It was a word game I played with all my interviewees. Surrounded by cameras, microphones and lights, they had no chance of escape.
The game went like this: describe in one word Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison.
Interviewed for the ABC's political docuseries Nemesis, those in the hot seat were either ministers or backbenchers who had served under one or two or all three of these Liberal prime ministers. This word-association game often came at the end of a long and sometimes exhausting interview.
Their answers were occasionally complimentary. Sometimes surprisingly ferocious. Always revealing.
The prime minister who returned the most consistent responses was Tony Abbott. Among other things, he was described as relentless, determined, disciplined, tenacious, courageous, a warrior. It made me wonder why they had torn him down as prime minister.
Loading...For Scott Morrison, it was more of a mixed bag. Genuine, bulldozer, committed, controlling, energetic, and stubborn represented a fair cross-section of replies.
The Morrison question prompted the most awkward pauses among our interviewees. Many struggled to sum up Australia's 30th prime minister in a single word. The winner was senator Andrew Bragg, who took 11 seconds and much staring at the ceiling before answering, "Too clever". Two words, but an interesting response, nonetheless.
The most surprising and conflicting responses were for Malcolm Turnbull. Of the three prime ministers featured in the series, Turnbull seemed to be the most polarising. Most times, it was love him or hate him. There was no middle ground.
Intellect, cerebral, vision, hope, urbane, curious, charismatic, progressive, statesman, were some of the responses. Disappointing, narcissism, disloyal, superficial, ruthless, passenger, flawed, selfish, misguided, were some of the others.
"Smooth as silk. And be careful," intoned Turnbull's former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce, echoing the polarised responses.
The 'two Malcolms'
It was during an interview with one of his former supporters, Queensland senator James McGrath, that the apparent paradox that is Malcolm Turnbull was expressed as a concept.
"There are two Malcolms," McGrath said. "There is the 'Charming Malcolm', who wants to sell you some junk bonds, and then there's 'Bad Malcolm'. And Bad Malcolm is one of the nastiest people I've come across in politics in how he speaks to people."
McGrath wasn't the only one to expound the "Good Malcolm/Bad Malcolm" duality.
"Good Malcolm, he's a smart, capable, driven, energetic human being to work with," said former cabinet minister Angus Taylor. "And Bad Malcolm can be really tough."
So who is Good Malcolm? And who is Bad Malcolm? The man himself rejects any assertion he has a two-track personality.
"There are a couple of people who've popularised that concept. No, there's only one me," said Turnbull. "I got into politics when I was 50. I was very much a grown-up, and a formed human being. And so I arrived in parliament as I was, warts and all."
One thing Turnbull's friends and enemies agree on is his fierce intellect. "Smartest person in the room," was the refrain I heard many times during interviews for the series.
"He was particularly charming," said former cabinet minister Karen Andrews. "And if you were going to be at a dinner party, he would be clearly the wittiest, cleverest person sitting around the table. And he could be a lot of good fun."
This was a prime minister whose powers of persuasion were up there with the best.
"I think Turnbull's achievements on the global stage have never been sufficiently appreciated," said former attorney-general George Brandis. "He was urbane. He was charming … he was one of the only world leaders who could deal with Donald Trump."
Those silky negotiating skills were on display during a crotchety phone call with the newly elected US president in January 2017, when Trump tried to back out of a deal signed by his predecessor for the US to take asylum seekers being kept on Manus Island and Nauru.
"Big, bullying billionaires," recounted Turnbull, "they all think they're God's gift to humanity. And if you suck up to them or knuckle under, they just want more."
The call made headlines in the US and Australia when the transcript was leaked to The Washington Post. "I have had it," snapped Trump at one point during the rancorous exchange. "I have been making these calls all day and this is the most unpleasant call all day. Putin was a pleasant call. This is ridiculous."
Despite being lumped lower than the Russian president, Turnbull triumphed over Trump during that call, convincing the US president to stick to the refugee deal.
"Trump is a bully and, as we know, the only way to deal with a bully is to stand up to them," said George Brandis. "Trump found in Turnbull somebody who could be as tough as he was."
'Free character assessments'
While Malcolm was "really impressive" on the global stage, according to Brandis, it wasn't always the case domestically.
"He struggled in relationships with certain colleagues," Brandis said. "Malcolm could be an extremely charming person, but he could also be very savage to people."
Some former Liberal colleagues remember what they call Turnbull's "free character assessments".
"He's got the biggest brain box I've ever come across," said former trade minister Andrew Robb. "And he can marshal in 45 seconds the most personalised, powerful denigration of you if he chooses to do so."
"I think Malcolm sometimes became frustrated and, frankly, bored with a lot of the pettiness of domestic politics, the petty intrigues," said Brandis.
"He's a brilliant, intelligent person and he finds it very difficult to hide that when he feels that the people around him aren't as equally brilliant as he is," Senator Paterson said. "And he has a pretty withering assessment of those who don't match up to him."
As for that word game I liked to play with my interviewees, Turnbull was a willing contestant.
One word for his predecessor Tony Abbott? "Negative." Scott Morrison? "Duplicitous."
Watch the ABC's political docuseries Nemesis now on ABC iview.