MINNEAPOLIS — It was four years ago today that Governor Pataki’s career reached its pinnacle.

The third-term New York governor had just delivered a soaring prime-time speech to the Republican National Convention in Manhattan, extolling President Bush, castigating Senator Kerry, and hailing the triumphant economic recovery of New York under his watch following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The speech, penned with help from the renowned Reagan speechwriter Peggy Noonan, thrust Mr. Pataki briefly into the national spotlight and, along with the other star of that convention, Mayor Giuliani, into the pool of contenders for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination.

Then, Mr. Pataki’s flirtation with national office faded with his approval ratings in New York, and as he quietly makes the rounds at this year’s convention in Minneapolis-St. Paul, his low profile is an indication of how far his star has fallen in the last four years.

Mr. Pataki, 63, has no speaking slot at the convention, and he did not even attend the first two days of meetings of the New York delegation. When he finally addressed the delegates yesterday afternoon, it was only after a last-minute invitation from the state party chairman, Joseph Mondello, ostensibly aimed at mending a public rift between the two.

Stepping to the podium in a crowded ballroom, Mr. Pataki acknowledged what had become obvious: He has largely disappeared from politics since he left office in 2006. “For the last year and a half, you probably haven’t seen a lot of me,” he said, explaining that he wanted to allow the state’s new leaders room to govern without the shadow of their predecessor looming over every decision.

His comments marked a sharp departure from his public pronouncements in the waning months of his term, when he insisted he wanted to play a role in the national debate even as a presidential run became increasingly unlikely.

After 20 months in political oblivion, it seems Mr. Pataki yearned for the spotlight. “Let me tell you something: I’m back! I’m getting involved!” he declared, drawing cheers from hundreds of delegates that had barely noticed his absence earlier in the week.

Speaking after Mr. Giuliani addressed the delegation, the former governor delivered an unusually fiery and fiercely partisan speech, holding the crowd’s rapt attention and drawing a standing ovation at the conclusion. He defended his own tenure as governor while also criticizing the Democratic presidential nominee, Senator Obama.

“If you have a brain at all, you know that on January 1, 2007, New York State was far better off than on January 1, 1995,” he said to cheers, referring to his 12 years in office.

“We proved that in one of the toughest states in America, Republican policies work everywhere,” he said.

With Democrats eyeing a majority in the state Senate and control of the White House, Mr. Pataki warned that one party rule was “no good, whether it’s in Washington, or whether it’s in Albany.”

He lampooned the Democratic vice presidential nominee, Senator Biden, as “Beltway Joe,” joking that he had been in Washington for “a few hundred years.” And he ridiculed Mr. Obama’s plans to raise taxes on capital gains and corporations, saying they would only kill job growth and stifle the economy. “Even Governor Paterson knows that, but not Barack Obama,” Mr. Pataki said, referring to Mr. Paterson resistance thus far to raising taxes in New York.

Mr. Pataki said after the speech that he had no plans to return to public life beyond helping Mr. McCain and candidates in state races this fall.

The pointed attacks in his speech and the energy in his voice certainly drew notice. “That was one of the best talks that I’ve heard him give. As governor, before, or after,” a former state Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno, said.

Asked about his new tone, Mr. Pataki joked that he “was usually a boring, low-key” speaker, but he dismissed the idea that the shift signaled anything more than a solid stump speech for Mr. McCain.

Before his speech, New York delegates suggested that Mr. Pataki’s legacy as governor was mixed; they praised his achievements during the early years of his tenure, but they criticized his administration for over-spending and acknowledged that he left the state party in shambles.

“He had a good two terms,” the state chairman of the McCain campaign, Edward Cox, said, noting Mr. Pataki’s struggles during his final four years in office. Third terms, he said, are “always difficult.”