Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Under Mandela's presidency, the TRC under Archbishop Desmond Tutu offered amnesty to perpetrators of political violence on both sides who provided complete public accounts. The premise: South Africa could not move forward without facing what had happened, but truth and reconciliation were more important than punishment.

Mandela as a global figure: His transformation from prisoner to president, his commitment to reconciliation, and his graceful single-term presidency made him one of the most universally admired political figures of the twentieth century.