A United Nations Secretary-General selection was held in 1996 at the end of Boutros Boutros-Ghali's first term. Boutros-Ghali ran unopposed for a second term and received the support of 14 of the 15 members of the United Nations Security Council. However, the United States vetoed his re-selection and eventually forced him to withdraw his candidacy.

The open selection then deadlocked as France vetoed all candidates from English-speaking countries, while the United States vetoed all candidates from French-speaking countries. France eventually changed its veto to an abstention, and Kofi Annan of Ghana was selected Secretary-General for a term beginning 1 January 1997. The 1996 selection marks the only time that a sitting Secretary-General was denied a second term.

The elderly Boutros-Ghali initially intended to serve only one term, but he ran for a second term in 1996. Traditionally, the Secretary-General is entitled to run unopposed for a second term. No sitting Secretary-General had ever been denied a second term by a veto. In the 1950 selection, Trygve Lie was vetoed by the Soviet Union, but he was re-appointed by the General Assembly without a recommendation from the Security Council. In the 1976 selection, Kurt Waldheim received a single symbolic veto from China, which turned around and voted for him in the second round.

Boutros Boutros-Ghali had been selected Secretary-General in 1991 without the support of the United States, which abstained. After 15 U.S. peacekeepers died in a failed raid in Somalia in 1993, Boutros-Ghali became a political scapegoat in the United States. U.S. ambassador Madeleine Albright criticized Boutros-Ghali for the failed raid, and U.S. president Bill Clinton announced that future U.S. peacekeepers "will be under American command." However, the dead peacekeepers had already been under U.S. command.

Tensions grew worse as Boutros-Ghali pressed the United States over $1.5 billion in unpaid U.N. dues, while the United States pushed him to cut programs that were favored by developing countries. The breaking point came over the Bosnian War, when Boutros-Ghali refused to allow British and French commanders to authorize airstrikes against Serb troops. During the 1996 U.S. presidential campaign, Republican candidate Bob Dole made fun of Boutros-Ghali's name, and Clinton decided to eliminate Boutros-Ghali to help in his own reelection bid.

Boutros-Ghali ran unopposed for re-selection, as he enjoyed the support of every other member of the Security Council and was backed by the developing countries in the General Assembly. Boutros-Ghali had the support of France, as he spoke French fluently and had studied at the Sorbonne. Supporters of Boutros-Ghali also hoped that China would fight a veto duel with the United States, as it had done in the deadlocked 1981 selection. If the 1996 selection could be deadlocked, then the General Assembly could appoint Boutros-Ghali to a second term without a recommendation from the Security Council. The United States had set the precedent by taking the 1950 selection directly to the General Assembly after the Soviet Union vetoed Trygve Lie's second term.

Madeleine Albright, Richard Clarke, Michael Sheehan, and James Rubin entered a secret pact, which they called "Operation Orient Express." The name reflected their hope that other countries would join the United States in overthrowing Boutros-Ghali. However, U.S. President Bill Clinton told them that they "would never pull it off."

As support for Boutros-Ghali grew, the United States increased the pressure on his supporters. U.S. officials threatened to "take action" against U.N. officials who campaigned for Boutros-Ghali using U.N. funds, even though it could not name anyone who had done so. An unnamed U.S. official warned in a United States Information Agency report that continued support for Boutros-Ghali would cost Africa its second term in the Secretary-General rotation. The United States even offered to support Salim Ahmed Salim of Tanzania, who had been vetoed by the U.S. after winning the 1981 selection by one vote. A former U.N. official said that the Clinton administration appeared to be in a "frenzy" over Boutros-Ghali's resistance.