Nelson Mandela, while increasingly politically involved from 1942, only joined the African National Congress in 1944 when he helped to form the ANC Youth League.Nelson rose through the ranks of the ANCYL and through its efforts, the ANC adopted a more radical mass-based policy, the Programme of Action in 1949. This was an act to increase the push to put an end to the evil apartheid system that South Africa was living under. In 1952 he was chosen at the National Volunteer-in-Chief of the Defiance Campaign with Maulvi Cachalia as his deputy. This campaign of civil disobedience against six unjust laws was a joint programme between the ANC and the South African Indian Congress. A two-year diploma in law on top of his BA allowed Nelson Mandela to practice law, and in August 1952 he and Oliver Tambo established South Africa’s first black law firm, Mandela and Tambo.
The ANC was a very important part of Nelsons rise to the top and is a very iconic party all throughout South Africa as it had very strong antiapartheid goals which helped non-white Africans to be able to live normally. It meant that Nelson Mandela could finally start fighting against the Government and do what was right for his country. Nelson Mandela was very politically involved even before he was president.