Introduction
The dream of constructing a canal that would link Pacific and Atlantic oceans, was born as soon as the explorers entered the Central America and miners for easy transportation. Though, it was not until the twentieth century, when Theodore was able to accomplish the dream into a reality during his leadership, in which the United States took complete control.
"By far the most important action I took in foreign
affairs during the time I was President related
to the Panama Canal. There are plenty of other
things I started merely because the time had
come that whoever was in power would
have started them. But the Panama Canal would
not have started if I had not taken hold of it,
because if I had followed the traditional or
conservative method I should have submitted an
admirable state paper to Congress… the debate
would be proceeding at this moment… and the
beginning of work on the canal would be fifty years
in the future. Fortunately [the opportunity] came at
a period when I could act unhampered. Accordingly
I took the Isthmus, started the canal and then left
Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate
me."
- Theodore Roosevelt, Library of Congress.