andela and a number of comrades were tried for treason. After first being acquitted in 1963, they were retried in the celebrated Rivonia trial, and in 1964 Mandela and seven comrades were convicted of sabotage and treason and sentenced to life in prison. Mandela spent the next 27 years in prison, living until 1982 amid the harsh conditions of the maximum security prison on Robben Island. After several years of secret talks that had begun in 1986 with government ministers, Mandela met with Preisident P.W. Botha in July 1989 and with his successor, President F. W. de Klerk, in December of that year. As a result of those talks, he was freed on February 11, 1990. Following his release, Mandela was appointed deputy president of the ANC. He launched a world tour in June 1990 to persuade Western leaders to maintain economic sanctions against South Africa and to raise funds to help the ANC function as an above-ground political party. Negotiations with the ruling National Party led to the ANC's August 1990 decision to suspend its armed struggle after nearly 30 years. On July 7, 1991, Mandela became president of the ANC. In December 1991, Mandela joined with the government and other political parties to negotiate South Africa's postapartheid future. Negotiations continued sporadically until February 1993, when the ANC and the National Party reached agreements on an interim unity government in which both parties would be partners for five years. Further talks in 1993 led to the establishment of a majority-rule constitution. In December of that year, Mandela and de Klerk accepted their respective Nobel Peace Prizes for their efforts in promoting a democratic South Africa. Mandela in January 1994 launched his presidential campaign; in April, the ANC won a majority in the country's first all-race elections; and in May, the national assembly chose Mandela as president. Mandela had two children by his second wife, Winnie. The couple split in 1992 and f...
