US News

Obama joins world leaders in remembering Mandela

View video

President Obama joined world leaders in remembering Nelson Mandela as “one of the most influential, courageous and profoundly good human beings.”

“Through his fierce dignity and unbending will to sacrifice his own freedom for the freedom of others, he transformed South Africa and moved all of us,” Obama said at the White House shortly after Mandela’s death was announced.

News of the death of former South African President Nelson Mandela is seen on a screen in New York’s Times Square.New York Post/Chad Rachman

“He achieved more than can be expected of any man.”

In an unusually personal statement, Obama recalled: “My very first political action, the first thing I ever did that involved an issue or a policy or politics, was a protest against apartheid.”

“I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela’s life,” he said. “Like so many around the globe, I cannot imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set.”

Obama visited South Africa earlier this year and saw the jail cell where Mandela was imprisoned for decades. But Mandela’s fragile health prevented the two leaders from meeting.

Actor Morgan Freeman, who portrayed Mandela in the 2009 movie “Invictus,” called him “a man of incomparable honor, unconquerable strength, and unyielding resolve — a saint to many, a hero to all who treasure liberty, freedom and the dignity of humankind.”

“Madiba may no longer be with us,” Freeman said, using Mandela’s nickname, “but his journey continues on with me and with all of us.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who met Mandela several times, said he “changed human history.”

“Everything humanly possible that could be done to someone other than killing them was done to him, yet he maintained his dignity and his determination. It is almost unthinkable what he endured and yet forgave… He showed us that you can change the course of human history without lowering yourself to human depravity.”

At the United Nations, a Security Council meeting was halted and delegates stood for a minute in silent tribute to Mandela after word of his death.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Mandela was “a giant for justice” whose “selfless struggle for human dignity, equality and freedom” inspired many people around the world.

“Nelson Mandela showed what is possible for our world, and within each one of us, if we believe a dream and work together for justice and humanity,” Ban told reporters.

1 of 45
Mandela, leader of the African National Congress (ANC), adopts a boxing pose
Nelson Mandela, who became a world-wide symbol of resistance to racism and injustice during his 27 years in jail, died Thursday. He was the iconic pathfinder who led South Africa from apartheid to all-race democracy. (Mandela, was a heavyweight boxer (1950))Getty Images
Mandela
Reports of the Nobel Peace Prize winner’s failing health circulated Thursday as relatives and friends gathered at his death bed. He was 95. (He's photographed in the beginning days of his political activism circa 1950.)Getty Images
Advertisement
Mandela, then a 42-year-old, political activist and an able heavyweight boxer and physical culturist,
Mandela photographed as 42-year-old political activist and an able heavyweight boxer (1961)AP Photo
. Nelson Mandela and wife Winnie raising fists upon his release from Victor Verster prison after 27 yrs.
Mandela and his second wife Winnie raising fists upon his release from Victor Verster prison after 27 years. (1990)Getty Images
Mandela embraces his daughter Zinzi and his wife Winnie with their Zinzi's daughter after his release from prison
Mandela embraces his daughter Zinzi and his second wife Winnie with Zinzi's daughter after his release from prison. (1990)Corbis
Advertisement
A view of the cell were former South African president Nelson Mandela was locked up by the former apartheid government on Robben Island, South Afric
A view of the cell on Robben Island, South Africa where Mandela was locked up by the former apartheid government AP Photo
Mandela salutes supporters while addressing on September 05, 1990 in Tokoza a crowd of residents from the Phola park squatter camp during his tour of townships
Mandela salutes a crowd of supporters during his tour of townships. (1990)Getty Images
Mandela (R) shakes hands with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
Mandela (right) shakes hands with British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. (1990)Getty Images
Advertisement
Mandela smiles 22 June 1990 in New York, raising his arms over his head as he receives applause at the United Nations.
Mandela raises his arms over his head as he receives applause at the United Nations in New York City. (1990)Getty Images
Mandela receives the Martin Luther king Jr. International Freedom Award from King's widow Coretta Scott King
Mandela receives the Martin Luther King Jr. International Freedom Award from King's widow Coretta Scott King. (1990)AP Photo
Mandela appears to be in a similary meditative mood as Mahatma Gandhi depicted in painting at top on October 15, 1990 in New-Delhi
Mandela follows Mahatma Gandhi's meditative mood in this New-Delhi painting. (1990)Getty Images
Advertisement
Nelson Mandela smiling after being unamimously elected to succed African National Congress (ANC) president Oliver Tambo
Mandela smiles as he's unanimously elected to succeed African National Congress (ANC) president Oliver Tambo. (1991)Getty Images
Mandela (right) poses next to his waxwork replica at Madam Tussaud's museum on May 1993 in London
Mandela (right) next to his waxwork replica at Madam Tussaud's museum in London (1993)Getty Images
Mandela launches his electoral campaign in Joberton
In 1994, Mandela launched an electoral campaign in Joberton, South Africa.Corbis
Advertisement
campaigns for the presidency of South Africa. The upcoming election will be the first post-apartheid election in the nation's history
It's the first democratic, multiracial general election in the nation's history. (1994)Corbis
Mandela greets young supporters who wait for atop a billboard in a township outside Durban
Mandela greets young supporters a township outside Durban, South Africa. (1994)Getty Images
Mandela votes for the first time in South Africa's first multiracial elections
Mandela votes in South Africa's first multiracial elections. (1994)Startraks
Advertisement
Mandela takes the oath of office in Pretoria Tuesday, May 10, 1994 to become South Africa's first black President
Mandela takes the oath of office in Pretoria Tuesday, May 10, 1994 to become South Africa's first black President.AP Photo
Applauding Mandela are U.S. Vice President Al Gore (left) and Speaker of the House Thomas Foley
U.S. Vice President Al Gore (left) and Speaker of the House Thomas Foley applaud Mandela in his first visit to the U.S. as South African head of state. (1994)Corbis
Pope John Paul II meets with President Nelson Mandela
Pope John Paul II and Mandela (1995)Corbis
Advertisement
Mandela and the Dalai Lama
Mandela and the Dalai Lama (1996)AP Photo
Mandela, foreground, and U.S. President Bill Clinton peer out from Section B, prison cell No. 5, on Robben Island, South Africa Friday, March 27, 1998. Mandela spent 18 years of his 27-year prison term on the island
Mandela and then U.S. President Bill Clinton peer out from Section B, prison cell No. 5, on Robben Island, South Africa where Mandela spent 18 of his 27-year prison term. (1998)AP Photo
Mandela (L) claps his hands after American pop-icon Michael Jackson
Mandela clasps his hands alongside American pop-icon Michael Jackson. (1999)Getty Images
Advertisement
Queen Elizabeth II poses with Nelson Mandela at Buckingham Palace
Queen Elizabeth II and Mandela at Buckingham Palace (2000)Getty Images
Mandela (R) listens to Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat
Mandela and late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat (2001)Getty Images
Mandela with singer Bono
Mandela and Bono (2003)Getty Images
Advertisement
Oscar winner Charlize Theron burst into tears when she met former president Nelson Mandela
Oscar winner Charlize Theron, herself South African, burst into tears when she met former president Nelson Mandela in 2004.Startraks
Hillary Rodham Clinton meets with former South Africa President Nelson Mandela, 94, at his home in Qunu, South Africa,
Hillary Clinton meets with Mandela, 94, at his home in Qunu, South Africa. (2004)AP Photos
Mandela as he dons boxing gloves for a photo opportunity on the eve of his 88th
Mandela dons boxing gloves for a photo for his 88th birthday. (2006)AP Photo
Advertisement
Mandela (C) celebrate his birthday surrounded by his grandchildren
Mandela celebrates his 90th birthday surrounded by his grandchildren. (2008)Getty Images
Mandela
Mandela with his third wife at the World Cup South Africa Final match in Johannesburg (2010)
First Lady Michelle Obama (2-R), her daughters, Malia (L) and Sasha (2-L) as they pose for photographs with former President Nelson Mandela (R) at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg
First Lady Michelle Obama (middle), her daughters, Malia (left) and Sasha (middle) pose with former Nelson Mandela (right) at his home in Johannesburg. (2011)Zumapress.com
Advertisement
Mandela and his wife Graca Machel
Mandela and his wife Graca Machel (2012)Getty Images
Advertisement

News of his death was announced by South African President Jacob Zuma in a nationally televised address. “Our nation has lost its greatest son,” he said. “Our people have lost a father.”

Praise for the Nobel Peace Prize winner quickly poured in from around the world.

“A great light has gone out in the world. Nelson Mandela was a hero in our time,” said British Prime Minister David Cameron as he ordered the British flag to be flown at half staff outside his office, 10 Downing Street.

Former US Secretary of State Madeline Albright said, “President Mandela was an activist, a prisoner of conscience, a political leader, and a venerated statesman, but he was, above all, a teacher.”

“He taught us that the power of forgiveness is greater than the power of hate, and that differences of race and nationality matter less than our shared humanity,” she added.

At Madiba, a Fort Greene, Brooklyn restaurant named after Mandela, Zimbabwe émigré Carl Hlazo, 40, said, “He represented hope for us in a society with inequality that we knew was racially based. He broke barriers.”

Restaurant GM Denis Du Preez added, “It’s a rejoice and a sadness at the same time. Rejoicing his legacy. He’s been such a spiritual mentor. You just listen to one thing he says and he brings out a comforting sensitivity. I’ll miss his voice.”

In his homeland, Mandela was remembered as an icon.

“What made Nelson Mandela great is precisely what made him human,” the clearly emotional President Zuma said. “We saw in him what we seek in ourselves.”

Additional reporting by Michael Starr and Geoff Earle