A mix of high-flown diplomatic ideals and the force of American influence has long characterized presidential addresses to the United Nations. Here's a look at how other presidents used their addresses to frame the United States' view of the world.
Nixon: "The time has come for peace"
President Richard Nixon's inaugural address to the United Nations, in the fall of 1969, came as the United States had become a target of criticism abroad for its actions in Vietnam. But the newly elected president displayed his reluctance to end the war without concessions from North Vietnam. The war would go on for nearly six more years.
Ford: "The economy of the world is under unprecedented stress"
President Gerald Ford used his first U.N. address, in 1974, to underscore the degree to which the world economy had become interdependent. "Let us not delude ourselves," he said. "Failure to cooperate on oil and food and inflation could spell disaster for every nation represented in this room."
Carter: "We can only improve this world if we are realistic about its complexities"
President Jimmy Carter addressed the General Assembly at an unofficial meeting in March 1977. In his speech, he asked that the United Nations "strengthen" its focus on human rights and, in an unusual rhetorical gesture, placed American strength in the service of the world.
Reagan: "The scourge of tyranny cannot be stopped with words alone"
President Ronald Reagan first addressed the General Assembly unusually late: in June 1982 before a special session on disarmament. He said he yearned to follow the directions of Pope Paul VI, who had asked the members of the United Nations to lay down their arms. "But we need more than mere words, more than empty promises before we can proceed," the president said.
George H. Bush: "Rid the world of these truly terrible weapons"
President George Bush found himself on the defensive on the matter of disarmament in September 1989. In December 1988, President Mikhail Gorbachev of the Soviet Union had appeared before the United Nations pledging drastic cuts to his country's armed forces. Bush promised his own cuts to weapons programs, pledging, with certain conditions, that the United States would destroy more than 98 percent of its chemical weapons stockpile within the next eight years.
Clinton: "We live at a turning point in human history"
President Bill Clinton's first address to the United Nations was optimistic as he reveled in the birth of "dozens of new democracies." He also asserted the United States' control over the United Nations, asking that its peacekeeping forces more clearly define their mission, and cautioned that American support for intervention in countries like Bosnia would not always be a guarantee.
George W. Bush: "Civilization itself, the civilization we share, is threatened"
Just two months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, President George W. Bush's first speech to the General Assembly was as stark as his predecessor's was hopeful. "A few miles from here, many thousands still lie in a tomb of rubble," he said. He added later: "Every nation has a stake in this cause. As we meet, the terrorists are planning more murder — perhaps in my country, or perhaps in yours."
Obama: "We share a common future"
President Barack Obama sought to use his first address to the U.N. General Assembly, in September 2009, to distinguish himself from his predecessor, acknowledging global distrust of the United States and pledging a new multilateralism. He emphasized his promises to end the use of torture and to close the prison at Guantánamo Bay. He also said that the United States was committed to "responsibly ending" the war in Iraq. "Those who used to chastise America for acting alone in the world cannot now stand by and wait for America to solve the world's problems alone," he said.