Editing John C. Calhoun (section)

===Rhetorical style===
Regarding his career in the House of Representatives, an observer commented that Calhoun was "the most elegant speaker that sits in the House&nbsp;... His gestures are easy and graceful, his manner forcible, and language elegant; but above all, he confines himself closely to the subject, which he always understands, and enlightens everyone within hearing."{{sfn|Jewett|1908|p=143}}

His talent for public speaking required systematic self-discipline and practice. A later critic noted the sharp contrast between his hesitant conversations and his fluent speaking styles, adding that Calhoun "had so carefully cultivated his naturally poor voice as to make his utterance clear, full, and distinct in speaking and while not at all musical it yet fell pleasantly on the ear".{{sfn|Meigs|1917|loc=Vol. 1, p. 221}} Calhoun was "a high-strung man of ultra intellectual cast".{{sfn|Meigs|1917|loc=Vol. 2, p. 8}} As such, Calhoun was not known for charisma. He was often seen as harsh and aggressive with other representatives.{{sfn|Peterson|1988| pp= 280, 408}}{{sfn|Hofstadter|2011|p=96}} But he was a brilliant intellectual orator and strong organizer. Historian [[Russell Kirk]] says, "That zeal which flared like Greek fire in Randolph burned in Calhoun, too; but it was contained in the Cast-iron Man as in a furnace, and Calhoun's passion glowed out only through his eyes. No man was more stately, more reserved."{{sfn|Kirk|2001|p=168}}

John Quincy Adams concluded in 1821 that "Calhoun is a man of fair and candid mind, of honorable principles, of clear and quick understanding, of cool self-possession, of enlarged philosophical views, and ardent patriotism. He is above all sectional and factious prejudices more than any other statesman of this Union with whom I have ever acted."{{sfn|von Holst|1883|p=54}} Historian Charles Wiltse noted Calhoun's evolution, "Though he is known today primarily for his sectionalism, Calhoun was the last of the great political leaders of his time to take a sectional position—later than Daniel Webster, later than Henry Clay, later than Adams himself."{{sfn|Wiltse|1944|p=234}}