Editing F. W. de Klerk (section)

===Early political career===
In 1972, his alma mater offered him a chair in its law faculty, which he accepted.{{sfnm|1a1=de Klerk|1y=1991|1p=151|2a1=Glad|2a2=Blanton|2y=1997|2p=579}} Within a matter of days he was also approached by members of the National Party, who requested that he stand for the party at Vereeniging. De Klerk's candidature was successful and in November he was elected to the [[House of Assembly of South Africa|House of Assembly]].{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=151}} There, he established a reputation as a formidable debater.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=151}} He took on a number of roles in the party and government. He became the information officer of the Transvaal National Party, responsible for its propaganda output,{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=152}} and helped to establish a new National Party youth movement.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=152}} He joined various party parliamentary study groups, including those on the [[Bantustans]], labour, justice, and home affairs.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=152}} As a member of various parliamentary groups, de Klerk went on several foreign visits, to Israel, West Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=152}} It was in the latter in 1976 that he observed what he later described as the pervasive racism of US society, later noting that he "saw more racial incidents in one month there than in South Africa in a year".{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=580}} In South Africa, de Klerk also played a senior role in two select committees, one formulating a policy on opening hotels to non-Whites and the other formulating a new censorship law that was less strict than the one that had preceded it.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=152}}

In 1975, Prime Minister [[John Vorster]] predicted that de Klerk would one day become leader of South Africa.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=153}} Vorster planned to promote de Klerk to the position of a deputy minister in January 1976, but instead the job went to [[Andries Treurnicht]].{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=153}} In April 1978, de Klerk was promoted to the position of Minister of Social Welfare and Pensions.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=153}} In this role, he restored full autonomy to sporting control bodies which had for a time been under the jurisdiction of the government.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=153}} As minister of Post and Telecommunications, he finalised contracts that oversaw the electrification of that sector.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=153}} As Minister of Mining, he formalised a policy on coal exports and the structuring of [[Eskom]] and the Atomic Energy Corporation.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=153}} He then became Minister of the Interior, he oversaw the repeal of the Mixed Marriages Act.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=153}}

In 1981, de Klerk was awarded the [[Decoration for Meritorious Service]] for his work in the government.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=154}} As education minister between 1984 and 1989, he upheld the apartheid system in South Africa's schools,{{sfn|Glad|Blanton|1997|p=567}} and extended the department to cover all racial groups.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=153}}

For most of his career, de Klerk had a very conservative reputation,{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=17}} and was seen as someone who would obstruct change in South Africa.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=20}} He had been a forceful proponent of apartheid's system of racial segregation and was perceived as an advocate of the white minority's interests.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|pp=18–19}} While serving under [[P. W. Botha]]'s government, de Klerk was never part of Botha's inner circle.{{sfn|de Klerk|1991|p=154}}