Attendees From U.S. Bask in a Climate of Hope

For a day, at least, this nation--long an international pariah--became the magnet of the political universe Tuesday, drawing scores of Americans, from the famous to the merely hopeful, into its celebration.

Some--ranging from the Rev. Jesse Jackson and retired Gen. Colin L. Powell to Quincy Jones, the record producer, Maya Angelou, the poet, and David Stern, the commissioner of the National Basketball Assn.--traveled here as part of the official delegation headed by Vice President Al Gore and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton.

Others had to be more creative. About 40 members of Congress, left out of the delegation for space reasons, simply commandeered an Air Force plane Sunday. They arrived here on the eve of the festivities, sending U.S. Embassy personnel and White House planners into a frenzy of last-minute arrangements.

The day could have been a humbling experience for the visiting Americans: Fidel Castro and Yasser Arafat drew far more crowd approval--and better seats--at the morning’s inaugural festivities for President Nelson Mandela than any American, no matter how deeply committed to the anti-apartheid struggle.

Nonetheless, all pronounced themselves happily awe-struck by the occasion. “It was an incredible day in every respect,” Mrs. Clinton said, calling herself “overwhelmed.”

For Americans, with their own experiences of the struggle against racism, South Africa provides a “beacon of hope,” Gore said.

For some of the visitors, the day became, in part, an irresistible chance for political stargazing.

At an early morning reception hosted by Mandela at the South African presidency, several White House aides and Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy had their pictures taken with Castro, despite the official U.S. policy of isolating the Cuban regime.

“Can’t you even play tourist?” one official grumbled when asked if the photos might not be considered a political problem back home. “I mean, I turned around, and there he was.”

Others found themselves almost unexpectedly overwhelmed by emotions generated by the sight and sounds of Mandela taking the oath of office, receiving salutes from the leaders of the South African military and preaching a message of reconciliation.

Rep. Elizabeth Furse (D-Ore.) was born in Kenya in 1936 and moved to South Africa at the age of 2. There, her mother became an early activist in the Black Sash, an anti-apartheid women’s organization. Furse left South Africa to attend college in England and did not return.

“I haven’t been back in 35 years,” she said shortly before the plane carrying her and other members of Congress landed. “I’ve brought back my old South African passport,” she added. “I want to ask Mr. Mandela to sign it for me. It will be a way of closing the circle on something I used to feel ashamed of carrying.”

The feelings were, if anything, even stronger among the many prominent black Americans here. “We’ve had a weeping contest all day--uncontrollable tears of joy,” Jackson said at the end of the day at a reception hosted by U.S. Ambassador Princeton Lyman.

Moments later, Jackson linked arms with Mrs. Clinton, Gore, Tipper Gore and leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus to lead the crowd of several hundred dignitaries, embassy officials and other Americans, many of them awash in tears, in singing the civil rights anthem, “We Shall Overcome.”

“It’s a day it feels great to be black,” said Maggie Williams, Mrs. Clinton’s chief of staff and the highest-ranking black official in the White House.

The parallels between the U.S. civil rights movement and the anti-apartheid movement here were a frequent topic for the visiting Americans.

In a speech Monday night, Gore spoke at length of the intertwined history of the two movements, from the earliest days at the beginning of the century, to the joint appeals issued by African National Congress leaders and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., down to the efforts by black leaders in the 1980s to rally international support for economic sanctions against South Africa.

“The struggle for justice” in the two nations “has been one struggle,” he said.

The high-flown words and noble sentiments, of course, did not completely prevent the sort of jousting and jockeying one would expect from scores of prominent Americans all trying to secure tickets to the world’s hottest event.

In theory, each of the more than 100 nations with representatives here for the inauguration was limited to seven official seats, plus a small number reserved for other “foreign eminent persons,” and for weeks, White House officials have been deluged with pleas from members of Congress and others desperate to get on the list.

Black members of Congress were particularly keen to attend, and, in the end, many decided simply not to take “no” for an answer. After President Clinton appointed about a dozen members of the black caucus to serve on the delegation, others simply decided to go on their own.

The arrival sent U.S. Embassy officials here scrambling, trying to find everything from hotel rooms to inaugural tickets for the unexpected visitors. In the end, all were accommodated, and even the touchiest congressional egos apparently survived unbruised.

“It went fine,” said White House public liaison chief Alexis Herman, her face reflecting both relief and exhaustion. “It went fine.”