Barack Obama's whistle-stop tour of Berlin, Paris and London has given Europeans a fleeting glimpse of the man most of them hope will be the next President of the United States. Perhaps more important is the impression the Democratic contender gains of Europe.

This is not only because Mr Obama is not well travelled. If he is elected, he will be the first US president without a European surname. Is it relevant whether the leader of the New World has roots in the Old World? And if it is, should we be rallying around that displaced Scotsman, John McCain? True, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan were among those who beat a path to their ancestral origins in Ireland. Yet, other countries have not maximised their potential leverage. It is hard to discern what special benefits the Netherlands gained from having men with names like Van Buren and Roosevelt in the White House.

Lest we forget, the reason Americans run the United States is because their forebears consciously turned their back on Europe. Admittedly, the transatlantic trip used to be a long one, but it is still remarkable that the Declaration of Independence was heading towards its 150th anniversary before any serving US president troubled to visit Europe.

The incuriosity was mutual. Most European leaders were equally happy to keep their American diplomacy at long distance. It took a world war to change this, when Woodrow Wilson attended the Paris peace conference in 1919. There, he delivered his rather lengthy lectures on international relations 123 years after George Washington's presidential farewell address had cautioned against entanglement by the US in Europe's troubles. The closest George Washington, and his isolationist opinions, got to going abroad was a trip to Barbados.

Times Archive, 1963: Berlin goes wild over Mr Kennedy

'Today, in the world of freedom', he declared, 'the proudest boast is Ich bin ein Berliner'

• Removing doubts

• Mr. Khrushchev loses Berlin contest

It was only the first generation of American presidents that had any personal experience of Europe. Three of them had lived in Britain.

Before succeeding Washington as President, John Adams had been ambassador in London where he had even managed to charm the allegedly tyrannical George III. His son, John Quincy Adams, not only got married at All Hallows by the Tower but tied the knot with a half-English girl, Louisa Johnson, the only foreign-born First Lady. He worked with President James Monroe, who had also served in London as Minister to the Court of St James, to formulate in 1823 the eponymous doctrine that told Europe to keep its hands off the Americas.

After this, it was America's leaders that kept out of Europe.

Times Recommends

• We have kit and leadership. Let’s go
• Behind the scenes at the biggest deal
• Conferences — what a waste of money