Alexander Cadogan - United Nations

United Nations

At the end of the war Cadogan had hoped for the Washington embassy but this went to another capable career diplomat, Sir Archibald Clark Kerr. Instead, probably due to his experience with the League of Nations and his prominent role at Dumbarton Oaks Clement Attlee appointed Cadogan the first Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations. He served in this capacity from 1946 to 1950. During his time at the UN, as David Dilks points out, "British diplomacy had to be conducted from a precarious position of over-commitment and economic instability." Cadogan expressed great frustration with the inflexibility of his Soviet counterparts, who were forbidden from mixing with other delegations or informal exchanges of views. At one point, he asked himself, "How can ten men discuss with a ventriolquist's doll?" He saw many parallels between Soviet actions at the beginning of the Cold War and those of the Germans on the eve of the Second World War. He remarked to Winston Churchill that, "What forces itself on one's attention is the degree to which everything favours the evildoer, if he is blatant enough. Any honest Government fights (in peacetime) with two hands tied behind its back. The brilliant blatancy of the Russians is something that we can admire but cannot emulate. It gives them a great advantage." Although he was never celebrated as a public figure, Cadogan enjoyed great prestige within diplomatic circles. He was widely respected for his ability, character, and experience. He and his wife cultivated a large and varied number of friends by entertaining at their Long Island home, Hillandale.