Does 'The President told us his instinct was to project calm, not to have the country see an excited reaction at a moment of crisis.' logically set the stage for the hypothesis 'The President said the country shouldn't see an excited reaction during the crisis and that he would project calm.'
The President told us his instinct was to project calm, not to have the country see an excited reaction at a moment of crisis.###The President said the country shouldn't see an excited reaction during the crisis and that he would project calm.