I doubt that experience or its lack had much to do with his decisions. He's highly intelligent, a quick and diligent study, and already had teamed with Pelosi to get the ACA. Right or wrong he could base his decisions on the best intelligence that the U.S. government could provide. We saw just how flawed this intelligence could be in March of '22. Hard to take risks on the aggressive side when you have virulent opposition for what you do, either way on any issue, and the significant possibility that those risks could have grave consequences for the U.S public.