Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-08-31
TRAVELLED PRESIDENTS.
Many of Our Chief Executives Have
Been Abroad.

Many OF our Cher EXECUTIVES nave
Been Abroad.
In the sense of having sojourned
abroad even washington was a travel
ed man. though he went outside the
United States but once. That was
when, in his youth, he accompanied
Lawrence Washington In tour of the
West Indies, which the latter made in
the vain hope OF restoring his health.
But of Washington's associates, both Of
his prime and his later life, many were
distinguished foreigners, and his quick
perception Of the trend of European
affairs was undoubtedly stimulated by
his cosmopolitan acquaintanceship. In
the course of the revolution Washington
could draw for information on the
stores Of the experience of Lafayette.
Rochambeau, Count Fersen, Kosciusko
and Steuben, two brilliant Frenchmen
a gifted Swede. famous Pole and a
most observant German. Washington
was visited after the revolution by
most foreigners travelling in this coun-
try. He did not need to go TO Europe.
says the Boston Transcript Europe
came to him.
Our second and third presidents,
Adams and Jefferson, had seen much Of
the great world abroad. They knew
1t at first hand. Both had been diplo-
mats, and Jefferson at least close
student of the social conditions OF Eu-
rope on the eve Of the French revolu-
tion. Madison appears to have been a
home e-staying man; but James Mon
roe, who succeeded Madison, was twice
In France-once as minister and once
as special envoy. His name will ever
be associated with the Louisiana pur-
chase. He also carried on important
negotiations In Great Britain and
Spain, which made him familiar with
the society of London and Madrid.
John Quincy Adams may be describ-
ed as travel bred from boyhood. He
was at school in Paris when but eleven
years old, and in his subsequent diplo-
matte career he acquired knowledge
Of Europe which few Americans Of his
time could rival. London. Berlin st.
Petersburg were familiar cities to him.
He watched at close range the great
game on the European chess board,
and when he became secretary OF state
simply moved from one department OF
diplomacy to another
Martin Van Buren was the next Of
our presidents to gain foreign expe-
rience. He was our minister to Great
Britain just long enough to feel the
whole bitterness Of a forced recall
when the Senate refused to confirm his
nomination His martyrdom helped
toward making him president. however.
greatly to the chagrin Of those who
thought they had put an ineffaceable
humiliation upon Nim. William Henry
Harrison was occupying diplomatic
post in South America when Jackson
was inaugurated. and "Tippecanoe" did
not save him from removal
Not until sixteen years after Van
Buren went out of the White House
did we have president who had
known the old world by travel and resi-
dence. Buchanan had been at one time
our minister to St Petersburg, and la
ter had represented US at the court OF
st. James. Although the facilities for
European travel were greatly improved
after 1850, of all our presidents since
Buchanan, Roosevelt Is the only one
who appears to have acquired familiar
lity with Europe by travel previous to
becoming a presidential candidate.
Europe, indeed, seems to have been
considered the resort of ex-presidents.
Fillmore, Pierce and Grant travelled ex-
tensively In the old world, and Benja-
min Harrison went abroad as chief
counsel for Venezuela before the arbi-
tration tribunal. Pierce, Taylor and
Grant are to be included among presi-
dents who had been beyond our borders
before their candidates., for military
service carried them to Mexico.
The emphasis which Mr.. Bryan's
friends are placing upon his extensive
foreign travels as a qualification for
the presidency suggests that the occu-
pants Of that office have been thus ia
vored more than would be generally
supposed, especially the presidents of
the earlier half of the century, when
travel was much less general than
now. No president had ever been
around the. world before his election
to Office, to be sure. and there are no
immediate signs that new precedent
will be established.