for president obama, nelson mandela was a personal hero and a political idol whose legendary struggle fueled his earliest ambiti ambitions. >> 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. >> reporter: they met in person only briefly in 2005 before obama became president. the two leaders, each standing in history as the first black president of his nation spoke occasionally by phone. president obama penned the forward for mandela's 2010 memoir, "conversations with myself." he wrote his example helped awaken me to the wider world and the obligation we all have to stand up for what it is right. through his choices, mandela made it clear we did not have to accept the world as it is, that