The President: A Changing Role?

The manner in which the President discharges his foreign affairs responsibilities is likely to change markedly in the next few years, for the atmosphere of our national life is changing. The American mood will not be isolationist. However, the public may, for a number of valid reasons, call for a de-emphasis on foreign affairs. The foreign affairs agencies might then have to co-ordinate themselves, for the President may have neither the time nor the inclination to contribute as he has heretofore. It will also be essential to relate foreign policy more closely to the broader national scene, for in the 1970's foreign affairs will have to compete with domestic needs for resources as well as presidential attention. The President might, therefore, be better served in the future by a Secretary of State with broad national experience rather than by another of the foreign affairs specialists who have held the job in recent administrations. In the period since World War II, there has not evolved any generally satisfactory way of organizing the various foreign affairs agencies to meet the President's needs. President Johnson, however, took a major step forward in providing the Department of State with the legal authority to assert effective leadership over all aspects of American foreign affairs activities. Although the innovation has worked imperfectly so far, it is a good tool, and may be the key to an adequate foreign policy and diplomacy in the 1970's.