nelson mandela had been in prison for nearly a quarter century, for 24 hour years. apartheid had been the law of the land in south africa for 40 years and the bill did pass the house. it did pass the senate and then the president of the united states wouldn't put his signature on it. ronald reagan retoed the south african sanctions bill. >> night after night, week after week, television has brought us reports of violence by south african security forces bringing injury and death to peaceful demonstrators and innocent bystanders, more recently, we read of violent attacks by plaques against blacks. then there is the cal can ycula terror the mining of roads, bombings of public places, the imposition of marshall law and eventually creating the conditions for racial war. >> reagan was the biggest name