Post date: Dec 06, 2013 12:2:34 AM
U.S. President Barack Obama hails former South African President Nelson Mandela as "courageous" man whose deepest legacy is a free South Africa at peace with itself.
WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (DECEMBER 05, 2013) (NBC) - President Barack Obama hailed former South African President Nelson Mandela on Thursday (December 5) as a leader who left his country with a legacy of freedom and peace.
"He achieved more than could be expected of any man," Obama said at the White House shortly after the announcement of Mandela's death. "Today he's gone home, and we've lost one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this earth," Obama said.Obama, the first black U.S. president, has long referred to Mandela as a personal inspiration.
"Like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set, and so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him," Obama said.
He also noted that his own first involvement in anything political was a protest against apartheid, the former system of white rule in South Africa.
"To the people of South Africa, we draw strength from the example of renewal, reconciliation and resilience that you made real. A free South Africa at peace with itself, that's an example to the world. That's Madiba's legacy to the nation that he loved," he said, referring to Mandela by his clan name.
Obama is expected to go to South Africa for Mandela's funeral. The U.S. president went toJohannesburg earlier this year but did not visit the ailing leader, who was in the hospital at the time.