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FOR THE WAR WITH SPAIN
THAT HAD WON AMERICA ISLAND POSSESSIONS IN THE CARIBBEAN
AND THE PACIFIC.
NOW HE WAS PRESIDENT OF A REPUBLIC
HE HAD HELPED TURN INTO AN EMPIRE.
HE BELIEVED IT WAS AMERICA'S DESTINY
TO COMPETE FOR WORLD MARKETS WITH THE GREAT IMPERIAL POWERS--
GERMANY, BRITAIN, JAPAN.
IN THE NEXT EIGHT YEARS
ROOSEVELT WOULD MAKE THE AMERICAN BATTLESHIP FLEET
ONE OF THE LARGEST IN THE WORLD
AND MAKE SURE THE WORLD TOOK NOTICE OF IT.
HE WAS FOND OF QUOTING AN OLD AFRICAN PROVERB
"SPEAK SOFTLY AND CARRY A BIG STICK."
Blum: ROOSEVELT RECOGNIZED THAT IT HAD BECOME A VERY SMALL WORLD
AND HE WAS, AS EVER, CONCERNED TO PREVENT CHAOS
IN ANY PART OF THE WORLD WHERE THAT INSTABILITY MIGHT THREATEN
Narrator: IN 1904, WHEN SANTO DOMINGO, A SMALL ISLAND IN THE CARIBBEAN
IN ANOTHER LATIN AMERICAN NATION
TO REALIZE A CENTURIES-OLD DREAM:
THE BUILDING OF A PATH BETWEEN THE SEAS
THAT WOULD LINK THE ATLANTIC AND THE PACIFIC.
ROOSEVELT WOULD HAVE TO MISLEAD THE AMERICAN PUBLIC
FOSTER A REVOLUTION
AND CONQUER GEOGRAPHY ITSELF...
ALL TO BUILD THE PANAMA CANAL.
LaFeber: THE DISTANCE AT THAT TIME FROM NEW YORK TO SAN FRANCISCO--
YOU HAD TO GO AROUND THE TIP OF SOUTH AMERICA--
WAS SOMETHING LIKE 13,600 MILES.
AND IN ORDER TO MOVE THE AMERICAN FLEET
FROM THE ATLANTIC TO THE PACIFIC
IN CASE THERE WAS A WAR, SAY, IN THE PACIFIC
WOULD TAKE AN EXTRAORDINARY AMOUNT OF TIME.
WITH THE CANAL, THE DISTANCE IS REDUCED TO ABOUT 5,000 MILES.
THE BUILDING OF A GREAT NAVY AND THE BUILDING OF A CANAL
WERE ALL PARTS OF THE SAME FOREIGN POLICY
THE REST OF THE FOREIGN POLICY WOULD NOT FALL INTO PLACE.
Narrator: ROOSEVELT WANTED TO CUT HIS CANAL THROUGH PANAMA--
THE WESTERN MOST PROVINCE OF THE SOVEREIGN NATION OF COLOMBIA.
A FRENCH COMPANY HAD TRIED TO BUILD A CANAL THERE
LEAVING BEHIND MILLIONS OF DOLLARS OF EQUIPMENT
NOW THAT COMPANY WANTED TO SELL ITS RIGHTS TO THE UNITED STATES
FOR $40 MILLION.
BUT FIRST HE HAD TO NEGOTIATE WITH THE COLOMBIAN GOVERNMENT.
IN EXCHANGE FOR A SIX-MILE WIDE STRIP OF LAND.
COLOMBIA REFUSED.
LaFeber: THE COLOMBIANS WANTED
MUCH MORE THAN $10 MILLION.
THEY WANTED A GOOD PART OF THAT $40 MILLION
THAT THE UNITED STATES HAD PROMISED THE CANAL COMPANY.
ROOSEVELT SAID HE WAS NOT GOING TO BE SHAKEN DOWN THIS WAY.
Narrator: "WE MAY HAVE TO GIVE A LESSON TO THOSE JACKRABBITS"
THE COLOMBIANS WERE ACTING IN THEIR OWN NATIONAL INTEREST
BUT ROOSEVELT ACCUSED THEM OF EXTORTION.
"YOU COULD NO MORE MAKE AN AGREEMENT
"WITH THE COLOMBIAN RULERS," ROOSEVELT WROTE LATER
"THAN YOU COULD NAIL CURRANT JELLY TO A WALL.
"I DID MY BEST TO GET THEM TO ACT STRAIGHT.
THEN I DETERMINED WHAT OUGHT TO BE DONE WITHOUT REGARD TO THEM."
ROOSEVELT KNEW THAT REBELS IN PANAMA
WERE PLANNING TO DECLARE THEIR INDEPENDENCE FROM COLOMBIA
AND WOULD HAPPILY GIVE HIM RIGHTS TO THE CANAL
THE REBEL SPOKESMAN WAS A FRENCHMAN
NAMED PHILIPPE BUNAU-VARILLA.
HE WAS ALSO A MAJOR STOCKHOLDER IN THE FRENCH CANAL COMPANY.
ON OCTOBER 10, 1903, ROOSEVELT INVITED HIM TO THE WHITE HOUSE.
BUNAU-VARILLA WANTED ROOSEVELT'S ASSURANCE
THAT THE UNITED STATES WOULD NOT OPPOSE THE PANAMANIAN REBELLION.
IN THE DISCREET LANGUAGE OF DIPLOMACY
THE PRESIDENT WOULD GIVE HIM EXACTLY WHAT HE WANTED.
"WHAT IS GOING TO BE THE OUTCOME OF THE PRESENT SITUATION?"
"MR. PRESIDENT," BUNAU-VARILLA REPLIED, "A REVOLUTION."
ROOSEVELT PRETENDED TO BE SURPRISED
BUT HE RAISED NO OBJECTIONS.
THE PRESIDENT'S VISITOR HAD WHAT HE HAD COME FOR--
TACIT ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
TO LEAD A REBELLION IN PANAMA.
LaFeber: ROOSEVELT DIDN'T PUT ANYTHING ON PAPER
THAT THE UNITED STATES WAS GOING TO HELP THIS UPRISING
BUT THERE WAS WHAT WE MIGHT CALL A GENTLEMAN'S UNDERSTANDING
THAT IF THE PANAMANIANS DID RISE UP AGAINST COLOMBIA
ROOSEVELT WAS GOING TO HELP THE REBELLION.
Narrator: WITH THE AMERICAN NAVY PATROLLING OFFSHORE
TO KEEP COLOMBIA FROM SENDING IN REINFORCEMENTS
THE FIGHTING WAS OVER WITHIN 48 HOURS
AND WHEN NEWS REACHED THE UNITED STATES
IT TOOK ROOSEVELT JUST ONE HOUR
TO RECOGNIZE THE NEW REPUBLIC OF PANAMA.
TWO WEEKS LATER, A TREATY WITH THE NEW PANAMANIAN GOVERNMENT
GAVE AMERICA CONTROL OF A STRIP OF LAND TEN MILES WIDE.
PANAMA GOT $10 MILLION.
THE OLD FRENCH CANAL COMPANY GOT $40 MILLION.
COLOMBIA GOT NOTHING.
MANY AMERICANS WERE APPALLED
BUT ROOSEVELT DISMISSED HIS CRITICS
AS "A SMALL BUNCH OF SHRILL EUNUCHS."
LaFeber: ROOSEVELT'S POSITION WAS
THAT THE PANAMANIAN UPRISING AGAINST THE COLOMBIANS
WAS IN THE GOOD OLD AMERICAN TRADITION OF 1776
AND THAT THE UNITED STATES HAD EVERY RIGHT IN THE WORLD
TO HELP THESE KINDS OF NATIONALIST UPRISINGS.
THAT THERE HAD BEEN EARLIER PANAMANIAN UPRISINGS
AND THE UNITED STATES HAD HELPED PUT THEM DOWN.
HE TRIED TO DEFEND HIMSELF
BY ARGUING WHAT THE LEGALITY OF IT WAS.
FINALLY LATER ON IN A SPEECH HE MADE IN CALIFORNIA
HE SAID, "I TOOK PANAMA AND LET CONGRESS DEBATE THAT
WHILE I WENT AHEAD AND BUILT THE CANAL."
ONE OF THE GREATEST ENGINEERING FEATS IN HISTORY.
262 MILLION CUBIC YARDS OF EARTH HAD TO BE MOVED.
THOUSANDS OF WORKERS WOULD HAVE TO FIGHT TROPICAL HEAT, SWAMPS
DANGEROUS WORKING CONDITIONS
AND DEADLY FEVERS THAT WOULD TAKE 6,000 LIVES.
ROOSEVELT COULDN'T RESIST GETTING INVOLVED.
HE CONSULTED WITH ENGINEERS, SCIENTISTS, DOCTORS
AND IN 1906, HE WENT TO SEE IT ALL FOR HIMSELF--
THE FIRST TIME A PRESIDENT HAD EVER TRAVELED
OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES WHILE IN OFFICE.
McCullough: HE WALKED EVERYWHERE, TALKED TO EVERYONE, SAW EVERYTHING.
HE WAS UP AND DOWN THE LINE IN HIS WHITE LINEN SUIT
IN THE MUD, UP ON THE EQUIPMENT TO SEE HOW IT WORKED
TALKING TO THE FELLOWS WHO WERE DOING THE ACTUAL DIGGING
AT EVERY TURN AND HE ADORED IT.
Narrator: HE REMAINED ENTIRELY UNREPENTANT.
"I DID NOT INTEND THAT UNCLE SAM SHOULD BE HELD UP"
HE LATER SAID, "WHILE HE WAS DOING A GREAT WORK
McCullough: HE THOUGHT IT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT, THE GRANDEST
THE MOST HISTORIC ACCOMPLISHMENT OF HIS PRESIDENCY.
HE WAS QUITE CERTAIN THAT IT WAS WHAT HE WOULD BE REMEMBERED FOR.
AND HE PUT HIS STAMP ALL OVER IT
JUST AS HE DID EVERYTHING ELSE HE EVER TOUCHED.
OTHER PRESIDENTS WOULD BE IN OFFICE
BEFORE THE CANAL WAS FINISHED
BUT IT'S THEODORE ROOSEVELT'S CANAL.
WE ALL KNOW THAT.