Nation: NOW THE REPUBLIC

AT the end, he took the podium the way he had taken the convention—as if it belonged to him. He stretched out his arms to gather it all in. The fingers on both hands wigwagged victory Vs at the clapping, stamping, shouting, pulsing heart of the Republican Party. Four years ago, introducing Barry Goldwater at an identical moment, he had described himself as a "simple soldier" in the Republican ranks. Now the fortunes of political conflict had recommissioned him a five-star general. Richard Nixon was back for one more chance at Commander in Chief.

Which Richard Nixon? Friends, enemies and those in between could not agree. They never could before. In a generally sympathetic biography nine years ago, Earl Mazo found in Nixon a "paradoxical combination of qualities that bring to mind Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Joe McCarthy." The intervening years have polished Nixon and made him well-to-do, but they have not simplified him. He can still sound like the high-minded statesman and act like the cunning politico. He can talk eloquently of ideals and yet seem always preoccupied with tactics. He can plink out Let Me Call You Sweetheart for reporters on a piano or rib himself on television talk shows, but the grin never seems quite at home on his strong, heavy face. The almost mysterious quality about Richard Nixon is that he is a man of exceptional abilities and solid virtues, but somehow his many parts have always added up to less than a convincing whole. Today he seems closer than ever to overcoming this elusive handicap. He is certainly more confident, more self-assured—and with good reason. He has made an extraordinary political comeback. He worked harder than anyone else for the nomination, with total dedication to his goal and to the party. In that sense, he amply deserved his victory.

No Millennium. At any rate, the 29th G.O.P. Convention, looking up at its nominee, was not in a mood for character analysis. After a conclave made dull by the swift rout of Nixon's foes and enlivened only briefly by a spat over the vice-presidential nomination, it was time for exultation. One thing that his detractors have never under stood about Nixon is his total identification with the Republican Party and his understanding of it. His acceptance speech was pure Nixon, telling it as the party would like it to be—1968 style.