Danforth Resigns as U.S. Ambassador to U.N.
Some former colleagues noted that Danforth, a moderate in a conservative administration, had expressed frustration in recent speeches in his home state about not being more of an independent actor and having to check with Washington.
The news came as a "complete surprise," a U.S. official said.
Danforth, who turned 68 in September, began serving at the United Nations in early July, succeeding John Negroponte, who left New York to become U.S. ambassador to Iraq.
He is an ordained Episcopal minister who represented Missouri in the U.S. Senate for 18 years.
Just before being named to the U.N. job, he served as U.S. peace envoy to war-torn Sudan for nearly three years, and the humanitarian crisis in Sudan was one of his most passionate interests during his time in New York.
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