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“I’m from Iowa,” I told South African President Nelson Mandela, as he offered me a tray of cookies and asked where I was from.

“What’s Iowa like?” he asked.

I replied, “Iowa’s got the richest soil in the world, friendly people, and first-rate schools.”

“Well, I hope you enjoy serving in Cape Town and getting to know our land and our people,” he added, smiling warmly.

This unexpected conversation took place in Cape Town, South Africa in 1996 during a visit of Secretary of State Warren Christopher. I was a mid-level American diplomat serving in Cape Town.

Christopher hoped to enlist Mandela’s support for the proposed African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI). A few years previously the United States had intervened in Somalia to alleviate a humanitarian crisis, but pulled out after the Black Hawk Down tragedy. The next year we sat on our hands during the Rwanda genocide and 800,000 people perished. President Bill Clinton proposed that African countries organize first-responder units to deal quickly with natural or man-made crises. The U.S. would help provide training and equipment under the ACRI, and would hope not to have to send U.S. troops to troubled African countries.

Mandela opposed South Africa’s involvement in ACRI, as the country’s military was undergoing a difficult transition to reflect the composition and objectives of the new South Africa. We had informed Washington that Mandela was not keen on the ACRI, but Christopher came anyway.

Once in Cape Town, Christopher’s meeting with Mandela was the last thing on the secretary’s schedule before his departure. As a relatively junior diplomat, I had no expectation of being asked to join the meeting; my job was to help coordinate logistics, protocol, and security at the venue. When the State Department’s note-taker failed to arrive on time, I was asked to step in. I grabbed a pen and a notebook, and followed Christopher into the posh conference room.

Mandela greeted each of the Americans with a handshake and a smile and asked us our names. He seemed in a relaxed, chatty mood. Soon the lawyerly secretary of state moved impatiently toward the negotiating table. Mandela then exclaimed, “Oh, I forgot that our kind staff has prepared light refreshments.” Waiters brought tea, and Mandela himself picked up a silver tray of cookies and began serving the guests.

He spent a few minutes talking with each American, asking us where we were from and how we liked South Africa. Christopher glanced as his watch, scowling as the minute hand approached his scheduled departure time.

Finally, Mandela guided us to the negotiating table. I whipped out my pen, ready to take notes. Due to time constraints, the secretary gave an abbreviated pitch on the ACRI. President Mandela listened attentively and finally said, “This is a very important and complex issue. My colleagues and I will need more time to study it thoroughly, but thank you so much for stopping by.”

He got up and escorted us out for a photo opportunity. Mandela beamed widely and Christopher put on a waxy smile. He knew Mandela had run out the clock on him, and that he was returning to Washington without South Africa’s support for ACRI.

The rest of us walked out of the meeting like we were walking on air. Mandela had spoken individually with each of us and even served us cookies! It didn’t seem to matter that Christopher had been bested by Mandela’s smooth approach.

A lesser statesman than Mandela might have refused to meet Christopher, or railed against U.S. policy when pressed to join the ACRI. But Mandela met cordially with the American delegation and succeeded in protecting the reorganizing South African military from an unwanted burden. He did this without ever saying “no” and had charmed us all (well, maybe not secretary Christopher).

Someone once told me that diplomacy is the art of someone telling you to go to hell in a way that makes you look forward to the trip. By that definition, and any other, Nelson Mandela was a world-class diplomat.

Ron McMullen, visiting associate professor of political science, spent 30 years in diplomatic service including serving as the U.S. Ambassador to Eritrea from 2007-10. The Northwood, Iowa, native and UI alumnus is at the UI thanks to a partnership between the Political Science Department in the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and International Programs through the UI Office of the Provost.

To read a related Iowa Now story, visit Ambassador comes home.