rebdoniel: Mandela managed to end a civil war that was threatening to destroy his country. South Africa now has free elections and a free economy. Virtually no one thought that was possible 40 years ago. Remember the ruling class were Nazis (the “real” thing – the major leaders of the Nationalist party were arrested during World War II for working for the Germans and came close to getting executed for treason) – real honest to goodness Nazis and Mandela managed to get them to peacefully surrender. South Africa has had 20 years of democratic elections, a loud opposition, and has made it to the border of being considered a developed country. Virtually any other scenario would have led to massive casulties, and the probability that majority rule would have led to a mass expulsion of all non-Africans. That his party went from pro-communist, socialist, and undemoratic to capitalist, western and pro-demoratic — is something he personally did.
Imagine if Abraham Lincoln in 1861 managed to talk the southerns out of having a civil war and agreeing to abolish slavery. Imagine if Chamberlain had talked Hitler out of the holocause and world conquest (well, he thought that was what he was doing). Imgaine if one of the zionist leaders had talked the Arabs out of declaring war on the Jews (as one of the Hareidim tried, before he was shot).