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A United Nations Secretary - General selection was held in 1971 to succeed U Thant, who was stepping down after two full terms.
Three candidates received enough votes in the Security Council to be selected Secretary - General: Carlos Ortiz de Rozas of Argentina, Kurt Waldheim of Austria, and Max Jakobson of Finland. However, all of the frontrunners were vetoed in the first two rounds of voting.
In the third round, Waldheim accidentally escaped a triple - veto when three permanent members failed to coordinate their votes and all abstained.
As a result, Kurt Waldheim was selected Secretary - General of the United Nations for a term starting 1 January
