Nelson Mandela, the prisoner-turned-president who reconciled South Africa after the end of apartheid, died on December 5, 2013. He was 95.
Editor's note: CNN iReport: Share your memories
(CNN) -- April 27, 1994, was the crowning moment in the life of Nelson Mandela -- the day South Africa held its first elections open to citizens of every race.
His African National Congress party swept to power with 63% of the vote. F.W. de Klerk's National Party got 20% and the Inkatha party netted 10%.
In his victory speech, Mandela said: "Now is the time for celebration, for South Africans to join together to celebrate the birth of democracy.
"I raise a glass to you all for working so hard to achieve what can only be called a small miracle."
Incredible legacy of Nelson Mandela
50 years since Liliesleaf Farm raid
South Africa celebrates Mandela's 95th
Many agreed it was a miracle -- from world leaders to ordinary South African voters -- considering the turmoil and segregation entrenched in South Africa just a few years before.
Mandela's compassion and political shrewdness helped bring about this change.
But most of all, it was the complete lack of bitterness he displayed for the 27 years he was imprisoned by the apartheid regime that enabled him to win over his divided nation and charm the world with his statesmanship.
Mandela and his government inherited a country devastated by decades of apartheid -- a policy of segregation and discrimination that aimed to keep black and white apart in every sphere of life -- as well as a black majority coming to terms with the fact that voting did not guarantee social and economic equality.
He introduced housing, education and economic development initiatives designed to improve the living standards of blacks.
He also made his mark on the international stage. During his five-year presidency, he received 73 heads of state or government and made 83 state visits outside the country.
Mandela worked to broker peace in neighboring African nations, including Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
He was involved in restoring order in Lesotho after its May 1998 elections triggered severe unrest, sending in South African troops who stabilized the situation and created a favorable climate for negotiations.
Mandela led the call for sanctions against Nigeria following the 1995 execution of writer and activist Ken Saro Wiwa and a number of other political prisoners.
And he played a leading role in resolving the impasse between the United States, the United Kingdom and Libya over securing the surrender of the two men charged in the Lockerbie bombing.
But Mandela often cut a lonely figure on his travels as his marriage to wife Winnie foundered. They divorced in 1996.
He was to find love again, with Graca Machel, the widow of former Mozambique President Samora Machel. They married on his 80th birthday in 1998.
In September of that year, he was awarded at a ceremony in Washington the U.S. Congressional Gold Medal, becoming the first African to receive the honor.
President Bill Clinton said Mandela was awarded the medal not only because of his "10,000 long days" spent in prison but also for his "shining example" as a political leader since his release.
The last three years of Mandela's presidency were largely in the role of elder statesman as he gradually handed over the day-to-day governing of the country to his deputy, Thabo Mbeki, who succeeded him in 1999.
In his speech at a farewell banquet, Mandela again referred to the miracle of South Africa.
"South Africans from every sector had reached out across the divisions of the centuries and averted a bloodbath which most observers believed inevitable, so much so that our smooth transition was hailed widely as a miracle," he said.
"Our people have therefore confounded the prophets of doom. We are confident they will do it over and over again."
READ: What made Nelson Mandela great
Mandela became president of the African National Congress Youth League in 1951.
Mandela poses for a photo, circa 1950.
Mandela poses in boxing gloves in 1952.
Mandela in the office of Mandela & Tambo, a law practice set up in Johannesburg by Mandela and Oliver Tambo to provide free or affordable legal representation to black South Africans.
From left: Patrick Molaoa, Robert Resha and Mandela walk to the courtroom for their treason trial in Johannesburg.
Mandela married his second wife, social worker Winnie Madikizela, in 1958. At the time, he was an active member of the African National Congress and had begun his lifelong commitment to ending segregation in South Africa.
Nelson and Winnie Mandela raise their fists to salute a cheering crowd upon his 1990 release from Victor Verster Prison. He was still as upright and proud, he would say, as the day he walked into prison 27 years before.
A jubilant South African holds up a newspaper announcing Mandela's release from prison at an ANC rally in Soweto on February 11, 1990. Two days later, more than 100,000 people attended a rally celebrating his release from jail.
Mandela and Zambian President Kenneth Kaunda arrive at an ANC rally on March 3, 1990, in Lusaka, Zambia. Mandela was elected president of the ANC the next year.
After his release in 1990, Mandela embarked on a world tour, meeting U.S. President George H.W. Bush at the White House in June.
At his Soweto home on July 18, 1990, Mandela blows out the candles on his 72nd birthday cake. It was the first birthday he celebrated as a free man since the 1960s.
Mandela and his wife react to supporters during a visit to Brazil at the governor's palace in Rio De Janeiro, on August 1, 1991.
South African President Frederik de Klerk, right, and Mandela shared a Nobel Peace Prize in 1993 for their work to secure a peaceful transition from apartheid rule.
Mandela votes for the first time in his life on March 26, 1994.
On April 27, 1994, a long line of people snake toward a polling station in the black township of Soweto outside of Johannesburg in the nation's first all-race elections.
Mandela in Mmabatho for an election rally on March 15, 1994.
Mandela was elected president in the first open election in South African history on April 29, 1994. He's pictured here taking the oath at his inauguration in May, becoming the nation's first black president.
Mandela, left, cheers as Springbok Rugby captain Francois Pienaar holds the Webb Ellis trophy high after winning the World Cup Rugby Championship in Johannesburg on June 24, 1995.
After one term as president, Mandela stepped down. Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki, at right, was sworn in as his replacement in June 1999.
Mandela sits outside his former prison cell on Robben Island on November 28, 2003, ahead of his AIDS benefit concert at Green Point Stadium in Cape Town. He was sent to the infamous prison five miles off the coast of South Africa, where he spent 18 of his 27 years behind bars.
Mandela shows something to a group of international journalists visiting the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Johannesburg in May 2004.
Mandela sits with his wife, Graca Machel, and his grandchildren at his son's funeral on January 15, 2005. He disclosed that his son, Makgatho Lewanika Mandela, had died of AIDS and said the disease should be given publicity so people would stop viewing it as extraordinary.
The "46664 Arctic" benefit concert was held in Tromso, Norway, on June 11, 2005. 46664 was Mandela's identification number in prison. Here, artists who performed at the event surround him.
Mandela attends an HIV/AIDs concert in Johannesburg on February 17, 2005.
Former U.S. President Bill Clinton leans down to whisper to former South African President Nelson Mandela during a visit to the Nelson Mandela Foundation on July 19, 2007, in Johannesburg.
A bronze statue of Mandela was unveiled in Parliament Square in London on August 29, 2007. The 9-foot statue faces the Houses of Parliament.
Mandela leaves the InterContinental Hotel after a photoshoot with celebrity photographer Terry O'Neil on June 26, 2008, in London.
Mandela meets in 2009 with international children as part of his 46664 Foundation.
Nelson Mandela and his third wife, Graca Machel, arrive at the 2010 World Cup before the final match between Netherlands and Spain on July 11, 2010, at Soccer City Stadium in Soweto.
Then-U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton meets with Mandela at his home in Qunu, South Africa, on August 6, 2012.
