I though this was an interesting visual from the Economist on presidency country visits in the first year of office.
WHEN Barack Obama was campaigning for the presidency he promised to seek “a new era of international co-operation”. In his first year in office he has changed the tone of American foreign policy and helped to shift foreigners’ perception of America. Perhaps it is no surprise that he has spent much more time overseas than his predecessors. Mr Obama has been abroad twice as long as George Bush junior managed in his first 12 months as president. Mr Obama is the first president since Jimmy Carter to travel to the Middle East in his first year and the only one whose first-year foreign forays have taken him to Africa. Franklin Roosevelt made it to Canada in his first year, but only for a holiday.
How many of these trips were for business though?
Robert Purvis
January 30th, 2010