Fiorina’s ability to inspire such admiration speaks to her potential as a foil to Hillary Clinton. After losing badly in her only previous bid for public office, Fiorina has emerged as a master of one of the oldest political arts: the stump speech. She’s also developed a knack for turning even provocative reporters’ questions to her advantage. She will lean heavily on those newfound skills while campaigning in Iowa and New Hampshire, the two early states that tend to determine if a would-be contender surges into the top tier or falls by the wayside.

The former Hewlett-Packard CEO traces her polish on the stump to an apparently unlikely source: a class she took as a student at Stanford University in which the professor required her to read one book of medieval philosophy every week and distill it into a two-page paper.

“I think it is a skill that I’ve used all my career,” she tells National Review. “I don’t care whether you’re looking at a balance sheet or whether you’re trying to give a speech. . . . What’s essential to convey so that people are motivated to move in the right direction?”