We will not see the likes of Mandela again: Barack Obama
December 06, 2013  08:13
Describing himself as one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela, United States President Barack Obama mourned the death today of the South African anti-apartheid icon and said that the world was unlikely to see a leader like him again.

"I am one of the countless millions who drew inspiration from Nelson Mandela's life. 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," Obama told White House reporters soon after he was informed about the death of the former South African President who died aged 95.

"I would study his words and his writings. The day he was released from prison it gave me a sense of what human beings can do when they're guided by their hopes and not by their fears. 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.

Image: US First Lady Michelle Obama meets Mandela at his house in Johannesburg in June 2011 
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