John Bolton waited patiently – for more than a year – while the U.S. Senate blocked his confirmation as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. The President gave him a recess appointment, so he went and did his job and did it well.

But this week, the Senate obstructionists and their spineless lackey from Rhode Island finally got their way once and for all as Ambassador Bolton announced that he would step down from his post when his temporary appointment expires next month.

Make no mistake, Mr. Bolton's departure from the U.N. is a loss for America. It's also a loss for the U.N.

To be sure, Bolton made the bureaucrats of Turtle Bay anxious and uncomfortable. They knew that given time, he would force them to change their ways. They also knew that he is mysteriously immune to the magic elixir that somehow converts intelligent men and women into U.N. stooges upon their arrival.

But what the bureaucrats don't see is that Bolton's commitment to reforming the damaged world body is its only path back to relevance. After its disastrous handling of crisis after crisis – from Rwanda to Darfur and Bosnia to Iraq – and its total transformation into a den of corruption and nepotism, the U.N. needed John Bolton to succeed.

Instead, men like Mark Malloch Brown – the Secretary General's right hand – have gone out of their way to insult and criticize Bolton. They have sought to make him an outcast, and have ignored all norms and customs of diplomacy to do it. Even the Secretary General himself found ways to attack Bolton.

Substantively, the U.N. has comprehensively raged against Bolton's common sense reform proposal. Heaven forbid the moribund world body do anything to actually improve itself or improve this country's view of it.

No matter. Bolton's departure reflects poorly on the U.N., but not on Bolton who has, by every measure, been an excellent voice for the U.S.

And that's America's loss.

At a time when we need a strong voice for our interests, the Senate has, effectively, fired the one we have.

Senator Chafee, the Senator from Rhode Island who effectively did in Bolton's confirmation through his opposition, has done a disservice to our nation. The Senator's record is rife with weakness, vacillation and failure. No doubt, that's an important reason why his constituents voted him out of office last month. But in the long list of his actions that demonstrate his hopeless lack of courage, facilitating the Senate's rejection of Ambassador Bolton ranks at or near the top of the list.

Nevertheless, John Bolton had 18 months to make an impact on the U.N., and there's no doubt that he did. We hope that his successor is willing to learn from his example – to be a strong voice for the U.S., to insist on real accountability from the world body, and not to shy away from the fights that need fighting.