By the time of his death, Mandela had come to be widely considered "the father of the nation" within South Africa,[357] and "the founding father of democracy",[358] being seen as "the national liberator, the saviour, its Washington and Lincoln rolled into one".[359] Mandela's biographer Anthony Sampson commented that even during his life, a myth had developed around him that turned him into "a secular saint" and which was "so powerful that it blurs the realities."[360] Within a decade after the end of his Presidency, Mandela's era was being widely thought of as "a golden age of hope and harmony".[345] Across the world, Mandela earned international acclaim for his activism in overcoming apartheid and fostering racial reconciliation,[337] coming to be viewed as "a moral authority" with a great "concern for truth".[361]
Throughout his life, Mandela had also faced criticism, being often denounced as a communist and terrorist.[362][363] Margaret Thatcher attracted international attention for describing the ANC as "a typical terrorist organisation" in 1987;[364] although she later called on Botha to release Mandela.[365] On his death, various Twitter users repeated the denunciations that he was a communist and a terrorist,[366] while various anti-abortion activists across the world took the opportunity to condemn him for supporting abortion rights laws.[367] Mandela has also been criticised for his friendship with political leaders such as Fidel Castro, Muammar Gaddafi, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and Suharto – deemed dictators by critics – as well as his refusal to condemn their human rights violations.[368][369]