The dashboard is set up for exploration and queries. There are several filters on the right of the dashboard that allow users to create subsets of the data.

Using the filter menus

• To apply a filter, select a dropdown menu, remove the checkmark next to “All,” then select the desired items.
• All filters can be instantly reset by clicking the  |←  icon in the bottom toolbar.
• Individual filters can be cleared by hovering over the upper right-hand corner of the filter. A “remove filter” icon will appear.
• When a filter is applied, the other filters will have their choices limited to what appears in the subset. For example, applying the choice “Clinton” to the Administration filter will cause the Secretaries filter to show only the secretaries of defense who served under President Bill Clinton.
• Applying a filter also filters the list of visits below the map and the total number of visits in the bar chart in the lower right hand corner.
• Users may type desired results into the filters search box. This is especially useful in navigating the rather long list in the Country filter.
• The Keyword filter searches the Remarks associated with each trip. This is a good place to start if searching for certain topics (NATO, United Nations, etc.) or meetings with foreign leaders. To clear this filter, delete your entry and press Enter on your keyboard.

Navigating the map

• Hovering over the map will reveal a menu in the upper left-hand corner. The magnifying glass allows for a text search. The + and – buttons zoom in and out, and the pin resets the view. The tools revealed under the triangle include zoom to selection (especially useful), pan, and select by rectangle, circle, or free-form drawing. These selections can then become filters by using the menu that immediately pops up.
• Hovering the mouse pointer over an entry in the table or the bar chart will highlight the country in the map. Hovering over a country in the map will reveal in a tooltip the total number of visits in the set or subset.
• Countries on the map are colored according to the number of visits. A darker color represents more visits to that country.
• Clicking a country on the map or bar chart will filter on that country. Important: To clear that filter, click that country a second time or click in an empty space on the map.
• Clicking a country and hovering will reveal a menu. Users may, from this menu, filter the data (keep only / exclude) or view (and download) the data associated with the clicked item (using the small grid on the right side of the menu).

All data contained in "Foreign Travels of the Secretary of Defense" is drawn from unclassified, publicly available sources, mainly the published volumes of the Public Statements of the Secretaries of Defense. From the beginning of the Obama administration on, data was drawn from public statements and readouts released by the Public Affairs Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense on www.defense.gov. In some cases the data was augmented with reporting from nationally prominent newspapers.

The dataset, which will be updated with new entries annually, is purely historical and does not contain the most recent travels, or scheduled travels that have not yet occurred.

The dataset was compiled by the Historical Office of the Office of the Secretary of Defense in 2018-2019. All data contained herein has been cleared for public release by the Defense Office of Prepublication Security Review (DOPSR). The dashboards were created by the Historical Office using Tableau. No DoD endorsement of Tableau is intended or implied.

Note on Secretaries

The dashboard includes only Secretaries and acting Secretaries who made at least one foreign trip. Acting Secretary William H. Taft, Secretary Eliot L. Richardson, and Acting Secretary Richard V. Spencer do not have foreign visits recorded in our sources and do not appear in the Secretary filter.

Patrick M. Shanahan's nine visits were undertaken while he was an acting Secretary of Defense. According to our sources he was the first acting Secretary to make a foreign visit. The first of Mark T. Esper's visits was undertaken while he was an acting SecDef; the remainder took place after his confirmation.

Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Robert M. Gates, and James R. Schlesinger served more than one administration; to capture their visits under a single administration, first select the individual from the Secretary filter and then narrow the results further using the Administration filter.

Note on Country Names and Borders

For the sake of simplicity, the names and borders of several former nations have been slightly adjusted. Where a nation no longer exists, the visit has been mapped to the nation that currently contains the city visited. This includes Czechoslovakia (mapped to Czechia), the USSR (mapped to Russia), and Yugoslavia (mapped to Serbia). However, while these terms share space on the map, they are listed separately in the data and can be included or excluded using the filters.

The map does not account for the Cold War division between East and West Germany or between North and South Vietnam (there were no Secretary of Defense visits to the communist-controlled portions of these nations). The map and the data present Formosa as Taiwan and the Republic of Korea as South Korea.

   Compare secretary of defense travels in an interactive graph.