Kurt Josef Waldheim (Austrian German: [kʊrt ˈvaldhaɪm] ; 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the secretary-general of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and the president of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for the latter office in the 1986 election, the revelation of his service in Greece and Yugoslavia during World War II, and of his knowledge of Nazi atrocities as an intelligence officer in Nazi Germany's Wehrmacht, raised international controversy.