Jan Smuts from South Africa originally wrote the opening lines of the Preamble as , " The High Contracting Parties , determined to prevent a recurrence of the fratricidal strife which twice in our generation has brought untold sorrow and loss upon mankind . . . " which would have been similar to the opening lines of the Covenant of the League of Nations . After considerable argument at the United Nations Conference on International Organization , held in San Francisco , Virginia Gildersleeve from the US was successful in changing and shortening the Preamble , however , with much of Smuts ' original text reattached at the end
United Nations Conference on International Organization
United Nations Conference on International Organization
Preamble to the United Nations Charter