Obama says Mandela 'moved a nation toward justice'
- 11 years ago
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ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a memorial service for Nelson Mandela on Tuesday (December 10) at Johannesburg's Soccer City.
"It is hard to eulogize any man - to capture in words not just the facts and the dates that make a life, but the essential truth of a person - their private joys and sorrows; the quiet moments and unique qualities that illuminate someone's soul," said President Obama.
"How much harder to do so for a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world.
Born during World War I, far from the corridors of power, a boy raised herding cattle and tutored by elders of his Thembu tribe - Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century.
Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistance movement - a movement that at its start held little prospect of success."
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
U.S. President Barack Obama speaks during a memorial service for Nelson Mandela on Tuesday (December 10) at Johannesburg's Soccer City.
"It is hard to eulogize any man - to capture in words not just the facts and the dates that make a life, but the essential truth of a person - their private joys and sorrows; the quiet moments and unique qualities that illuminate someone's soul," said President Obama.
"How much harder to do so for a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world.
Born during World War I, far from the corridors of power, a boy raised herding cattle and tutored by elders of his Thembu tribe - Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century.
Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistance movement - a movement that at its start held little prospect of success."