Mr. Villalonga, who is uncomfortable with the press and declined to be interviewed for this article, proved skillful at surrounding himself with good people.
Rustic in appearance, with his wood staff and flowing beard, Chandraswamy proved skillful at winning the trust of international leaders, securing their confidence by rattling off the names of his influential confidants and performing such seemingly supernatural feats as mind reading.
Experts say the NRA has proven skillful at portraying individual gun ownership as an almost sacred piece of American freedom, casting proposed restrictions as the bleeding edge of totalitarianism.
In six years at the N.S.A., General Hayden, an Air Force officer, has mastered the technical wizardry of information-age spying, proved skillful in maneuvering for the agency's share of the Pentagon's annual intelligence budget, won powerful allies at the White House and on Capitol Hill, and forged ties with officials throughout the American intelligence archipelago.
Today, too, skillful politicians have proved adept at using democratic structures to erect forms of authoritarian rule.
In a 2008 editorial for The New York Times, the Hitler biographer Ian Kershaw asserted that there are some modern "echoes" of Hitler's rise: "Today, too, skillful politicians around the globe have proved adept at manipulating populist sentiment and using democratic structures to erect forms of personalized, authoritarian rule".
"Now it's developed so much over the past 15 years". said Michael Stillman, who has proven skillful, with enterprises like Quality Meats and the Hurricane Club, at gauging what Midtown diners (and revelers) are hungry for.
One recent arrival at Camp Croft proved so skillful at it, from the very first day, that his sergeant broke down and complimented him.
But Mr. Gore proved quite skillful at casting Mr. Bradley in derogatory terms without calling him names, though he did call him a "quitter" for leaving the Senate.
Mr. Schulner proves more skillful at developing and concluding a fanciful play than beginning one.
Francis will have to prove as skillful at the inside game as he has been so far at the outside one.
