Reagan himself never bragged about his ability to convince the American people.
He thought speaking was a big part of leadership, but only part, and in his farewell address he went out of his way to say he never thought of himself as a great communicator. He thought he simply communicated great things — essentially, the vision of the founders as applied to current circumstances.
But speeches aren’t magic. A speech is only as good as the ideas it advances. Reagan had good ideas. Obama does not. Peggy Noonan
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