Was Reagan like that? Bush 43? No. What you saw in one speech you got the same the next day.
Lincoln was a slime ball.
Lincoln was in the same position that politicians from the early Republic down to Truman, Eisenhower, Eisenhower Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon were in.
Have you really forgotten just exactly who it was that wanted reassurances from national politicians that went against what they really believed (and got them)?
You must have a very short memory.
If Reagan was able to avoid all that, he might be willing to admit that he was lucky in coming along when he did.
And Bush? Not the best example. What you got one year was likely to be an apology or a repudiation of what you got a few years before.