PRESIDENT, WORLD'S BIGGEST REPUBLIC

Taking office again this week as Brazil's President after a sensational comeback victory in last October's election: Getulio Vargas.

Vital Statistics. Born: April 19, 1883, at Sao Borja, Rio Grande do Sul. Height: 5 ft. 2 in. (making him the hemisphere's shortest chief executive). Married (in 1911). Children: two sons, two daughters. Religion: Catholic, who rarely goes to Mass.

Education. Expelled from military academy for insubordination, 1901. Doctorate in law, University of Porto Alegre, 1907.

Rise & First Reign. Became a state and federal deputy, Finance Minister (1926-27). In 1930 became President as the result of a three-week revolution staged by his fellow gauchos. In 1937, he dissolved Congress and established his version of the Corporative State. Set up advanced labor code but forbade strikes. In general, he helped the poor, left the rich alone, tried to promote industrialization.

Downfall & Comeback. In 1945, when dictatorships went out of fashion, army booted him out of office in a bloodless coup. Retiring to his native Rio Grande do Sul, he bided his time. As postwar inflation worsened, the Dutra government's popularity waned. By campaign time last year, the forces opposed to him had disintegrated.

His Country. World's largest republic: 3,286,000 square miles, mostly jungle; 50 million people, mostly illiterate. Rich undeveloped resources (iron, manganese, timber, probably Amazonian oil). Proverbial "land of tomorrow--only tomorrow never comes." Dynamic exception: industrial Sao Paulo, one of the world's great and fastest-growing cities.

Private Life. Spent past four years at his 11,959-acre cattle ranch at Itu, where he dressed in gaucho's boots and bombachas, rode the range at least two hours daily. Prefers to spend his time in the company of old friends.

Assessment. A social innovator and appealer to the masses. A staunch wartime ally of Franklin Roosevelt, he still likes to say: "I am the best friend the United States ever had in Latin America." A resourceful foe of Communism. A longtime dictator who announced after his election: "This is the fundamental precept of democracy--the people elect and the elected man governs." An opportunist and master politician, the most skillful on the Latin American scene, supremely aware of the meaning of political power and how to use it, perhaps realistic and experienced enough now to refrain from abusing it.

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