But they didn’t have to do much work to find counter-evidence, at least, to another one of Trump's remarks. Despite spending plenty of time shouting over his opponent, interrupting her 51 times (by one count), and seeming to let his opponent get under his skin, Trump said his temperament is “much better” than Clinton’s: “I think my strongest asset, maybe by far, is my temperament. I have a winning temperament. I know how to win.”

The moment became one of the most widely shared lines on social media Monday night, but it's actually not a new one for Trump. The Post’s Aaron Blake recently pulled together the many times Trump has touted his temperament -- and found at least eight instances. The phrasing is usually similar to the one he made Monday night: It's one of his greatest assets. It's better than Clinton's. And it's tied to him knowing how to win.

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"I think I have the best temperament, or certainly one of the best temperaments, of anybody that’s ever run for the office of president. Ever," Trump said at a July 29 rally in Colorado Springs, Colo. "Because I have a winning temperament. I know how to win.”

The "simple definition" of "temperament," according to Merriam-Webster (which tweeted that look-ups of the word jumped 78 times over the average during the debate) is indeed simple: "the usual attitude, mood, or behavior of a person or animal." By that definition, it is a basic way of defining a person's personality or character. Trump seems to be thinking about it that way, viewing a disposition that's competitive and focused on winning as a great "temperament" for a leader.

But temperament is also defined as one who has "excessive sensitiveness or irritability." The second definition at Dictionary.com is "unusual personal attitude or nature as manifested by peculiarities of feeling, temper, action, etc., often with a disinclination to submit to conventional rules or restraints." The word is also obviously related to "temperamental," which means "likely to become upset or angry" and "unpredictable in behavior or performance."

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As a result, when it comes to assessing the disposition of a leader, the word has become aligned not just with any personality, but with a certain kind. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin recently called it "probably the greatest separator in presidential leadership." Former Chief Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes was famous for saying Franklin Delano Roosevelt had a "second-class intellect but a first-class temperament."

In his book "The Leaders We Need," psychoanalyst Michael Maccoby wrote that "obviously, we want a president who is gifted temperamentally with qualities of openness, agreeableness, emotional stability and conscientiousness -- qualities that make us feel good about a leader." "Winning," it should be noted, is not among them.

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Having a good temperament for leadership has come to be associated with someone who is steady and composed when faced with challenges. They rise above the fray and don't take the bait when others try to lure them from their goals. In a recent exploration of this critical presidential trait with historians, the Christian Science Monitor wrote that the best presidents "had a certain sense of equanimity and confidence that keeps them from being buffeted by bad press or low public ratings. They've had a certain joie de vivre that kept them from wallowing in anger or resentment. Liking people is important. So is resilience in the face of adversity."

Trump's supporters are worried about his temperament. In a recent Pew Research Center survey, Trump's character and personality were mentioned much more often than any other concern among his own fans. Four in ten registered voters who support Trump said personality was their primary concern, and 34 percent specifically mentioned "his temperament or speaking style," Pew noted.

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Yet when he offers multiple examples to contradict that statement within minutes of making it, it shows a remarkable lack of self-awareness that could add to those supporters' concerns. Trump interrupted Clinton repeatedly, raising the question of whether he'd do the same in negotiations with world leaders. He shouted, doing little to demonstrate the more disciplined demeanor many had thought he would try to showcase to appear more presidential in the general election debate. And he let Clinton snare him on topics ranging from his tax returns to his business dealings to his descriptions of women.

Trump's repeated claim that his temperament is a "great asset" doesn't make it so. When it comes to leadership, temperament is much better measured in restraint than reactivity -- and with level heads rather than hot ones.

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