Former Austrian President Kurt Waldheim dies at 88

June 14, 2007

Kurt Waldheim, the former President of Austria and also a former United Nations Secretary General, has died at the age of 88 of heart failure at a hospital in Vienna. He was admitted on May 28 after having an elevated fever and problems with his circulatory system.

Waldheim served as the U.N.'s Secretary General from 1972 to 1981 and was elected as President of Austria in 1986.

Waldheim was involved in a scandal where he was part of a unit of a German army squad in World War II that was accused of war crimes. Waldheim first denied the allegations, and was later cleared of having done anything wrong.

Waldheim was also not allowed inside the United States because the U.S. government put him on a "watch list" which contains names of people not welcome in the country. To this day, he remains on the list.