You hear it every day. "So and so has not foreign policy experience." This slam is most often leveled at domestic politicians, governors say, as a way of saying "He can't be a good president". Usually it's a newsie using this slam on a Republican.
Actually, a president of the US can call upon every experienced person in the entire country to be in his cabinet, give him advice, or join his administration. Eisenhower had John Foster Dulles for secretary of state, Nixon had Henry Kissinger. Truman had John Marshall. George W. Bush had Colin Powell. FDR had Cordell Hull.
First of all, foreign policy is very similar to domestic politics. Deal cutting, figuring out what they really want, and what they might settle for. Assessing foreign leaders, is this guy trustworthy or will he stab me in the back just for grins? These considerations are the same for domestic politics as for foreign relations. Anyone with the political skills to get elected president will be pretty sound on this sort of thing.
The real question: Does this presidential candidate have the necessary people skills to pick good cabinet officers and advisers? Can this candidate tell the Henry Kissingers (who knew what he was doing) from the John Kerrys (who really doesn't know what he is doing). Does the presidential candidate have the managerial savvy to avoid micromanaging everything, and get out of the way and let the secretary of state and/or the national security adviser do his job without being nitpicked to death?
So, when I hear a newsie (democrat with byline) slamming a Republican for lack of foreign policy experience (or any other kind of experience) I don't take him seriously
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