US President George W. Bush named a self-confessed United Nations critic and a hardline diplomat, John Bolton, to be ambassador to the world body.
Bolton, the current under secretary of state for arms control, was picked for the key job "because he knows how to get things done," Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said.
"He is a tough minded diplomat. He has a strong record of success and he has a proven track record of effective multilateralism," she told a media conference with Bolton by her side.