Mandela was such a far-seeing, truly global statesman that he was more interested in establishing connections to freedom and liberation movements around the globe. But as he worked to bring about reconciliation in South Africa, and impressed millions of people with his willingness to forgive, it became apparent that Mandela was one of the truly “great” persons of modern world history, and it was natural to look for others to compare. Mohandas Gandhi, the man who ejected the British imperialists from India, was one person on the same level as Mandela, and he paid a stiff price, falling to an assassin’s bullet in 1948. Another was Lincoln.

There were plenty of fears that Mandela would pay the same price as Lincoln and Gandhi, but he was fortunate—both in the men of his security team and in the different times—to avoid any assassination attempts. When Mandela stepped down from office in 1998, he left South Africa more peaceful than he found it.