Nelson Mandela

=== "Retiring from retirement": 2004–2013 ===
[[File:George W. Bush and Nelson Mandela - walking - Oval Office - May 17 2005.jpg|thumb|right|Mandela and US president [[George W. Bush]] in the [[Oval Office]], 2005]]
In June 2004, aged 85 and amid failing health, Mandela announced that he was "retiring from retirement" and retreating from public life, remarking, "Don't call me, I will call you."{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2010|1p=593|2a1=Battersby|2y=2011|2p=598}} Although continuing to meet with close friends and family, the foundation discouraged invitations for him to appear at public events and denied most interview requests.{{sfn|Battersby|2011|p=598}}

He retained some involvement in international affairs. In 2005, he founded the Nelson Mandela Legacy Trust,<ref name=NPR>{{cite news|title=Mandela, Bush Discuss Education, AIDS in Africa |first=Allison |last=Keyes |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4654914 |publisher=NPR |date=17 May 2005 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206225025/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4654914 |archive-date=6 December 2013 |url-status=live }}</ref> travelling to the United States to speak before the [[Brookings Institution]] and the [[NAACP]] on the need for economic assistance to Africa.<ref name=NPR/><ref name=LAT>{{cite news |title=The Obama-Mandela dynamic, reflected in a photo |first=Kathleen |last=Hennessey |url=http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-mandela-20130625,0,6170889,full.story |website=Los Angeles Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130626044759/http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-obama-mandela-20130625,0,6170889,full.story |archive-date=26 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He spoke with US senator [[Hillary Clinton]] and President George W. Bush and first met the then-senator [[Barack Obama]].<ref name=LAT/> Mandela also encouraged Zimbabwean president [[Robert Mugabe]] to resign over growing [[Human rights in Zimbabwe|human rights]] abuses in the country. When this proved ineffective, he spoke out publicly against Mugabe in 2007, asking him to step down "with residual respect and a modicum of dignity."{{sfn|Battersby|2011|p=594}} That year, Mandela, Machel and Desmond Tutu convened a group of world leaders in Johannesburg to contribute their wisdom and independent leadership to some of the world's toughest problems. Mandela announced the formation of this new group, [[The Elders (organization)|The Elders]], in a speech delivered on his 89th birthday.<ref>{{harvnb|Battersby|2011|p=600}}; {{cite news |url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19836050 |title=Mandela joins 'Elders' on turning 89 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |agency=Associated Press |access-date=26 May 2008 |date=20 July 2007 |archive-date=25 February 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6EhRqC1M4?url=http://www.nbcnews.com/id/19836050 |url-status=live }}; {{cite web |url=http://www.southafrica.info/mandela/theelders.htm |title=Mandela launches The Elders |date=19 July 2007 |publisher=SAinfo |access-date=27 October 2008 |archive-date=25 February 2013 |archive-url=https://www.webcitation.org/6EhRpoERW?url=http://www.southafrica.info/mandela/theelders.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File: Nelson Mandela - full (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|Mandela receiving the freedom of the city of [[Tshwane]], 2008]]

Mandela's 90th birthday was marked across the country on 18 July 2008; a [[Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Tribute|tribute concert]] was held in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]], London.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/hyde-park-concert-to-mark--mandelas-90th-821776.html |title=Hyde Park concert to mark Mandela's 90th |last=Bingham |first=John |date=6 May 2008 |website=The Independent |access-date=27 October 2008 |archive-date=9 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109103443/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/news/hyde-park-concert-to-mark--mandelas-90th-821776.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Throughout Mbeki's presidency, Mandela continued to support the ANC, usually overshadowing Mbeki at any public events that the two attended. Mandela was more at ease with Mbeki's successor, Zuma,{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2010|1p=598|2a1=Battersby|2y=2011|2pp=594–597}} although the Nelson Mandela Foundation was upset when his grandson, [[Mandla Mandela]], flew him out to the Eastern Cape to attend a pro-Zuma rally in the midst of a storm in 2009.{{sfnm|1a1=Meredith|1y=2010|1p=598|2a1=Battersby|2y=2011|2pp=594–597}}

In 2004, Mandela successfully campaigned for South Africa to host the [[2010 FIFA World Cup]], declaring that there would be "few better gifts for us" in the year marking a decade since the fall of apartheid.<ref>{{cite news |title=World Cup 'perfect gift for SA' |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/3703261.stm |date=11 May 2004 |work=BBC News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160316182537/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3703261.stm |archive-date=16 March 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=13 September 2016}}</ref> Despite maintaining a low profile during the event due to ill health, Mandela made his final public appearance during the World Cup closing ceremony, where he received much applause.{{sfn|Battersby|2011|p=600}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/jul/11/nelson-mandela-world-cup-final |website=The Guardian |title=Nelson Mandela attends World Cup closing ceremony |date=11 July 2010 |first=David |last=Batty |archive-date=24 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130724041644/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/jul/11/nelson-mandela-world-cup-final |url-status=live }}</ref> Between 2005 and 2013, Mandela, and later his family, were embroiled in a series of legal disputes regarding money held in family trusts for the benefit of his descendants.<ref>{{cite news |last=Polgreen |first=Lydia |title=Messy Fight Over Mandela Trust Goes Public |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/world/africa/messy-legal-fight-over-mandela-trust-goes-public.html |website=The New York Times |date=24 May 2013 |access-date=13 September 2016 |archive-date=28 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128153321/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/25/world/africa/messy-legal-fight-over-mandela-trust-goes-public.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In mid-2013, as Mandela was hospitalised for a lung infection in Pretoria, his descendants were involved in an intra-family legal dispute relating to the burial place of Mandela's children, and ultimately Mandela himself.<ref>{{cite news |first=David |last=Smith |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/jul/03/south-african-courts-mandela-burial |title=South African courts step in over Mandela family burial row |website=The Guardian |access-date=13 September 2016 |date=3 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130709230415/http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/03/south-african-courts-mandela-burial |archive-date=9 July 2013}}; {{cite news |last=Moreton |first=Cole |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nelson-mandela/10155807/Nelson-Mandelas-grandson-Mandla-accused-of-grave-tampering.html |title=Nelson Mandela's grandson Mandla accused of grave tampering |website=The Telegraph |access-date=13 September 2016 |date=2 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160127022518/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/nelson-mandela/10155807/Nelson-Mandelas-grandson-Mandla-accused-of-grave-tampering.html |archive-date=27 January 2016 }}</ref>