More than two decades ago, when I served as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, it was clear that a change at the top was needed in order to help the U.N. fulfill its potential, and to improve its relations with the United States. The U.N. missions in Somalia and Rwanda had failed, and the mission in Bosnia was in danger of failing. The Republican-controlled Congress was so skeptical of the world body that it unilaterally cut its support—creating a financial crisis and leading our friends the British to stand up in the U.N. general assembly and utter a line they had waited more than 200 years to deliver: “representation without taxation.“

To help manage these challenges, the U.N. needed defter diplomacy and stronger management. In seeking new leadership, the Security Council turned to exactly the right man—Kofi Annan...

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Secretary Madeleine Albright served as the 64th Secretary of State of the United States. From 1993 to 1997, she served as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. She currently serves as chair of Albright Stonebridge Group and chairman at the National Democratic Institute.