"Reagan's Obstructionism
Ronald Reagan alone stood in the way as Congress tried to pass the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act. Meanwhile, public sentiment against Apartheid increased as celebrities voiced their displeasure with Reagan's stand. South Africa's Bishop Desmond Tutu visited the United States in 1984 and delivered a scathing indictment of Reagan's administration in a speech on Capitol Hill.
Republican Representative Dick Cheney, who would subsequently serve as Vice President under George W. Bush, was quick to point out that Nelson Mandela was the head of an organization (African National Congress) that the State Department had classified as a terrorist organization.
Final Victory
Public support for Reagan's policies eroded further when in 1985, Reagan's own party (Republican Party) voted 89-4 in the Senate on a resolution condemning Apartheid. Reagan finally lost when Congress overrode his Veto against the Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act in 1986.The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act banned all new trade and investment in South Africa and banned South African Airways flights from landing in U.S. airports.
"For this moment, at least, the President has become an irrelevancy to the ideals, heartfelt and spoken, of America." -(Republican)Senator Lowell P. Weicker, Jr"
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