the gulf between the UN's stated commitments to change and the actions that would make those commitments reality. She made it her personal mission to transform the United Nations into an institution capable of meeting the problems of the world head-on by cutting down on bloviating debate and focusing on substantive deliberation that addressed real issues in a meaningful way. In her first speech after being elected president of the General Assembly, Brooks stated:We have sometimes failed to realize that neither oratory nor agreements between delegations, nor even resolutions or recommendations have had much impact on the course of affairs in the world at large. The sense of satisfaction, upon adoption of a resolution … has helped to perpetuate the mythology of achievement, so that many of us tend to go happily from one agenda item to the next without seriously considering the possibility or even probability that the resolution adopted will not be implemented. We have lacked and we do lack in this respect a sense of reality. Brooks was especially concerned with the welfare of newly independent nations that had previously been administered as colonies or UN mandates. In her first interview after being elected as President of the United Nationls General Assembly, Brooks urged small nations to find common ground to unite them into a more powerful voice in order to push back and make themselves heard against the world’s superpowers. She also expressed concern over the welfare and legal rights of women, arguing that they must have more of a voice in the political decisions of their nations in order to prevent warfare. In response to a reporter's question about the role of women as representatives, she stated, “If the men would give an opportunity to the women to be heard and would consider wisely some of the things that they are saying, perhaps the world would be in a better condition.” Her fellow UN members described Brooks as "tough, resilient, patient, and unfailingly good-humored." In 1958, President William Tubman appointed Brooks Assistant Secretary of State. Brooks wanted the law to be an attainable profession for women, free from discrimination. To that end, from 1956-59 she served as the vice president of the International Federation of Women Lawyers where she worked to advance women's rights and encourage women in the field of law. In 1977, she was appointed Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Liberia,