Commentary

"The Charter of the United Nations was signed by 50 members at San Francisco with a spot reserved for Poland as the 51st original member for signature at a later date. It had been hoped that Poland would be able to participate in San Francisco but the 'Provisional Government of National Unity' was not formed until just before the signing, not providing suffcient time to arrive at the Conference for the ceremony. Alger Hiss describes the euphoria as the final draft was signed. He explains that Truman placed tremendous importance on it, so much so that the original document was given its own parachute on the flight back to Washington even though Alger Hiss, who was carrying it, had to travel without one. On July 28, 1945, the United States Senate approved the Charter by a vote of 89 to 2. The bipartisan participation by the Senate throughout the process proved to be a very successful strategy. On October 24th, 1945, twenty-nine countries had signed and ratified the Charter affirming a majority of the original fifty-one signatories. On that day, the United Nations was officially constituted and by December 27th, all the original members had ratified. While there had been inklings of the Cold War during the negotiating process, there was still a feeling of hope that this new international cooperation could be sustained. Enthusiasm still filled the hall at the first opening session of the United Nations in London on January 10, 1946." -- United Nations Studies at Yale University