How Juan Williams Landed His Nelson Mandela Interview

By Jordan Chariton 

Journalists from around world pulled out all the stops to land an interview with Nelson Mandela upon his release from prison 23 years ago. And Fox News Channel’s Juan Williams was among them.

Williams, then a reporter with The Washington Post found that going the extra mile for the future South African president paid off.

On Roland Martin’s radio show, Williams said he was able to land the interview, by helping Mandela write thank you notes.

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“They were throwing me out when [Mandela] said, ‘No, if you can handle some mail and want to write some letters for me…’ because he was getting all his congratulatory mail for getting out of prison.”

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