Was that a kinder, gentler Donald Trump?

Who was that person standing at the podium in the Capitol addressing Congress Tuesday night?

Is this a new and improved Donald Trump? Or was this simply someone who was biting his tongue, reading a prepared speech, as opposed to his trademark late-night Twitter rants.

If there is a single word that marked the clear difference between the Trump of the first 40 days of his presidency and the Trump who addressed the nation Tuesday night it was this: Tone.

It’s almost as if President Trump had decided to hit the reset button, literally seeking a “do-over,” a new start, one absent the strident tone that had characterized the rocky start his presidency has endured.

Hints of a possible different approach had been filtering out all day, with the president offering an admission that repealing the signature legislation of his predecessor, the Affordable Care Act, was going to be more difficult than expected.

Then he indicated what could be a dramatic shift in his hard-line stance on immigration, offering hints that he could be open to a possible pathway to citizenship for millions of immigrants who are in the country illegally, as opposed to simply trying to round up and deport them.

Admittedly, that softened stance was not mentioned in his speech just a few hours later.

Trump now faces a challenge on two fronts. He must provide actions to back up his words, reaching across the aisle and working with liberals and Democrats in the effort to find common ground to the country’s most pressing problems.

But perhaps even more challenging now is his relationship with his base, who no doubt are very close to wondering if the guy they rallied behind and pushed into the White House is no longer willing to deliver on all those campaign promises, with immigration reform and the repeal of Obamacare sitting squarely at the top of that list.

No doubt many moderate Republicans were elated to hear the president offer an endorsement of something they have been seeking in the battle to replace President Obama’s health care plan – tax credits.

This was a conciliatory President Trump, one light years from the downbeat new commander-in-chief who delivered an inaugural address that could only be described as dark and foreboding, vowing to halt the “carnage” in America.

“I’m here tonight to deliver a message of unity and strength,” Trump said. Then he backed up the olive branch with a few particulars.

“My administration wants to work with members in both parties to make child care accessible and affordable, to help ensure new parents have paid family leave, to invest in women’s health, and to promote clean air and clean water, and to rebuild our military and our infrastructure.”

After seeming reluctant to do so for weeks, Trump rightly offered a strong denunciation of the recent uptick in anti-Semitic acts, including the vandalism that saw hundreds of headstones toppled and damaged in a Jewish cemetery in Philadelphia.

Gone was all the talk about him, and in its place was a vision for the country. There were no comments about how big his victory was, the size of the crowds attending his events, or fake news. Thankfully, his war with the media took the night off as well.

Instead of being on the attack – against immigrants, against people trying to enter the country, against a health care plan that remains immensely popular with the American public – this was a leader talking about what we can do, what we can accomplish, by working together. In a word, it offered hope. Contrast that with the man who talked of “American carnage” and “rusted-out factories scattered like tombstones” across the land.

Even with this seeming new tone, there were things not addressed last night. Trump still faces serious questions – many coming from his own party – about his interactions with Russia and President Vladimir Putin. His tax returns remain a mystery.

But at least for one night, Trump looked and sounded like something that seemed to elude him in his first month in the Oval Office. Presidential. He is the leader of the free world. Tuesday night sounded like it.

Now we’ll see how long it lasts.