Trygve Lie (born July 16, 1896,Kristiania, Nor.—died Dec. 30, 1968, Geilo) was a Norwegian politician and diplomat, the firstsecretary-general of theUnited Nations (1946–52), who resigned largely because of theSoviet Union’sresentment of his support of UN military intervention in theKorean War.

Educated at the University of Kristiania (Oslo), Lie practiced law and became a leading member of the Norwegian Labour Party (Arbeiderpartiet). After the German invasion ofNorway in April 1940, he was appointed foreign minister of the Norwegian government-in-exile inLondon.

On Feb. 1, 1946, Lie was elected UN secretary-general for a term of five years. He first was nominated (by Andrey A. Gromyko of the Soviet Union) for president of the General Assembly, a less important office, but was defeated byPaul-Henri Spaak of Belgium. One of Lie’s first tasks was helping to secure the evacuation of Soviet troops from northernIran. From May 1947 he had to deal with the war in Palestine that followed the proclamation of the state ofIsrael and throughout 1948 with the Indian-Pakistani conflict overKashmir. Only temporary solutions were found to these problems.

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In 1950 Lie undertook a “peace mission” to the capitals of the great powers, promoting a “20-Year Peace Program” and trying to resist the Soviet attempt to expelTaiwan from the UN. Also in 1950 heurged that the UN admit thePeople’s Republic of China.

After UN armed forces had been authorized to aid theRepublic of Korea (South Korea; June 27, 1950), Lie was subjected to official hindrance and personal insult by the Soviet Union. When it became certain that the Soviet Union would veto his reelection in the Security Council, his term was extended for three years (without formal reelection) by the General Assembly. The Soviet Union thereupon ceased to recognize him as secretary-general. He also encountered opposition in theUnited States as a result of the investigations led by Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy against suspected communists in the UN. Lie’s secretariat was accused of giving jobs to disloyal U.S. citizens, but no charge of subversion of the United States within the UN could be proved.

His mediatory work having become nearly impossible, Lie resigned his office on Nov. 10, 1952. His bookIn the Cause of Peace was published in 1954. Lie subsequently served as county governor (fylkesmann) of Oslo and Akershus (1955–63), as minister of industry (1963–64), and as minister ofcommerce (1963–65).