Obama: Mandela 'belongs to the ages'

President Obama pays tribute to Nelson Mandela

• Former U.S. presidents pay their respects

 

President Obama said Thursday that Nelson Mandela inspired millions of people across the world — including Obama himself — to work for freedom, justice, and democracy.
"He no longer belongs to us," an emotional Obama said at the White House. "He belongs to the ages."
MORE: Transcript of Obama's remarks on Mandela
Obama described Mandela as "one of the most influential, courageous, and profoundly good human beings that any of us will share time with on this Earth."
The president gave his eulogy less than an hour after the announcement of the South African leader's death.
Obama noted that he first became involved in politics at a protest against apartheid in South Africa. He said he has studied Mandela's writings throughout his career in government.
"Like so many around the globe, I cannot fully imagine my own life without the example that Nelson Mandela set," said the nation's first African-American president. "And so long as I live I will do what I can to learn from him."
  During remarks at a Hanukkah reception Thursday night at the White House, Obama lauded Mandela as a "moral giant" who sought a world where "oppression can end and justice can prevail."
Obama met Mandela in person only once, in 2005 when Obama was a senator from Illinois. The president traveled to South Africa in June, but Mandela was too ill for a meeting; he met instead with members of the Mandela family.
The legacy of the long-imprisoned Mandela is "a free South Africa at peace with itself" and "an example to the world," Obama said.
In a statement on Mandela's 95th birthday in July, the president and first lady Michelle Obama sent best wishes to the former South African president and said his life has inspired millions.
"May Nelson Mandela's life of service to others and his unwavering commitment to equality, reconciliation, and human dignity continue to be a beacon for each future generation seeking a more just and prosperous world," the Obamas said.
Obama's predecessors also paid tribute.
"President Mandela was one of the great forces for freedom and equality of our time," said former president George W. Bush. "He bore his burdens with dignity and grace, and our world is better off because of his example."
Former president Bill Clinton said, "The world has lost one of its most important leaders and one of its finest human beings ... History will remember Nelson Mandela as a champion for human dignity and freedom, for peace and reconciliation."
Former president George H.W. Bush said he and wife Barbara "mourn the passing of one of the greatest believers in freedom we have had the privilege to know."
The elder Bush said he "watched in wonder" as Mandela "had the remarkable capacity to forgive his jailers following 26 years of wrongful imprisonment -- setting a powerful example of redemption and grace for us all."
Former president Jimmy Carter said Mandela's "passion for freedom and justice created new hope for generations of oppressed people worldwide, and because of him, South Africa is today one of the world's leading democracies."
In his remarks at the White House, Obama described Mandela as "a man who took history in his hands, and bent the arc of the moral universe toward justice."
Said the president: "We will not likely see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. So it falls to us — as best we can -- to forward the example that he set:"
Obama is expected to attend Mandela's funeral later this month.