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90 Pol. Sci. Q. 1 (1975-1976)

handle is hein.journals/pclscceqry90 and id is 1 raw text is: The Americans' Retreat from World Power BRUCE RUSSETT When Vice-President Lyndon Johnson returned from the first meeting of the Kennedy cabinet in January 1961, he was deeply im- pressed by the intellectual capacity of that group of men drawn from the worlds of government, business, finance, and academia. After he exclaimed about these qualities to Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn, Mr. Sam replied skeptically, Well Lyndon, you may be right and they may be every bit as intelligent as you say, but I'd feel a whole lot better about them if just one of them had run for sheriff once.' Too many recommendations for United States foreign policy read as though they had been written by someone who had never even run for sheriff once. Concerned with the balance of power, or America's responsibilities in the world, or meeting alleged threats to vital in- terests, they seem to imagine that all the important variables affecting the country's foreign policy emanate from the international system it- self. When pressed, of course, most commentators will acknowledge the limitations of such a view, but still may not take sufficient account of the constraints imposed by domestic politics. This article will show that a very major shift in foreign policy beliefs and preferences has occurred among the American public-a marked ' Quoted in David Halberstam, The Best and the Brightest (London, 1972), p. 41. BRUCE RUSSETT is professor of political science at Yale University and editor of the Journal of Conflict Resolution. His most recent book is Power and Community in World Politics. His book with Betty C. Hanson, Interest and Ideology: The Foreign Policy Beliefs of American Businessmen, will be published later this year. Political Science Quarterly Volume 90 Number 1 Spring 1975 1