hjalmar Agne Carl Hammarskjöld |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/dag.shtml |website=United Nations Secretary General |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 10 April 1953

| data-sort-type="date" | 18 September 1961 †

| {{ayd|1952|11|10|1961|09|18}}

| {{flag|Sweden}}

| Western European and Others

| After a series of candidates were vetoed, Hammarskjöld emerged as an option that was acceptable to the Security Council. He was re-elected unanimously to a second term in 1957. The Soviet Union was angered by Hammarskjöld's leadership of the UN during the Congo Crisis, and suggested that the position of secretary-general be replaced by a troika, or three-man executive. Facing great opposition from the Western nations, the Soviet Union gave up on its suggestion. Hammarskjöld died in a plane crash in Northern Rhodesia (now Zambia) in 1961. U.S. president John F. Kennedy called him "the greatest statesman of our century".Linnér, S. (2007). [http://www.dhf.uu.se/pdffiler/Dh_lecture_2007.pdf Dag Hammarskjöld and the Congo crisis, 1960–61]. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120405034628/http://www.dhf.uu.se/pdffiler/Dh_lecture_2007.pdf |date=5 April 2012}}. Page 28. Uppsala University. (22 July 2008). Hammarskjöld was posthumously awarded the 1961 Nobel Peace Prize.

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! scope="row" rowspan="2" | {{sortname|U|Thant}}
{{small|(1909–1974)}}{{cite web |title=U Thant |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/uthant.shtml |website=United Nations Secretary General |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 3 November 1961

| data-sort-type="date" | 30 November 1962

| {{ayd|1961|11|03|1962|11|30}}

|rowspan="2"| {{flag|Burma|1948}}

|rowspan="2"| Asia-Pacific

{{small|Formerly a member of the Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League until 1958}}

| rowspan="2" | In the process of replacing Hammarskjöld, the developing world insisted on a non-European and non-American secretary-general. U Thant was nominated. However, due to opposition from the French (Thant had chaired a committee on Algerian independence) and the Arabs (Burma supported Israel), Thant was only appointed for the remainder of Hammarskjöld's term. He was the first Asian secretary-general. The following year, on 30 November, Thant was unanimously re-elected to a full term ending on 3 November 1966. At the General Assembly session on 2 December 1966, Thant was reappointed as secretary-general by a unanimous vote of the Security Council. His five-year term ended on 31 December 1971. Thant did not seek a third election. Thant is the only former secretary-general whose home country had not been in the Security Council in his term.

| data-sort-type="date" | 30 November 1962

| data-sort-type="date" | 31 December 1971

| {{ayd|1962|11|30|1971|12|31}}

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! scope="row" | {{sortname|Kurt|Waldheim}}
{{small|(1918–2007)}}{{cite web |title=Kurt Waldheim |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/kurt.shtml |website=United Nations Secretary General |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 1 January 1972

| data-sort-type="date" | 31 December 1981

| {{ayd|1972|01|01|1981|12|31}}

| {{flag|Austria}}

| Western European and Others

| Waldheim launched a discreet but effective campaign to become the secretary-general. Despite initial vetoes from China and the United Kingdom, in the third round, Waldheim was selected to become the new secretary-general. In 1976, China initially blocked Waldheim's re-election, but it relented on the second ballot. In 1981, Waldheim's re-election for a third term was blocked by China, which vetoed his selection through 15 rounds; although the official reasons by the Chinese government for the veto of Waldheim remain unclear, some estimates from the time believe it to be in part due to China's belief that a Third World country should give a nomination, particularly from the Americas;{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1981/10/29/world/china-continues-to-bar-waldheim-renomination.html |title=China Continues to Bar Waldheim Renomination |last=Nossiter |first=Bernard D. |date=29 October 1981 |work=The New York Times |access-date=14 February 2019 |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} however, there also remained the question of his possible involvement in Nazi war crimes.{{cite web |url=https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/waldheim-elected-u-n-secretary-general |title=Waldheim elected U.N. secretary-general |author=s |website=HISTORY |access-date=14 February 2019}} From 1986 to 1992, Waldheim served as president of Austria, making him the first former secretary-general to rise to the position of head of state. In 1985, it was revealed that a post-World War II UN War Crimes Commission had labeled Waldheim as a suspected war criminal based on his involvement with the {{lang|de|Wehrmacht}}. The files had been stored in the UN archive.

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! scope="row" | {{sortname|Javier|Pérez de Cuéllar}}
{{small|(1920–2020)}}{{cite web |title=Javier Perez de Cuellar |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/javier.shtml |website=United Nations Secretary-General |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 1 January 1982

| data-sort-type="date" | 31 December 1991

| {{ayd|1982|01|01|1991|12|31}}

| {{flag|Peru}}

| Latin American and Caribbean

| Pérez de Cuéllar was selected after a five-week deadlock between the re-election of Waldheim and China's candidate, Salim Ahmed Salim of Tanzania. Pérez de Cuéllar, a Peruvian diplomat who a decade earlier had served as President of the UN Security Council during his time as Peruvian ambassador to the UN, was a compromise candidate. He became the first and thus far only secretary-general from the Americas. He was re-elected unanimously in 1986.

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! scope="row" | {{sortname|Boutros|Boutros-Ghali}}
{{small|(1922–2016)}}{{cite web |title=Boutros Boutros-Ghali |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/boutros.shtml |website=United Nations Secretary-General |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 1 January 1992

| data-sort-type="date" | 31 December 1996

| {{ayd|1992|01|01|1996|12|31}}

| {{flag|Egypt}}

| African

| The 102-member Non-Aligned Movement insisted that the next secretary-general come from Africa. With a majority in the General Assembly and the support of China, the "Non-Aligned Movement had the votes necessary to block any unfavorable candidate". The Security Council conducted five anonymous straw polls—a first for the council—and Boutros-Ghali emerged with 11 votes on the fifth round. In 1996, the United States vetoed the re-appointment of Boutros-Ghali, claiming he had failed in implementing necessary reforms to the UN.

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! scope="row" | {{sortname|Kofi|Annan}}
{{small|(1938–2018)}}{{cite web |title=Kofi Annan |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/koffi.shtml |website=United Nations Secretary-General |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 1 January 1997

| data-sort-type="date" | 31 December 2006

| {{ayd|1997|01|01|2006|12|31}}

| {{flag|Ghana}}

| African

| On 13 December 1996, the Security Council recommended Annan.{{cite press release |title=Kofi Annan of Ghana recommended by Security Council for appointment as Secretary-General of United Nations |publisher=United Nations |date=13 December 1996 |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1996/19961213.bio3051.html |access-date=12 December 2006}}{{cite book |last=Traub |first=James |author-link=James Traub |title=The Best Intentions |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |year=2006 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/bestintentionsko00trau/page/66 66]–67 |url=https://archive.org/details/bestintentionsko00trau |url-access=registration |isbn=978-0-374-18220-5}} He was confirmed four days later by the vote of the General Assembly.{{cite press release |title=General Assembly appoints Kofi Annan of Ghana as seventh Secretary-General |publisher=United Nations |date=17 December 1996 |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/1996/19961217.ga9208.html |access-date=12 December 2006}} He started his second term as secretary-general on 1 January 2002. Kofi Annan and the United Nations were the recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize.

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! scope="row" | Ban Ki-moon
{{small|(b. 1944)}}{{cite web |title=Ban Ki-moon |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/ban.shtml |website=United Nations Secretary-General |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 1 January 2007

| data-sort-type="date" | 31 December 2016

| {{ayd|2007|01|01|2016|12|31}}

| {{flag|South Korea}}

| Asia-Pacific

| Ban became the first East Asian to be selected as the secretary-general and the second Asian overall after U Thant.{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/apps/news/infocusRel.asp?infocusID=122&Body=Ban+Ki-moon |title=Ban Ki-moon is sworn in as next Secretary-General of the United Nations |publisher=United Nations}} He was unanimously elected to a second term by the General Assembly on 21 June 2011. His second term began on 1 January 2012.{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ban-ki-moon-gets-second-term-as-un-chief/article2070407/ |title=Ban Ki-moon gets second term as UN chief |work=The Globe and Mail |date=22 June 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110624223557/http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ban-ki-moon-gets-second-term-as-un-chief/article2070407/ |archive-date=24 June 2011}} Prior to his selection, he was the Foreign Minister of South Korea from January 2004 to November 2006.

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! scope="row" | {{sortname|António|Guterres}}
{{small|(b. 1949)}}{{cite web |title=António Guterres |url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/biography |website=United Nations Secretary-General |access-date=2 December 2023}}

| data-sort-type="date" | 1 January 2017

| data-sort-type="date" | Incumbent

| {{ayd|2017|01|01}}

| {{flag|Portugal}}

| Western European and Others and Asia-Pacific

| Guterres is the first former head of government to become secretary-general, and the first secretary-general born after the establishment of the United Nations. He was the prime minister of Portugal from 1995 to 2002. He has also been president of the Socialist International (1999–2005) and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2005–2015). His second term began on 1 January 2022. Since August 2024, Guterres also holds East-Timorese citizenship.{{Cite web |last=Lusa |first=Agência |title=Guterres diz que atribuição nacionalidade timorense é "profundo orgulho" |url=https://www.dnoticias.pt/2024/8/30/418023-guterres-diz-que-atribuicao-nacionalidade-timorense-e-profundo-orgulho/ |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=DNOTICIAS.PT |language=pt}}{{Cite web |last=Lusa |date=2024-08-30 |title=Parlamento atribui nacionalidade timorense a António Guterres |url=https://www.publico.pt/2024/08/30/mundo/noticia/parlamento-atribui-nacionalidade-timorense-antonio-guterres-2102325 |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=PÚBLICO |language=pt}}{{Cite web |last=Renascença |date=2024-08-30 |title="Profundo orgulho". António Guterres tornou-se timorense e tem agora dupla nacionalidade - Renascença |url=https://rr.sapo.pt/noticia/pais/2024/08/30/profundo-orgulho-antonio-guterres-tornou-se-timorense-e-tem-agora-dupla-nacionalidade/391708/ |access-date=2024-08-30 |website=Rádio Renascença |language=pt-pt}}

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| Jebb, Gladwy Gladwyn Jebb

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| {{ayd|1900|04|25|1945|10|24}}
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| {{ayd|duration=yes|1945|10|24|1946|02|02}}

| {{ayd|1900|04|25|1946|02|02}}
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| {{dts|1996|10|24|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1900|4|25|1996|10|24}}

|{{flag|Norway}}

| Lie, TrygveTrygve Lie

| {{dts|1896|07|16|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1896|07|16|1946|02|02}}
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| {{ayd|duration=yes|1946|02|02|1952|11|10}}

| {{ayd|1896|07|16|1952|11|10}}
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| {{dts|1968|12|30|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1896|07|16|1968|12|30}}

|{{flag|Sweden}}

| Hammarskjöld, DagDag Hammarskjöld

| {{dts|1905|07|29|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1905|07|29|1953|04|10}}
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| {{ayd|duration=yes|1953|04|10|1961|09|18}}

| {{ayd|1905|07|29|1961|09|18}}
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| {{dts|1961|09|18|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1905|07|29|1961|09|18}}

|{{flag|Burma|1974}}

| Thant, U U Thant

| {{dts|1909|01|22|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1909|01|22|1961|11|03}}
{{dts|1961|11|03|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|duration=yes|1961|11|03|1971|12|31}}

| {{ayd|1909|01|22|1971|12|31}}
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| {{dts|1974|11|25|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1909|01|22|1974|11|25}}

|{{flag|Austria}}

| Waldheim, Kurt Kurt Waldheim

| {{dts|1918|12|21|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1918|12|21|1972|01|01}}
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| {{ayd|duration=yes|1972|01|01|1981|12|31}}

| {{ayd|1918|12|21|1981|12|31}}
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| {{dts|2007|06|14|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1918|12|21|2007|06|14}}

|{{flag|Peru}}

| Pérez de Cuéllar, Javier Javier Pérez de Cuéllar

| {{dts|1920|01|19|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1920|01|19|1982|01|01}}
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| {{ayd|duration=yes|1982|01|01|1991|12|31}}

| {{ayd|1920|01|19|1991|12|31}}
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| {{dts|2020|03|04|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1920|01|19|2020|03|04}}

|{{flag|Egypt}}

| Boutros-Ghali, Boutros Boutros Boutros-Ghali

| {{dts|1922|11|14|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1922|11|14|1992|01|01}}
{{dts|1992|01|01|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|duration=yes|1992|01|01|1996|12|31}}

| {{ayd|1922|11|14|1996|12|31}}
{{dts|1996|12|31|format=dmy}}

| {{dts|2016|02|16|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1922|11|14|2016|02|16}}

|{{flag|Ghana}}

| Annan, Kofi Kofi Annan

| {{dts|1938|04|08|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1938|04|08|1997|01|01}}
{{dts|1997|01|01|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|duration=yes|1997|01|01|2006|12|31}}

| {{ayd|1938|04|08|2006|12|31}}
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| {{dts|2018|08|18|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1938|04|08|2018|08|18}}

|{{flag|South Korea}}

| Ban, Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon

| {{dts|1944|06|13|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1944|06|13|2007|01|01}}
{{dts|2007|01|01|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|duration=yes|2007|01|01|2016|12|31}}

| {{ayd|1944|06|13|2016|12|31}}
{{dts|2016|12|31|format=dmy}}

| {{CURRENTYEAR}}-{{CURRENTMONTH}}-{{CURRENTDAY}}(living)

| {{ayd|1944|06|13}}

|{{flag|Portugal}}

{{flag|Timor-Leste}}

| Guterres, AntónioAntónio Guterres

| {{dts|1949|04|30|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|1949|04|30|2017|1|1}}
{{dts|2017|1|1|format=dmy}}

| {{ayd|2017|1|1}}

| (incumbent)

| {{CURRENTYEAR}}-{{CURRENTMONTH}}-{{CURRENTDAY}}(living)

| {{ayd|1949|04|30}}

! UN Regional Group

! Secretaries-General

! Terms