Sept. 18, 1961 - President Kennedy decided today to intervene personally in the constitutional crisis created at the United Nations by the death of Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold (right). The White House announced that the President would address the General Assembly. His purpose in doing so is to reassure the delegates and Secretariat that the U.S. supports the U.N. and is determined to do everything possible to maintain the executive authority of the office of the Secretary General. In a statement, President Kennedy said: "I am hopeful that the members of the U.N., recognizing Secretary Hammarskjold's untiring labors, will attempt in the coming sessions and in the years to come to try to build the U.N. into the effective instrument for peace which was Dag Hammarskjold's great ambition."
