Footage of UN’s 1st General Assembly Shows Its Founding Spirit

In his address, ex-US president Harry Truman uttered a relevant truism: “People of every nation are sick of war.”

Former US president Harry Truman addresses the first UN Assembly.

(Photo: AP)

The United Nations has come a long way from 1946, when the first General Assembly was convened in Methodist Central Hall in London on 10 January. While there are now 193 representatives of the UN, it then had only 51 nations. But the assembly stood out for its core values and the global acceptance it enjoyed.

This video titled “1946 Newsreel - President Truman Opens UN Assembly” sheds light on the media coverage of the event and brings forth with clarity the euphoria at the birth of something new, the conception of a binding promise and the keynote address delivered by the 33rd President of the United States, Harry S Truman.

Right at the beginning, we can see celebrities of global political discourse in the 1940s, US Secretary of State James F Byrnes posing for the shutterbugs, and the din inside the hall. Subsequently, President Truman goes up before the assembly to welcome the attendees and speak words that can serve as a useful reminder in contemporary times.

In this speech, President Truman presses on the universal desire for peace and the American resolve to work for global society.

He also dismissed rumours of another world war, saying that they were unwarranted and unjustified.

The US has no wish to make war.  Now or in the future or from any people anywhere in the world.

Former US President Truman, to applause

He promised that the US would support the UN with all the resources they possess and help usher in peace all over the world.

In his address, he said, “People of every nation are sick of war” – a truism that holds especially today.