With the Senate now held by the Democrats, United Nations Ambassador John Bolton decided to step down as his temporary appointment expires within the next few weeks.  President Bush gave Bolton the job temporaily in August 2005 while Congress was in a recess.  The White House resubmitted Bolton's nomination last month, but now with Congress held by the Democrats, his chances of getting the confirmation appeared very slim.

Many critics from both parties questioned Bolton's style and whether he could actually be an effective bureucrat who could force reform at the U.N.  He didn't have many accomplishments as U.N. Ambassador to the United States. 

Bolton assembled coalitions addressing North Korea's nuclear activity, Iran's uranium enrichment, and the horrific violence in Darfur.  Everyone knows how these three cases have turned out.  North Korea defied the country with their nuclear test.  We can't seem to get Iran to stop enriching uranium.  The violence in Darfur doesn't look like it will be coming to an end in the near future.

In my opinion, Bolton simply wasn't strong enough to be a good ambassador.  He had the opportunity of being the ambassador of the strongest nation in the U.N. but he didn't use that to his advantage.  He had the power to do something about North Korea, Iran, and Darfur but nothing got accomplished in any of these places.  Let's hope the next ambassador to the U.N. can make some headway for the United States.