The Foreign Experience Of United States Leaders And Implications For Foreign Policy

This paper explores the relationship between the foreign experience of United States leaders prior to taking office and United States foreign policy.With theoretical foundations in liberalism and political psychology,a case is made for the impact of individual leaders on the policy of a state.The powers and processes behind the formation of United States foreign policy and the leaders who hold those powers and control those processes are reviewed to create a base for the study's original database.Data was gathered for United States Presidents,Secretaries of State,and Secretaries of Defense from the nation's beginning up to the present day.This data includes information on individual leaders' foreign experience prior to taking office,which is subdivided by type of experience(residence,military,government,business,study abroad,and pleasure).This data was analyzed over time with reference to United States foreign policy and shows correlation between trends in United States foreign policy and the international experience of U.S.leaders.