The Little One

Just at noon on the day after elections, the vote count began in Rio's Hotel dos Estrangeiros. Electoral Board No. 13 opened the first presidential ballots. The judge looked at the first ballot and intoned: "The first vote is for Getulio Vargas." The second, third and fourth ballots were also for Vargas. Not until the fifth ballot did Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes score. The first vote for Christiano Machado, the government's candidate, was recorded even later.

As the count went on, it became clear that Vargas was running well out in front. In a matter of hours, his supporters were milling through the crowd outside, deliriously yodeling: "Ja ganhou [He's already won]!" Others spread the news by gesture, first holding up the little finger (for Vargas, known for years as "The Little One"*), then showing the extended fingers (symbolizing Vargas' next five years as president).

There seemed to be little doubt that Getulio Vargas, 67, who five years ago was turned out of the presidency by the army, after a dictatorial reign of 15 years, was on the way to a smashing comeback. By this week, three out of eight million votes had been counted across the vast republic, and Getulio was running as strong as the Amazon, polling 55% of the vote. He led in all but four states, in rural areas as well as the cities.

Until all the votes were counted, Brazil's political pundits remained understandably quiet. But two facts seemed to be clear already: Vargas had lost none of his appeal to Brazil's working classes, and the country had apparently tired of the vacillating, do-nothing policies of the Dutra government.

If the pundits were mum, so was Senhor Vargas. His only campaign promise had been to turn out the ins. The gauchos of his southern frontier district have a saying: "He can wait like an Indian and plan like a Jesuit." This week Vargas issued no victory cries, no bright new programs. He didn't say a single word. He remained at his bare ranch house at Itu, occasionally went out to putter in his garden.

* Height: 5 ft. 2 in.

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