Seventh secretary-general of the United Nations (UN), Annan was elected to lead the world body with strong support from the administration of William J. Clinton, which viewed him as a reformer who would cut corruption and inefficiency at the UN. Annan was born in Kumasi, Ghana, to a prominent and influential family. He earned a degree from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1961. The following year, he began work for the World Health Organization. In 1972, Annan earned a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He returned to Ghana to serve in a government post, before returning to work at the UN as an assistant secretary-general in 1987.

In 1990, Annan negotiated the withdrawal of 900 Westerners and UN workers following the invasion of Kuwait. After the Persian Gulf War, he arranged the Oil-for-Food Program, which allowed Iraq to sell energy resources in exchange for humanitarian supplies, including food and medicine. Annan was in charge of peacekeeping operations during the Rwandan genocide and was criticized by the Clinton administration for the UN's slow response to the Tutsi massacres. However, he served as a special representative to the former Yugoslavia from 1995 to 1996, where he worked with U.S. and European officials to facilitate the Dayton Accords and the subsequent deployment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization–led peacekeeping force.

In 1996, the Clinton administration opposed the reelection of Boutros Boutros-Ghali as secretary-general of the UN. Washington even threatened to veto Boutros-Ghali's nomination. U.S. officials argued that Boutros-Ghali was unsuited to conduct needed reforms at the world body. Instead, the United States promoted the candidacy of Annan, who was subsequently nominated by the Security Council on 13 December and confirmed by the General Assembly four days later. The Clinton administration hoped Annan would carry out a range of reforms. In 1997, Annan released his plan to restructure the UN, “Renewing the United Nations.” Annan consolidated some agencies and improved record-keeping and auditing. He also negotiated a reduction of UN dues for the United States in exchange for payment of arrears by Washington in an effort to end the United Nations Dues Controversy.

Annan criticized the Clinton administration's military strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan in response to the embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998. The following year, he helped negotiate an agreement among Libya, the United States, and Great Britain to resolve compensation over the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing. Also in 1999, Annan worked with the Clinton administration to facilitate an end to the ethnic conflict in East Timor and the subsequent deployment of a UN-sponsored peace mission.

In 2000, the secretary-general issued a report that served as the basis for the Millennium Summit. He called for greater involvement by wealthy states in efforts to increase economic development in poorer states, including debt relief and the reduction of trade barriers. He further called for technological investments to overcome the “digital divide” between developed and developing countries. In 2001, Annan launched an HIV/AIDS initiative designed to slow the spread of the disease in developing countries. The administration of George W. Bush later pledged $15 billion to support HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment in Africa. Following the September 11 terrorist attacks, Annan worked with the Bush administration to formulate a series of antiterrorism measures and to foster intelligence and law enforcement cooperation among member states.

In December 2001, Annan and the UN were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. The next year, Annan was reelected for a second term with broad support. From 2003 onward, Annan endorsed efforts by the United States to convince the UN Security Council to deploy a peacekeeping force in response to the Darfur Crisis.

Annan opposed U.S. military action in the 2003 Iraq War and repeatedly urged the United States and Great Britain to not attack the regime of Saddam Hussein without the backing of the UN Security Council. Annan later labeled the invasion as illegal. Nonetheless, a UN mission was deployed in Iraq until August 2003, when a suicide bombing killed 22 people. UN personnel were then withdrawn, and Annan rejected a 2005 internal report that recommended the return of UN operations to Iraq. An investigation revealed a range of problems and mistakes in the 2003 UN Iraq mission, and the secretary-general fired several staffers and demoted others.

Following the Iraq War, relations between Annan and the Bush administration deteriorated significantly. Annan opposed U.S. efforts to keep American military personnel exempt from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. Meanwhile, the Bush administration criticized the secretary-general's management of the world body. Annan was criticized for his role in the $64 billion Oil-for-Food Program. A 2005 investigation led by former chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Paul Volcker found numerous instances of fraud and bribery in the program and faulted the secretary-general for lack of oversight, although it did not find evidence of illegal activity by the secretary-general himself. Annan rejected calls for his resignation following the revelations.

In 2005, Annan proposed sweeping reforms to the UN, including changes in the secretariat and an expansion of the Security Council. He also called for the relocation of UN offices from New York and Geneva to less expensive areas as a cost-saving measure. In 2006, Annan's tenure was further tainted by the revelation of widespread sexual misconduct by UN peacekeepers during a 2003 mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Meanwhile, an investigation discovered more than 200 instances of fraud in equipment purchasing for UN peacekeeping operations. Eight senior UN officials were suspended. Annan's term ended on 31 December 2006.

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