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About this quote

What does it mean?
Ford observes that this leader was more revealing in public speeches than in private talks.
In plain terms
He notes this leader spoke more openly in public than in private.
What can you take from it?
Public words can reveal more than private ones.

Where it applies

  • political analysis
  • speechwriting
  • interviews

Putting it to work

  • analyzing speeches
  • comparing sources
  • studying rhetoric

Questions to consider

  • What does public speech reveal?
  • How do leaders manage image?

Another view

Speeches are often scripted and less authentic than private conversations.

More from Gerald Ford

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  2. I was America's first instant Vice President, and now America's first instant President. The Marine Corps band is so confused, they don't know whether to play …

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  3. More than any other president of this century, Ford was chosen for his integrity and trustworthiness: his peers in Congress put him in the White House because …

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