seventh secretary general in the united states history. this is my first day. it s like the first day in school. annan received quite an education serving ten years at the helm of the united nations. there were personal highs and lows. from winning the nobel peace prize to failing his fight to stop the u.s. invasion in iraq. born in ghana and university schooling included the big chill of minnesota at mcallister college. kofi annan spent most of his adult life at the u.n.. the man called coffee rose to the top over half a century, staffers recall his ability to lead and inspire. anone did manage to avoid career ending moments serving in the department of peace keeping n. 1994 the u.n. security council and others were accused by the field commander in rwanda of ignoring his warnings.