And evidence of Reagan’s seriousness and smarts isn’t just anecdotal. Aside from his many accomplishments in the White House (the best argument for his intellect), he wrote and delivered countless radio addresses between 1976 and 1980. In a New York Times book review of Reagan, in His Own Hand, David Brooks noted, “Reagan covered everything from bilingual education to the Panama Canal.”

His own staff sometimes furthered the myth of Reagan’s limited intellect. Bud McFarlane, his national security advisor, once said of Reagan, “He knows so little and accomplishes so much.” Likewise, friendly journalists (or, rather, the few who weren’t inherently hostile to Reagan) were befuddled. In a recent interview on Bill Kristol’s podcast, conservative columnist Charles Krauthammer recalled that after a meeting with the president that yielded little news or insight, he left confused. How could the president be so successful, yet insist on regaling everyone with old Hollywood stories during their lunch meeting, he wondered.

“It took me years to realize that that’s how [Reagan] preferred to present himself,” Krauthammer recalled. “He had no need to show himself to be smart…and he just wanted to tell stories, deflect me, and charm me. And it was part of his persona.…He never had to show himself to be the smartest guy in the room.” Then, citing a famous Saturday Night Live skit that portrayed a shrewd and Machiavellian Reagan posing as a simpleton in front of the press, Krauthammer continued, “It’s wise to be underestimated. That was part of Reagan’s great political talent.”