As president, Ronald Reagan earned a reputation as the “Great Communicator” because he conveyed ideas in striking, vivid, and memorable ways. While he was president from 1981 until 1989 and for several years afterward, many people attributed his success as a speaker mainly to his experience as an actor in films and on television. There was another important reason, however, why Reagan became the “Great Communicator”: He often wrote the words that he read so effectively. The release of his personal and presidential papers beginning in the late 1990s revealed that Reagan wrote extensively. He was an avid correspondent, kept a diary during his White House years, and penned some of the most memorable speeches that he gave as private citizen, governor of California, and president. He often revised speeches that staff assistants prepared, replacing their drafts with pages he wrote in longhand on yellow legal pads. Reagan preferred to use his own words when he could because, as he said soon after leaving the White House, “I came with a script” (Cannon, p. 771). He meant that he brought to the presidency a set of core convictions—opposition to high taxes, mistrust of big government, abhorrence of Communism, and an abiding faith in the goodness of the American people—that shaped his outlook throughout his years in politics. His ideas resonated with so many of his fellow citizens because he expressed them with a simplicity and sincerity that made people believe the best about themselves and their nation.