American Minute with Bill Federer October 24 Created to prevent future wars, the United Nations, a name coined by Franklin Roosevelt, officially began OCTOBER 24, 1945. Since then there have been over 100 million casualties in nearly 150 wars: 5 in Central Asia, 11 in South Asia, 20 in Southeast Asia, 13 in Eastern Europe, 23 in the Middle East, 25 in Latin & South America and 50 in Africa. Amidst accusations of a U.N. Oil for Food Scandal and a U.N. Sex Scandal, the 185 member United Nations spends $20 billion annually, though it has never been independently audited. At the 1945 Charter Conference, the U.N. secretary-general was Alger Hiss, who was accused of being a Communist agent by former Soviet spy Whittaker Chambers and convicted in a publicized 1948 trial. The U.N. General Assembly's 4th President, elected in 1949, was Philippine General Carlos Romulo, who served with General Douglas MacArthur in the Pacific. Renown for being the first Asian to win a Pulitzer Prize, General Carlos Romulo wrote: "Never forget Americans, that yours is a spiritual country. Yes, I know you're a practical people. Like others, I've marveled at your factories, your skyscrapers, and your arsenals. But underlying everything else is the fact that America began as a God-loving, God-fearing, God-worshipping people."