renitence
n. unwillingness, resistance to persuasion

subdolous
adj. cunning, crafty, sly

autoschediasm
n. something done on the spur of the moment or without preparation

legerity
n. physical or mental quickness

FDR’s secretary of state, Cordell Hull, was famously unforthcoming, concealing his plans and emotions with the skill of a poker player.

When Hull was a legislator in Tennessee, one of his friends bet that he could get a direct answer out of him. He stopped him in the capitol and asked him the time.

Hull took out his timepiece, looked at it, and said, “What does your watch say?”