Some acclaim and elation for country's first democratic leader (7)
I believe the answer is:
mandela
'leader' is the definition.
(I know that Mandela is a nationalist leader)
'some acclaim and elation for' is the wordplay.
'some' indicates the answer is hidden within the clue (some parts of the word are used).
'MANDELA' can be found hidden inside 'acclaim and elation for'.
'country's first democratic' is the link.
I am not very happy about this link. Some or all of it may belong to another bit of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for mandela that I've seen before include "Nelson --, South African statesman" , "Former president of South Africa" , "South African president, 1994-99" , "Nelson --, South African politician" , "Could be Nelson" .)