Richard Allen: Obama's Experience Doesn't Match Up
[Mr. Allen, a senior fellow at Stanford University's Hoover Institution, was Richard Nixon's foreign policy coordinator in 1968, Ronald Reagan's chief foreign policy adviser from 1977 to 1980, and Reagan's first national security adviser from 1981 to 1982.]
... How does Mr. Obama's foreign policy résumé compare with the preparation of past presidential candidates?
Richard Nixon gathered vast international experience in extensive travels as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower. Following his 1960 loss to John F. Kennedy, Nixon made long trips to virtually every corner of the globe, quietly meeting with leaders and others from many walks of life. In October 1967 he published an article in the quarterly Foreign Affairs, "Asia after Vietnam," sketching the broad outlines of a plan for Asia policy following the termination of hostilities in Vietnam. It included a broad hint of what later blossomed as his stunning 1971 "opening" to China.
Lyndon Johnson traveled far and wide in his years in the Senate and as majority leader. He was a strong proponent of a bipartisan foreign and national security policy. Along with extraordinary congressional Democrats like Sens. Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson (Wash.), Richard B. Russell (Ga.) and John Sparkman (Ala.), and Reps. Sam Rayburn (Texas), Clement Zablocki (Wis.) and Dante Fascell (Fla.), Johnson's support for many Eisenhower policies helped forge a bipartisan national consensus on critical issues.
Gerald Ford spent a quarter century in the House of Representatives, always in the minority. He too gained solid experience in his travels around the globe. He gained practical experience in the appropriations process, foreign affairs and defense.
Jimmy Carter assumed the presidency at a tumultuous moment in American political history, but with no significant foreign experience. Despite brokering an Egyptian-Israeli accord, the enduring Middle East crisis shows that even one major step doesn't lead to lasting peace. Mr. Carter badly misjudged Soviet intentions and capabilities, standing helplessly by as Soviet invaders crushed Afghanistan in 1979 and the U.S. ambassador was assassinated in Kabul. In November 1979, 52 U.S. diplomats were seized in Iran and held captive for 444 days.
In April 1980, Mr. Carter approved a disastrous, failed plan to rescue the hostages in Iran. It resulted in 12 American casualties and the resignation of his secretary of state, Cyrus Vance.
Ronald Reagan's response to the rescue attempt was moderate. For example, during that summer in the midst of campaigning, Reagan learned of another planned rescue attempt. He immediately sent an adviser to the White House to inform a top Carter aide that if the second attempt failed, he, Reagan, would not criticize the administration for trying.
Reagan never served in Congress. But while he was governor of California, President Nixon sent him on a special diplomatic mission in 1971 to confer with Taiwanese leaders upon Nixon's decision to support the People's Republic of China replacing Taiwan in the United Nations. Despite personal misgivings, Reagan carried out the mission.
One of Reagan's most important advantages by 1980 was the widespread notion that he was but "a B-grade movie actor" -- entirely scripted. In fact, he was a voracious reader, researcher and writer, and over the span of his career had publicly addressed practically every foreign and domestic public policy issue a president would confront....
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... How does Mr. Obama's foreign policy résumé compare with the preparation of past presidential candidates?
Richard Nixon gathered vast international experience in extensive travels as vice president under Dwight D. Eisenhower. Following his 1960 loss to John F. Kennedy, Nixon made long trips to virtually every corner of the globe, quietly meeting with leaders and others from many walks of life. In October 1967 he published an article in the quarterly Foreign Affairs, "Asia after Vietnam," sketching the broad outlines of a plan for Asia policy following the termination of hostilities in Vietnam. It included a broad hint of what later blossomed as his stunning 1971 "opening" to China.
Lyndon Johnson traveled far and wide in his years in the Senate and as majority leader. He was a strong proponent of a bipartisan foreign and national security policy. Along with extraordinary congressional Democrats like Sens. Henry M. "Scoop" Jackson (Wash.), Richard B. Russell (Ga.) and John Sparkman (Ala.), and Reps. Sam Rayburn (Texas), Clement Zablocki (Wis.) and Dante Fascell (Fla.), Johnson's support for many Eisenhower policies helped forge a bipartisan national consensus on critical issues.
Gerald Ford spent a quarter century in the House of Representatives, always in the minority. He too gained solid experience in his travels around the globe. He gained practical experience in the appropriations process, foreign affairs and defense.
Jimmy Carter assumed the presidency at a tumultuous moment in American political history, but with no significant foreign experience. Despite brokering an Egyptian-Israeli accord, the enduring Middle East crisis shows that even one major step doesn't lead to lasting peace. Mr. Carter badly misjudged Soviet intentions and capabilities, standing helplessly by as Soviet invaders crushed Afghanistan in 1979 and the U.S. ambassador was assassinated in Kabul. In November 1979, 52 U.S. diplomats were seized in Iran and held captive for 444 days.
In April 1980, Mr. Carter approved a disastrous, failed plan to rescue the hostages in Iran. It resulted in 12 American casualties and the resignation of his secretary of state, Cyrus Vance.
Ronald Reagan's response to the rescue attempt was moderate. For example, during that summer in the midst of campaigning, Reagan learned of another planned rescue attempt. He immediately sent an adviser to the White House to inform a top Carter aide that if the second attempt failed, he, Reagan, would not criticize the administration for trying.
Reagan never served in Congress. But while he was governor of California, President Nixon sent him on a special diplomatic mission in 1971 to confer with Taiwanese leaders upon Nixon's decision to support the People's Republic of China replacing Taiwan in the United Nations. Despite personal misgivings, Reagan carried out the mission.
One of Reagan's most important advantages by 1980 was the widespread notion that he was but "a B-grade movie actor" -- entirely scripted. In fact, he was a voracious reader, researcher and writer, and over the span of his career had publicly addressed practically every foreign and domestic public policy issue a president would confront....