Obama calls South African president over Mandela's death

U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday evening called his South African counterpart, Jacob Zuma, to express his "heartfelt" condolences over the death of former President Nelson Mandela.

During the phone talks, Obama "conveyed how profoundly Mandela's extraordinary example of moral courage, kindness and humility influenced his own life, as well as those of millions around the world," the White House said in a readout of the conversation.

"President Obama reaffirmed that the strong and historic partnership between the United States and South Africa will continue to draw strength from Mandela's legacy as we work together to promote equality, reconciliation and human dignity, and to build a more just and prosperous world," the White House said.

Mandela, the first black president of South Africa, died of illness on Thursday at his home in Johannesburg at the age of 95.

In a televised statement earlier at the White House, a saddened Obama mourned Mandela's death, saying "he achieved more than could be expected of any man."

In a proclamation signed later, Obama ordered an immediate lowering of flags for Mandela at the White House, upon all public buildings, at all military posts and foreign missions until sunset of next Monday.

As the first black president in U.S. history, Obama never met Mandela face-to-face in his presidency. Their only meeting occurred in 2005, when Obama was a U.S. senator.

When Obama visited South Africa in June, the iconic leader was hospitalized with a recurring lung infection. Obama and his family visited the jail cell on Robben Island where Mandela was held for 18 of his 27 years in captivity during South Africa's apartheid era.

Also on Thursday, U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden paid his tribute to Mandela, saying the world is better because the iconic leader was in it.

"Mandela's wisdom and compassion were formidable enough to change the world," the veep said in a statement. "First his courage and then his forgiveness inspired us all, and challenged us to do better."

Citing a poem by Irish poet Seamus Heaney, Biden hailed Mandela as a man in whose hands "hope and history rhymed."

"This is a better world because Nelson Mandela was in it," he said. "He was a good man."