An international speaking tour aside, it’s hard to argue that the President Elect brings a wealth of real foreign policy experience with him to the Oval Office. Nevetheless, the activity of intimately directing a war can have a dramatic and transformative effect on one’s world view. Woodrow Wilson is a good examle of this — he originally worked hard to maintain American neutrality in WWI but once engaged became increasingly angered over American casualties (especially in late 1918), increasingly hostile to the Germans over their gamesmanship and insincerity regarding the diplomatic process, and absolutely horrified over the sinking of the Leinster, an Irish civilian ferry, maybe a week or so after the Germans has requested an armistice.
Although Wilson would actually become more enthusiastic about the prospects of a League of Nations than he was originally, he learned firsthand the limitations of international diplomacy and the need, in certain circumstances, for overwhelming and unapologetic military might. It might be worthwhile to note that in many other regards Obama resembles Wilson: his Ivy League education, his academic and literary background and sensibiliities, his rhetoric of a seismic shift in the nature of American domestic politics, his aggressively progressive agenda (and the advantage of a Democratic controlled legislature in both chambers) are other relevant parallels. Might it be, for example, that the great frustration he will inevitably encounter trying to negotiate with Iran will sour him to the prospects of a diplomatic rapproachment?
One could argue that, all experience aside, the presidency is a diffcult position to be fully prepared for and one variable in predicting a new executive’s success or failure is the nature of this unpredictable learning curve.
