Mead again: He points out that between the Constitution and the Civil War, American Presidents had far more international and diplomatic experience than during the twentieth century: “of the first nine presidents of the united states, six had previously served as secretary of state, and seven as ministers abroad . . . . Six of the fifteen American presidents who served before Lincoln had been both secretary of state and minister to Great Britain; a seventh, Jefferson, had been secretary of state and minister to France; and an eighth, John Adams, had been minister to both Britain and France.” At the beginning of the country, the position of secretary of state was considered second only to the presidency “in precedence, power, and in political visibility,” and “success in foreign policy was considered one of the strongest possibly qualifications for a presidential candidate.”

By contrast, since World War I, only Eisenhower served as secretary of state before becoming president, and only Bush I had served as a diplomat.