View source for U Thant

{{Short description|UN Secretary-General from 1961 to 1971}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Burmese name|U}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific_prefix    = [[U (honorific)|U]]
| name                = Thant
| native_name         = {{nobold|သန့်}}
| native_name_lang    = my
| image               = U Thant (1963).jpg
| alt                 = Headshot of U Thant
| caption             = U Thant in 1963
| order               = 3rd [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]]
| term_start          = 30 November 1961
| term_end            = 31 December 1971
| predecessor         = [[Dag Hammarskjöld]]
| successor           = [[Kurt Waldheim]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|1909|01|22|df=y}}
| birth_place         = [[Pantanaw]], Burma
| death_date          = {{death date and age|1974|11|25|1909|01|22|df=y}}
| death_place         = New York City, U.S.
| resting_place       = [[Kandawmin Garden Mausolea]], [[Yangon]], Myanmar
| spouse              = {{marriage|Daw Thein Tin|1932}}
| children            = 3
| relations           = [[Thant Myint-U]] (grandson)
| alma_mater          = [[University of Rangoon]]
| party               = [[Anti-Fascist People's Freedom League|AFPFL]] (1947–1958)
| signature           = U Thant Signature.svg
}}
{{Contains special characters|Burmese}}

'''Thant''' ({{MYname|MY=သန့်|MLCTS=san.}}, {{IPA|my|θa̰ɰ̃|pron}}; 22{{nbsp}}January 1909{{snd}}25{{nbsp}}November 1974), known honorifically as '''U Thant''' ({{IPAc-en|uː|_|θ|ɑː|n|t}}),{{efn|''[[U (honorific)|U]]'' is an [[honorific]] in [[Burmese language|Burmese]], roughly equal to "[[Mister]]". ''Thant'' was his only name, per Burmese convention. In Burmese, he was known as '''Pantanaw U Thant''', in reference to his hometown, Pantanaw.}} was a Burmese diplomat and the third [[secretary-general of the United Nations]] from 1961 to 1971, the first non-[[Scandinavia]]n as well as Asian to hold the position. He held the office for a record 10 years and one month.{{efn|A total of 3,683 days, taking into account a one-month vacancy in November–December 1966.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/uthant.shtml|title=U Thant &#124; United Nations Secretary-General|website=www.un.org|access-date=27 March 2023|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315072337/https://www.un.org/sg/en/formersg/uthant.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

A native of [[Pantanaw]], Thant was educated at the National High School and at [[Rangoon University]]. In the days of tense political climate in Burma, he held moderate views positioning himself between fervent nationalists and British loyalists. He was a close friend of Burma's first Prime Minister [[U Nu]] and served in various positions in Nu's cabinet from 1948 to 1961. Thant had a calm and unassuming demeanour that won his colleagues' respect.{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=147}}

He succeeded [[James Barrington (diplomat)|James Barrington]] as Burma's [[Permanent Representative to the United Nations]]. He was appointed Secretary-General in 1961, six weeks after his predecessor, [[Dag Hammarskjöld]], had [[1961 Ndola United Nations DC-6 crash|died in an air crash]]. In his first term, Thant facilitated negotiations between U.S. president [[John F. Kennedy]] and Soviet premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] of 1962, helping to avert a global catastrophe. Later, in December that year, Thant ordered [[Operation Grandslam]], which ended a secessionist insurgency in [[Republic of the Congo (Léopoldville)|Congo]]. He was reappointed as Secretary-General on 2 December 1966, by a unanimous vote of the Security Council. During his second term Thant was well known for publicly criticizing U.S. conduct in the [[Vietnam War]]. He oversaw the entry of several newly independent African and Asian states into the UN. He refused to serve a third term, and retired in 1971.

Thant died of [[lung cancer]] in 1974. A devout [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] and the foremost Burmese diplomat on the international stage, he was widely admired and held in great respect by the Burmese populace. When the military government refused him any honours, riots erupted in Rangoon; these were violently crushed by the government, leaving scores of casualties.

== Early life ==
[[File:U Thant in 1927.PNG|thumb|Thant as a [[Rangoon University]] student in 1927|alt=]]

Thant, the eldest of four sons, was born in [[Pantanaw]], [[Colonial Burma]], to a moderately wealthy family of landowners and rice merchants. His father Po Hnit, who had been educated in [[Calcutta]], was the only person in the town who could communicate well in English.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=29}} He was a founding member of the [[Burma Research Society]] and had helped establish ''[[The Sun (Rangoon)|The Sun]]'' (''Thuriya'') newspaper in Rangoon.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=29}}<ref name="mm">{{cite book |title=Dr. Maung Maung: Gentleman, Scholar, Patriot |url=https://archive.org/details/drmaungmaunggent00tayl |url-access=limited |editor=Robert H. Taylor |publisher=Institute of Southeast Asian Studies |year=2008 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/drmaungmaunggent00tayl/page/n226 211]–212 |isbn=978-981-230-409-4}}</ref> Although his family members were ethnic [[Bamar people|Bamars]] and devout [[Buddhist]]s, Thant's father, according to [[Thant Myint-U]] (U Thant's grandson), had distant ancestors who were "people from both India and China, Buddhists and Muslims, as well as Shans and Mons".<ref>{{cite book |title=Where China Meets India: Burma and the New Crossroad of Asia |publisher=Farrar, Straus and Giroux |author=Thant Myint-U |year=2011 |location=New York |pages=76 |isbn=978-0-374-98408-3 |author-link=Thant Myint-U}}</ref> He hoped that all his four sons would each earn a degree.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=32}} His other sons, Khant, Thaung, and Tin Maung went on to become politicians and scholars.<ref name="mm"/>

Po Hnit had collected a personal library of various American and British books and cultivated a reading habit among his children. As a result, Thant became an avid reader and his school friends nicknamed him "The Philosopher".{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=144}} Apart from reading, he enjoyed various sports including hiking, swimming and playing [[chinlone]].{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=33}} He went to the National High School in Pantanaw. At the age of eleven Thant participated in strikes against the University Act of 1920. He dreamed of becoming a journalist and surprised the family by writing an article for the ''[[Union of Burma Boy Scouts]]'' magazine. When Thant was fourteen, his father died and a series of inheritance disputes forced Thant's mother, Nan Thaung, and her four children into difficult financial times.<ref>Franda, Marcus F. (2006). ''The United Nations in the 21st century: management and reform processes in a troubled organization''. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 53. {{ISBN|978-0-7425-5334-7}}.</ref>

After the death of his father, Thant believed he would not be able to complete a four-year degree and instead worked for a two-year teaching certificate at Rangoon University in 1926. As the eldest son he had to fulfill his filial duties and responsibilities to the family. At university, Thant, together with future [[Prime Minister of Myanmar|Prime Minister]] Nu studied history under [[D. G. E. Hall]]. Nu was told by a distant mutual relative to take care of Thant and the two soon became close friends.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=88}} Thant was elected joint secretary of the University Philosophical Association and secretary of the Literary and Debating Society.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=89}} In Rangoon, Thant met [[John Sydenham Furnivall|J.S. Furnivall]], the founder of The Burma Book Club and ''[[The World of Books]]'' magazine, to which Thant regularly contributed. Promising a good post, Furnivall urged Thant to complete a four-year university course and join the Civil Service, but Thant refused.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=93}} After earning the certificate, he returned to Pantanaw to teach at the National High School as a senior teacher in 1928. He contacted Furnivall and Nu regularly, writing articles and participating in ''The World of Books'' translation competitions.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=94}}

In 1931, Thant won first place in All Burma Teachership Examination and became the school's headmaster by the age of twenty-five.{{Sfn|Bingham|1966|p=97}}{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}} Urged by Thant, his friend Nu took the local superintendent of schools position. Thant regularly contributed to several newspapers and magazines under the pen name "Thilawa" and translated a number of books, including one on the [[League of Nations]].<ref>Naing, Saw Yan (22 January 2009). [http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14975 Remembering U Thant and His Achievements] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120328084801/http://irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=14975 |date=28 March 2012 }}. ''[[The Irrawaddy]]''.</ref> His major influences were Sir [[Stafford Cripps]], [[Sun Yat-sen]] and [[Mahatma Gandhi]].{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=144}} In the days of tense political climate in Burma, Thant stood moderate grounds between fervent nationalists and British loyalists.{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}}

== Civil servant ==
[[File:U Nu with U Thant.jpg|thumb|Thant with U Nu in 1955 on an early morning walk]]
During World War II, the Japanese occupied Burma from 1942 to 1945. They brought Thant to Rangoon to lead the Educational Reorganizing Committee. However, Thant did not have any real power, and returned to Pantanaw. When teaching the Japanese language was made compulsory in Pantanaw high schools, Thant defied the orders and cooperated with the growing anti-Japanese resistance.{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=145}}

In 1948, [[Post-independence Burma, 1948–1962|Burma gained independence from the United Kingdom]]. Nu became the prime minister of the newly independent Burma and appointed Thant as director of broadcasting in 1948. By then, civil war had broken out. The [[Karen conflict|Karen insurgency]] began and Thant risked his life to go to Karen camps to negotiate for peace. The negotiations broke down, and in 1949 the advancing insurgents burned his hometown, including his house. The insurgents pushed the front to within four miles of the capital Rangoon before they were beaten back. In the following year, Thant was appointed secretary to the government of Burma in the [[Ministry of Information (Burma)|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. During this entire period, he was U Nu's closest confidant and advisor.{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=145}}

He also took part in a number of international conferences and was the secretary of the 1955 [[Bandung Conference]] in [[Indonesia]], which gave birth to the [[Non-Aligned Movement]]. From 1957 to 1961, he was Burma's permanent representative to the United Nations and became actively involved in negotiations over [[Nationalism and resistance in Algeria|Algerian independence]]. In 1961, Thant was named Chairman of the UN Congo Commission. The Burmese government awarded him the title ''Maha Thray Sithu'' as a commander in the [[Pyidaungsu Sithu Thingaha|order of Pyidaungsu Sithu]].<ref>H.W. Wilson Company (1962). ''Current biography, Volume 23.'' H. W. Wilson Co.</ref>

== United Nations Secretary-General ==

{{See also|1961 United Nations Secretary-General selection}}

In September 1961, United Nations Secretary-General [[Dag Hammarskjöld]] was killed [[1961 Ndola United Nations DC-6 crash|in a plane crash]] ''en route'' to Congo. Within two weeks, the United States and the Soviet Union had agreed to appoint Thant as the Acting Secretary-General for the remainder of Hammarskjöld's term. However, the two superpowers spent another four weeks arguing over the details of his appointment. On 3 November 1961, the [[United Nations Security Council|Security Council]] recommended Thant in [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 168|Resolution 168]], and the [[United Nations General Assembly|General Assembly]] voted unanimously to appoint Thant to a term of office ending on 10 April 1963.<ref name="nytimes19611104">{{cite news | last1=Brewer | first1=Sam Pope | title=Thant Is Elected Interim U.N. Head | work=The New York Times | date=4 November 1961 | page=1}}</ref>

During his first term, he was widely credited for his role in defusing the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] and for ending the [[Congo Crisis|civil war in the Congo]]. He also said that he wanted to ease tensions between major powers while serving at the UN.<ref>[http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1962/1962-Elections,-Other-Events/12295509437657-7/#title "1962 In Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130321174537/http://www.upi.com/Audio/Year_in_Review/Events-of-1962/1962-Elections%2C-Other-Events/12295509437657-7/#title |date=21 March 2013 }}. [[United Press International]].</ref>

=== First term: Cuban Missile Crisis ===
{{Quote box
 |quote  = At a critical moment—when the nuclear powers seemed set on a collision course—the Secretary-General's intervention led to the diversion of the Soviet ships headed for Cuba and interception by our Navy. This was the indispensable first step in the peaceful resolution of the Cuban crisis.
 |source = —[[Adlai Stevenson II|Adlai Stevenson]], Senate Foreign Relations Committee 88th Congress, 13 March 1963{{Sfn|Dorn & Pauk|2009|p=265}}
 |width  = 25%
 |align  = right}}
[[File:U Thant and John F. Kennedy.PNG|thumb|Thant with [[John F. Kennedy]] during Kennedy's 1961 visit to the UN Headquarters]]

In less than one year in office, Thant faced a critical challenge to defuse the Cuban Missile Crisis, the moment when the world came closest to a nuclear war. On 20 October 1962, two days before public announcements were made, U.S. president [[John F. Kennedy]] showed Thant [[Lockheed U-2|U-2]] aerial reconnaissance photographs of Soviet missile installations in Cuba. The president then ordered a naval "quarantine" to remove all offensive weapons from Soviet ships bound for Cuba. Meanwhile, Soviet ships were approaching the quarantine zone. To avoid a naval confrontation, Thant proposed that the U.S. should make non-invasion guarantees in exchange for missile withdrawal from the Soviet Union. Soviet Premier Khrushchev welcomed the proposal, which formed the basis of further negotiations.{{Sfn|Dorn & Pauk|2012|p=80}} Khrushchev further agreed to suspend missile shipments while the negotiations were ongoing.<ref name="nyt62">{{cite news |title=Kennedy Agrees to Talks on Thant Plan, Khrushchev Accepts It; Blockade Goes On; Russian Tanker Intercepted and Cleared |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/19/home/crisis-26.html |access-date=7 April 2018 |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=26 October 1962 |archive-date=8 September 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170908151735/http://www.nytimes.com/books/97/10/19/home/crisis-26.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, on 27 October 1962, a U-2 plane was shot down over Cuba, deepening the crisis. Kennedy was under intense pressure to invade from the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the [[EXCOMM|Executive Committee]] (ExComm). Kennedy hoped Thant would play the role of mediator and subsequently replied to ExComm and the Joint Chiefs, "On the other hand we have U Thant, and we don't want to sink a ship...right in the middle of when U Thant is supposedly arranging for the Russians to stay out."{{Sfn|Dorn & Pauk|2009|p=273}}

Negotiations continued. The U.S. agreed to dismantle missiles in Turkey and guaranteed never to invade Cuba in exchange for removal of Soviet missiles in Cuba. Thant flew to Cuba and discussed with [[Fidel Castro]] allowing UN missile inspectors and the return of the body of the downed U-2 pilot. Castro, furious that the Soviets had agreed to remove missiles without his knowledge, categorically rejected any UN inspectors, although he did return the pilot's body. The inspection was done at sea by US reconnaissance aircraft and warships. The crisis was resolved and a war between superpowers was averted.{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}}{{Sfn|Dorn & Pauk|2009|p=292}}

=== Continuation of first term: War in the Congo ===

Thant's reappointment was assured when Soviet Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] made several favorable references to Thant in letters to U.S. president John F. Kennedy.<ref name="nytimes19621129">{{cite news | last1=Brewer | first1=Sam Pope | title=Russians Agree to Naming Thant for a Full Term | work=The New York Times | date=29 November 1962 | page=1}}</ref> In November 1962, the General Assembly voted unanimously to promote Thant from Acting Secretary-General to Secretary-General for a term ending on 3 November 1966.<ref name="nytimes19621201">{{cite news | last1=Burnham | first1=Alexander | title=U.N. Names Thant for 4-Year Term | work=The New York Times | date=1 December 1962}}</ref> For personal reasons, Thant wanted his term to end five years from his initial appointment,<ref name="nytimes19621129"/> and he would henceforth consider his first five years in office to be a single term.<ref name="nytimes19660902">{{cite news | last1=Middleton | first1=Drew | title=Thant Declares He Will Not Seek Second U.N. Term | work=The New York Times | date=2 September 1966 | page=1}}</ref>

Although a manifest pacifist and a devout Buddhist, Thant did not hesitate to use force when required. During the Congo Civil War in 1962, Katangan secessionists led by [[Moise Tshombe]] repeatedly attacked UN Operation in the Congo forces (ONUC). In December 1962, after ONUC suffered a sustained four-day attack in Katanga, Thant ordered the "[[Operation Grandslam]]" to gain "complete freedom of movement for ONUC all over Katanga." The operation proved to be decisive and ended the secessionist insurgency once and for all. By January 1963, the secessionist capital [[Lubumbashi|Elizabethville]] was under full UN control.{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=161}} In his speech at [[Columbia University]] Thant expressed expectation of completion of the [[United Nations Operation in the Congo]] in mid 1964.<ref name="Institut">Tomanović, M. (1965). ''Hronika međunarodnih događaja 1964''. [[Belgrade]]. [http://www.diplomacy.bg.ac.rs/index_en.php Institute of International Politics and Economics] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816142044/http://www.diplomacy.bg.ac.rs/index_en.php |date=16 August 2018 }}, p.223. (in [[Serbo-Croatian]])</ref>

For his role in defusing the Cuban crisis and other peacekeeping efforts, the Norwegian Permanent Representative of the United Nations informed Thant that he would be awarded the 1965 Nobel Peace Prize. He humbly replied, "Is not the Secretary-General merely doing his job when he works for peace?"{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=147}} On the other hand, Chairman [[Gunnar Jahn]] of the Nobel Peace Prize committee lobbied heavily against giving Thant the prize, which was, at the last minute, awarded to [[UNICEF]]. The rest of the committee all wanted the prize to go to Thant. The disagreement lasted three years, and in 1966 and 1967 no prize was given, with Gunnar Jahn effectively vetoing an award to Thant.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lundestad |first1=Geir |title=The Nobel Peace Prize, 1901–2000 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/themes/peace/lundestad-review/ |website=nobelprize.org |access-date=7 April 2018 |quote=In 1965 and 1966 a majority of the committee clearly favoured giving the prize to the third Secretary General, U Thant, and even to the first, Norway's Trygve Lie, but chairman Jahn more or less vetoed this. |archive-date=18 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618204330/https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/themes/peace/lundestad-review/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Outraged, Thant's undersecretary and Nobel Prize laureate [[Ralph Bunche]] called Gunnar Jahn's decision "gross injustice to U Thant."{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=147}}

In April 1964, Thant accepted the [[Holy See]]'s designation of itself as a UN [[permanent observer]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=McCann |first1=Eamonn |title=How did the Holy See get recognition as a state? It just did |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/how-did-the-holy-see-get-recognition-as-a-state-it-just-did-1.1664452 |access-date=7 April 2018 |newspaper=[[The Irish Times]] |date=23 January 2014 |quote=In March 1964 pope Paul VI wrote to UN secretary general U Thant saying he was minded to appoint a permanent observer. In April, U Thant wrote back saying, in effect, fair enough, come ahead. |archive-date=30 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130030042/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/how-did-the-holy-see-get-recognition-as-a-state-it-just-did-1.1664452 |url-status=live }}</ref> There appeared to be no involvement of the General Assembly or the UN Security Council in the decision.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kissling |first1=F. |last2=Shannon |first2=D. |title=Church and state at the United Nations. A case of the emperor's new clothes. |journal=Conscience (Washington, D.C.) |volume=16 |issue=4 |pages=11–2 |pmid=12178922 |year=1996}}</ref>

[[File:Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew, S. Rajaratnam, Abdul Rahim Ishak, Wong Lin Ken with U Thant at the UN in 1967.jpg|250px|thumb|[[Prime Minister of Singapore]] Visits [[UN Headquarters]] on 21 October 1967: Seen here, from left: Inche Rahim Ishak ([[Abdul Rahim Ishak]]), Minister of State for Education of Singapore; Prime Minister [[Lee Kuan Yew]]; Secretary-General U Thant; [[S. Rajaratnam]], Minister of Foreign Affairs of Singapore; and Ambassador [[Wong Lin Ken]], Permanent Representative of Singapore to the United Nations.<ref name=UN1>{{Cite web|url=https://media.un.org/photo/en/asset/oun7/oun7620127|title=Prime Minister of Singapore Visits UN Headquarters|accessdate=January 7, 2025|work=[[United Nations]]|date=21 October 1967}}</ref>]]

=== Second term: Arab–Israeli conflict and Vietnam War===
{{Quote box
 |quote  = After the Six-Day War, [Thant] allowed himself to become a convenient scapegoat for international inaction, accepting this unenviable role with as much Buddhist detachment as could be summoned.
 |source = —[[Walter Dorn]], 2007{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=177}}
 |width  = 25%
 |align  = right}}

Thant announced in 1966 that he would not stand for a second term,<ref name="nytimes19660902"/> but he accepted a [[Draft (politics)|draft]] when the Security Council assured him that he would not be a "glorified clerk."<ref name="nytimes19661202">{{cite news | last1=Middleton | first1=Drew | title=Election of Thant with Wider Role in U.N. Due Today | work=The New York Times | date=20 September 1966 | page=1}}</ref> On 2 December 1966, the General Assembly re-appointed Thant to a term ending on 31 December 1971, on the unanimous recommendation of the Security Council.<ref name="nytimes19661203">{{cite news | last1=Middleton | first1=Drew | title=Thant, Renamed, Vows New Effort to End Asian War | work=The New York Times | date=3 December 1966 | page=1}}</ref> During his second term, he oversaw the entry into the UN of dozens of new Asian and African states, and was a firm opponent of [[apartheid]] in South Africa. He also established many of the UN's development and environmental agencies, funds and programmes, including the [[UN Development Programme]] (UNDP), the [[UN University]], the [[United Nations Conference on Trade and Development]], [[United Nations Institute for Training and Research]] (UNITAR), and the [[UN Environmental Programme]]. The [[Six-Day War]] between [[Arab]] countries and [[Israel]], the [[Prague Spring]] and subsequent Soviet invasion of [[Czechoslovakia]], and the [[Bangladesh Liberation War|Indo–Pakistani War]] of 1971 leading to the birth of [[Bangladesh]] all took place during his tenure as secretary-general.{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}}

[[File:U-Thant 2.jpg|thumb|right|Thant meeting with U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson in the Cabinet Room of the White House on 21 February 1968]]

He was criticized in the US and Israel for agreeing to pull UNEF troops out of the [[Sinai Peninsula|Sinai]] in 1967 in response to a request from [[President of Egypt|Egyptian president]] [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]].<ref>Rikhye, Indar Jit (1980). ''The Sinai Blunder: Withdrawal of the United Nations Emergency Force leading to the Six-Day War of June 1967''. Routledge. {{ISBN|978-0-7146-3136-3}}.</ref> The Permanent Representative of Egypt had informed Thant that the Egyptian government had decided to terminate UNEF's presence in the Sinai and the Gaza Strip, and requested steps that would withdraw the force as soon as possible, which Thant was obligated to accept{{Citation needed|date=December 2023}}. The UN afterwards stated, "Because Israel refused to accept UNEF on its territory, the Force had to be deployed only on the Egyptian side of the border, and thus its functioning was entirely contingent upon the consent of Egypt as the host country. Once that consent was withdrawn, its operation could no longer be maintained."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unef1backgr2.html |title=Middle East UNEF: Background |publisher=United Nations |access-date=23 May 2014 |archive-date=8 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160808112941/http://www.un.org/en/peacekeeping/missions/past/unef1backgr2.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Thant, by flying to [[Cairo]] in a last-minute peace effort, tried to persuade Nasser not to go to war with Israel.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In Israel, his abrupt unilateral withdrawal of UNEF without any diplomatic process or wider consultation was regarded as a violation of United Nations assurances and commitments given to Israel in 1957, on the basis of which Israel had withdrawn from Sinai and Gaza at that time,<ref>''Abba Eban: An Autobiography'' by Abba Eban (Random House, 1977), pp. 321–322</ref> and it "thereafter inspired Israel's refusal to place her vital interests again in United Nations hands".<ref>''Abba Eban: An Autobiography'' by Abba Eban (Random House, 1977), p. 323</ref>

Thant's once good relationship with the US government deteriorated rapidly when he publicly criticized American conduct of the [[Vietnam War]].<ref>Dennen, Leon (12 August 1968). [https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ttEdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b0YEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4623,4372187&dq= U Thant Speaks No Evil on Czech Crisis] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210816233449/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=ttEdAAAAIBAJ&sjid=b0YEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4623,4372187&dq= |date=16 August 2021 }}. ''Daily News''.</ref> His secret attempts at direct peace talks between [[federal government of the United States|Washington]] and [[North Vietnam|Hanoi]] were eventually rejected by the [[Presidency of Lyndon B. Johnson|Johnson administration]].{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

In 1971, the participation of the [[People's Republic of China]] in the United Nations, which was a long-standing problem, was realized. Thant sent a message to the Chinese government asking China to send a delegation.<ref>{{cite news |work=The New York Times |date=28 October 1971 |title=Thant Asks China to Name Delegate to Council Soon |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/10/28/archives/thant-asks-china-to-name-delegate-to-council-soon-thant-urges-china.htmlfirst=Tad |last=Szulc |access-date=1 January 2020}}</ref>

=== Retirement ===

On 23 January 1971, Thant announced that he would "under no circumstances" be available for a third term as secretary-general. The [[1971 United Nations Secretary-General selection]] was delayed by the anticipated arrival of the People's Republic of China, and the Security Council did not begin voting until two weeks before the end of Thant's term. After every candidate was vetoed in the second round, [[Kurt Waldheim]] accidentally won in the third round when the United States, United Kingdom, and China failed to coordinate their vetoes and all abstained.<ref name="frus247">{{harvnb|FRUS 1969–1976 V|loc=[https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v05/d247 Document 247]}}: Telegram From the Mission to the United Nations to the Department of State, 22 December 1971, 0356Z.</ref>

Unlike his two predecessors, Thant retired after ten years on speaking terms with all the big powers. In 1961, when he was first appointed, the [[Soviet Union]] tried to insist on a ''[[triumvirate|troika]]'' formula of three secretaries-general, one representing each [[Cold War]] bloc, to maintain equality in the United Nations between the superpowers. By 1966, when Thant was reappointed, all the big powers, in a unanimous vote of the Security Council, affirmed the importance of the secretary-generalship and his good offices, a clear tribute to Thant's work.{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}}

In his farewell address to the United Nations General Assembly, Secretary-General Thant stated that he felt a "great sense of relief bordering on liberation" on relinquishing the "burdens of office".<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news |last1=Whitman |first1=Alden |title=U Thant Is Dead of Cancer at 65 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/26/archives/u-thant-is-dead-of-cancer-at-65-ut-thant-is-dead-of-cancer-united.html |access-date=6 April 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=26 November 1974 |archive-date=7 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407182923/https://www.nytimes.com/1974/11/26/archives/u-thant-is-dead-of-cancer-at-65-ut-thant-is-dead-of-cancer-united.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Popham |first1=Peter |title=The Lady and the Peacock: The Life of Aung San Suu Kyi |date=2011 |publisher=[[Rider Books]] |isbn=978-1-61519-064-5 |page=[https://archive.org/details/ladypeacocklifeo0000poph/page/224 224]|url=https://archive.org/details/ladypeacocklifeo0000poph |url-access=registration |access-date=6 April 2018 |quote=Already unwell, he told the General Assembly that he felt "a great sense of relief, bordering on liberation" at relinquishing "the burdens of office"...}}</ref> In an editorial published around 27 December 1971, praising Thant, ''[[The New York Times]]'' stated that "the wise counsel of this dedicated man of peace will still be needed after his retirement". The editorial was titled "The Liberation of U Thant".<ref>{{cite news |title=The Liberation of U Thant |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/29/archives/the-liberation-of-u-thant.html |access-date=6 April 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=29 December 1971 |archive-date=7 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180407183024/https://www.nytimes.com/1971/12/29/archives/the-liberation-of-u-thant.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

After his retirement, Thant was appointed a senior fellow of the Adlai Stevenson Institute of International Affairs. He spent the last years of his life writing and advocating the development of a true global community and other general themes he had tried to promote while he was secretary-general.{{Sfn|Lewis|2012}} While serving as secretary-general, Thant lived in [[Riverdale, Bronx]], on a {{convert|4.75|acre|ha|adj=on}} estate near 232nd Street, between Palisade and Douglas Avenues.<ref>Dunlap, David W. [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D81731F935A25752C1A961948260 "Bronx Residents Fighting Plans Of a Developer"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204215614/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0DE5D81731F935A25752C1A961948260 |date=4 February 2009 }}, ''The New York Times'', 16 November 1987. Accessed 4 May 2008. "A battle has broken out in the Bronx over the future of the peaceful acreage where U Thant lived when he headed the United Nations. A group of neighbours from Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil has demanded that the city acquire as a public park the {{convert|4.75|acre|m2|adj=on}} parcel known as the Douglas-U Thant estate, north of 232d Street, between Palisade and Douglas Avenues."</ref>

== Death and legacy ==
{{See also | U Thant funeral crisis}}
{{Quote box
 |quote  = U Thant has put the world deeply in his debt.
 |source = —John F. Kennedy, October 1962{{Sfn|Dorn & Pauk|2009|p=261}}
 |width  = 25%
 |align  = right}}
Thant died of lung cancer at the [[NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital]] in New York on 25 November 1974.<ref name="NYTObit" /> By then, Burma was ruled by a [[military junta]], which refused him any honours. Burmese president [[Ne Win]] was supposedly envious of Thant's international stature and the respect that was accorded him by the Burmese populace.

However, Thant's grandson, [[Thant Myint-U]], wrote in the book ''The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma'' that intense animosity between Thant and Ne Win went back only to 1969, when Ne Win believed Thant was conniving with Nu after Nu denounced Ne Win at a press corps meeting at the UN headquarters. Ne Win told his men to consider Thant as an enemy of the state, despite Thant denouncing Nu's action as inappropriate.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Thant Myint-U |title=The River of Lost Footsteps: Histories of Burma |date=2006 |publisher=[[Farrar, Straus and Giroux]] |pages=311}}</ref>

Ne Win ordered for Thant to be buried without any official involvement or ceremony.

[[File:Tomb of U Thant.jpg|thumb|left|[[Kandawmin Garden Mausolea|Thant's tomb]], Shwedagon Pagoda Road, Rangoon]]
From the United Nations headquarters in New York where he was laid in state, Thant's body was flown back to [[Rangoon]], but no guard of honour or high-ranking officials were at hand at the airport when the coffin arrived except for U Aung Tun, deputy minister of education, who was subsequently dismissed from office.<ref>''Asian almanac, Volume 13.'' (1975). s.n. p. 6809.</ref> On the day of Thant's funeral on 5 December 1974, tens of thousands of people lined the streets of Rangoon to pay their last respects. Thant's coffin was displayed at Rangoon's [[Kyaikkasan Race Course]] for a few hours before the scheduled burial. The coffin of Thant was then snatched by a group of students just before it was scheduled to leave for burial in an ordinary Rangoon cemetery at [[Kyandaw Cemetery|Kyandaw]]. The student demonstrators buried Thant on the former grounds of the Rangoon University Students Union (RUSU), which Ne Win had dynamited and [[1962 Rangoon University Protests|destroyed on 8 July 1962.]]<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/dec/06/guardianobituaries |location=London |work=[[The Guardian]] |first=Martin |last=Smith |title=General Ne Win |date=6 December 2002 |access-date=18 December 2016 |archive-date=18 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118073618/https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/dec/06/guardianobituaries |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[U Thant Funeral Crisis|During the period of 5–11 December]], the student demonstrators also built a temporary mausoleum for Thant on the grounds of the RUSU and gave anti-government speeches. In early morning on 12 December 1974, government troops stormed the campus, killed some of the students guarding the makeshift mausoleum, removed Thant's coffin, and reburied it in [[Kandawmin Garden Mausolea]] near the [[Shwedagon Pagoda]], where it has continued to lie.<ref name=at>Soe-win, Henry (17 June 2008). [http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node/11810 Peace Eludes U Thant] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318120939/http://www.asiantribune.com/?q=node%2F11810 |date=18 March 2018 }}. ''[[Asian Tribune]]''.</ref> Upon hearing of the storming of the [[Rangoon University]] campus and the forcible removal of Thant's coffin, many people rioted in the streets of Rangoon. [[Martial law]] was declared in Rangoon and the surrounding metropolitan areas. What has come to be known as the U Thant crisis, the student-led protests over the shabby treatment of Thant by the Ne Win government, was crushed by the Burmese government.<ref name=at/>

In April 2012, UN Secretary-General [[Ban Ki-moon]] paid his respects at U Thant's mausoleum during a visit to Yangon.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.flickr.com/photos/un_photo/48317811397/ | title=SG Travel | date=29 April 2012 }}</ref>

U Thant is held in esteem in [[Malaysia]], as he helped to endorse the formation of the country in 1963.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cilisos.my/the-real-reason-malaysia-day-is-16-days-after-merdeka-day-is-cos-of-the-un/ | title=Malaysia Day was supposed to be the same day as Merdeka. But the UN delayed it. Why? | date=16 September 2022|access-date=3 April 2024|author=Kyle Iman|work=Cili Sos}}</ref> A niche, prime neighbourhood in [[Kuala Lumpur]], [[Taman U-Thant]] is developed in 1960s is named after him.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://theedgemalaysia.com/article/streetscapes-niche-prime-neighbourhood-taman-uthant | title=Streetscapes: Niche, prime neighbourhood of Taman U-Thant | date=19 July 2021|access-date=3 April 2024|author=Chung Ying Yi|work=The Edge Malaysia}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
[[File:U Thant's family 1964.PNG|350px|thumb|Thant and his family, including brothers Khant Thaung and Tin Maung, his mother Nan Thaung, and his daughter Aye Aye Thant and her husband, Tin Myint-U, in 1964]]
Thant had three brothers: Khant, Thaung, and Tin Maung.<ref>{{cite book |author=Bingham, June |title=U Thant: The Search For Peace |publisher=Victor Gollancz |year=1966 |page=43}}</ref> He was married to Daw Thein Tin. They had two sons and a daughter, but lost both sons; Maung Bo died in infancy, and Tin Maung Thant fell from a bus during a visit to Yangon. Tin Maung Thant's funeral procession, which was attended by dignitaries, was grander than that of the state funeral of Commodore Than Pe, a member of the 17-man [[Union Revolutionary Council|Revolutionary Council]] and minister of health and education. Thant was survived by a daughter, an adopted son, five grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren (three girls and two boys). His only grandson, [[Thant Myint-U]], is a historian and a former senior official in the UN's Department of Political Affairs and the author of ''The River of Lost Footsteps'', in part a biography of Thant.{{citation needed|date=November 2020}}

== Awards, honors, and memorials ==
Thant was generally reluctant to receive prizes and honors due to his own humility as well as publicity associated with them. He declined Burma's second highest honor awarded to him by U Nu's government in 1961. When he was informed that the 1965 Nobel Prize would instead go to UNICEF due to Chairman [[Gunnar Jahn]]'s veto, Thant, according to [[Walter Dorn]], "recorded his pleasure".{{Sfn|Dorn|2007|p=147}} However, he did accept the [[Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding]] in 1965<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iccrindia.net/jnawardlist.html |title=List of the recipients of the Jawaharlal Nehru Award |publisher=ICCR India |access-date=9 June 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130901175835/http://www.iccrindia.net/jnawardlist.html |archive-date=1 September 2013 }}</ref> and the [[United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights]] in 1973.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2013|title=HR Prize – List of previous recipients|url=https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/HRPrizeListofpreviousrecipients.aspx|website=Office of the High Commissioner of Human Rights|access-date=2 June 2021|archive-date=19 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119045732/https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/HRPrizeListofpreviousrecipients.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

Thant received honorary degrees (LL.D) from Carleton University, [[Williams College]], Princeton University, Mount Holyoke College, Harvard University, Dartmouth College, University of California at Berkeley, University of Denver, Swarthmore College, New York University, Moscow University, Queen's University, [[Colby College]], Yale University, University of Windsor, Hamilton College,  Fordham University, Manhattan College, University of Michigan, Delhi University, University of Leeds, [[Louvain University]],  University of Alberta, Boston University, Rutgers University, University of Dublin (Trinity College), [[Laval University]], Columbia University, the [[University of the Philippines Diliman]], and Syracuse University. He also received the Doctor of Divinity from The First Universal Church; Doctor of International Law from Florida International University; Doctor of Laws from University of Hartford; Doctor of Civil Laws degree, honoris causa from Colgate University; Doctor of Humane Letters from Duke University.<ref>{{Cite web|date=27 July 2016|title=Former United Nations Secretary-General U Thant|url=http://www.un.org/sg/formersg/thant.shtml|access-date=2 June 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160727213432/http://www.un.org/sg/formersg/thant.shtml|archive-date=27 July 2016}}</ref>

In his memory, [[Sri Chinmoy]], the leader of the UN Meditation Group founded by Thant, established the [[U Thant Peace Award]] which acknowledges and honors individuals or organizations for distinguished accomplishments toward the attainment of world peace. The meditation team also named a tiny island in the East River opposite the headquarters of the United Nations [[U Thant Island]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/nyregion/fyi-652520.html |work=The New York Times |first=Daniel B. |last=Schneider |title=F.Y.I. |date=6 October 1996 |access-date=20 February 2017 |archive-date=10 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170810211112/http://www.nytimes.com/1996/10/06/nyregion/fyi-652520.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The road Jalan U-Thant (U-Thant Road) and the township [[Taman U-Thant]] in [[Kuala Lumpur]], [[Malaysia]] are also named in his honor.<ref>[[List of roads in Kuala Lumpur]]</ref>

In October 2013, the building of an U Thant library near his [[Pantanaw]] house halted for lack of funds.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/feature/u-thant-library-project-stalling-due-lack-funds.html |title=U Thant Library Project Stalling Due to Lack of Funds |work=The Irrawaddy |date=3 October 2013 |access-date=24 May 2014 |author=Simon Roughneen |archive-date=23 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140523212525/http://www.irrawaddy.org/feature/u-thant-library-project-stalling-due-lack-funds.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In December 2013, under an effort spearheaded by his daughter Aye Aye Thant and his grandson Thant Myint-U, Thant's house in Yangon was being converted into a museum which would feature his photos, works and personal belongings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/multimedia-burma/u-thants-rangoon-home-exhibit-inspire.html |title=At U Thant's Rangoon Home, an Exhibit to Inspire |work=The Irrawaddy |date=23 December 2013 |access-date=9 June 2014 |author=Kyaw Phyo Tha |archive-date=9 June 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140609111355/http://www.irrawaddy.org/burma/multimedia-burma/u-thants-rangoon-home-exhibit-inspire.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
* {{portal-inline|Biography}}
* {{portal-inline|Politics}}
* {{portal-inline|Myanmar}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== Citations ==
===Endnotes===
{{reflist}}

=== References ===
* {{cite book |title=U Thant: The Search for Peace |publisher=Knopf Publishing Group |author=June Bingham Birge |author-link=June Bingham Birge |year=1966 |location=New York |ref={{Sfnref|Bingham|1966}}}}
* {{cite journal | url=http://walterdorn.org/pub/144 |title=Unsung Mediator: U Thant and the Cuban Missile Crisis | author=[[Walter Dorn|A. Walter Dorn]] and Robert Pauk |journal=[[Diplomatic History (journal)|Diplomatic History]] |date=April 2009 |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=261–291 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-7709.2008.00762.x |ref={{Sfnref|Dorn & Pauk|2009}}|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite book |title=Timing the De-escalation of International Conflicts |url=https://archive.org/details/timingdeescalati00stua |url-access=registration |publisher=[[Syracuse University Press]] |author=Louis Kriesberg, Stuart J. Thorson |year=1991 |location=Syracuse, NY |isbn=978-0-8156-2521-6 |ref={{Sfnref|Louis & Stuart|1991}}}}
* {{cite journal |title=The closest brush: How a UN secretary-general averted doomsday |author=A. Walter Dorn and Robert Pauk |journal=[[Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists]] |date=November 2012  |volume=68 |issue=6 |pages=79–84 |doi=10.1177/0096340212464363 |ref={{Sfnref|Dorn & Pauk|2012}}| bibcode=2012BuAtS..68f..79D|s2cid=143657372 }}
* {{cite encyclopedia |title=U Thant |encyclopedia=Salem Press Biographical Encyclopedia:Research Starters |publisher=Salem Press |author=Lewis, Terrance L. |year=2012 |ref={{Sfnref|Lewis|2012}}}}
* {{cite book |author=A. Walter Dorn |editor=Kille, Kent |chapter=U Thant: Buddhism in Action |title=The UN Secretary-General and Moral Authority: Ethics and Religion in International Leadership |publisher=[[Georgetown University Press]] |chapter-url=http://walterdorn.org/pdf/UThant-BuddhismInAction_Dorn_SG-MoralAuthority_2007.pdf |location=Washington, DC |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-58901-180-9 |ref={{Sfnref|Dorn|2007}}}}
* {{citation|title=United Nations, 1969–1972 |url=https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1969-76v05 |series=Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969–1976 |volume=V |editor-last=Duncan |editor-first=Evan M. |year=2004 |location=Washington |publisher=United States Government Printing Office | ref=CITEREFFRUS 1969–1976 V}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |author=Bernard J. Firestone|title=The United Nations under U Thant, 1961–1971 |publisher=Scarecrow Press |location=Metuchen, N.J |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-8108-3700-3}}
* {{cite book |author=Ramses Nassif |title=U Thant in New York, 1961–1971: A Portrait of the Third UN Secretary-General |publisher=St. Martin's Press |location=New York |year=1988 |isbn=978-0-312-02117-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/uthantinnewyork100nass}}
* Hanwong, L. (2014). ʻŪ than nai thāna lēkhāthikān ʻOngkān Sahaprachāchāt chāo ʻĒchīa khon rǣk [U Thant as the first Asian secretary-general of the United Nations]. In A. Khamson, T. Weerakietsoontorn & C. Khuntong (Eds.), ''Yō̜n phinit phūsāng prawattisāt ʻĒchīa Tawanʻō̜k Chīang Tai'' [Reflections on Makers of Southeast Asian History 2] (pp.&nbsp;131–63). Bangkok: Reviews of Southeast Asian History and Culture Project (TRF). (in Thai)
* {{cite book |author=U Thant |title=View from the UN |publisher=Doubleday |location=Garden City, NY |year=1978 |isbn=978-0-385-11541-4 |url=https://archive.org/details/viewfromun00utha_0}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project auto}}

* [https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/u-thant Official biography] from the United Nations
* [https://www.uthanthouse.org/ Official website] of U Thant House
* [https://search.archives.un.org/secretary-general-u-thant-1961-1971 U Thant papers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221023064236/https://search.archives.un.org/secretary-general-u-thant-1961-1971 |date=23 October 2022 }} at the United Nations Archives

{{s-start}}
{{s-dip}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Dag Hammarskjöld]] ({{flagicon|Sweden}})}}
{{s-ttl|title={{flagicon|UN}} [[Secretary-General of the United Nations]] |years=November 1961 – December 1971}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Kurt Waldheim]] ({{flagicon|Austria}})}}
{{s-end}}

{{LN and UN Secretaries-General}}
{{Gandhi Peace Award laureates}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thant, U}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1974 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century memoirists]]
[[Category:Amateur radio people]]
[[Category:Burmese diplomats]]
[[Category:Burmese memoirists]]
[[Category:Burmese officials of the United Nations]]
[[Category:Burmese people of World War II]]
[[Category:Burmese Theravada Buddhists]]
[[Category:Cold War diplomats]]
[[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in New York (state)]]
[[Category:People from Ayeyarwady Region]]
[[Category:People of the Congo Crisis]]
[[Category:Permanent representatives of Myanmar to the United Nations]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Order of the Union of Myanmar]]
[[Category:Secretaries-general of the United Nations]]
[[Category:University of Yangon alumni]]