Dag Hammarskj ld served as Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1953 until his tragic Dag Hammarskj ld served as secretary-general of the United Nations from 1953 until his tragic death in a suspicious plane crash in 1961. During those years he saw the fledgling international organization through numerous crises with skill that made him a star on the international stage. As readers of his now-classic diary, Markings, are aware, Hammarskj ld understood political leadership as an honor calling for resourcefulness, humility, moral clarity, and spiritual reflection.

In this accessible handbook, acclaimed biographer Roger Lipsey details the political and personal code by which Hammarskj ld lived and made critical decisions. What emerges is the portrait of a man who struck a remarkable balance between patience and action, empathy and reserve, policy and people. Structured through short sections on themes such as courage, facing facts, and negotiation, Politics and Conscience offers a vision of ethical leadership as relevant today as it was in Hammarskj ld's time.