President Theodore Roosevelt

Although three U.S. Presidents were actually involved with the acquisition, construction and opening of the Panama Canal, President Theodore Roosevelt is most often recognized for his association with what he called "the big ditch." He was the first President to travel outside the United States while serving as President when he traveled to Panama in 1906 to judge for himself the progress of canal construction.

For him, the canal was practical, vital and indispensable to the U.S. destiny as a global power with supremacy over both its coastal oceans. He was a proponent of a doctrine proposed by U.S. naval officer and scholar Thayer Mahan, who explained his theory in the 1890 book "Influence of Sea Power upon History." The theory was that supremacy at sea was an integral part of commercial and military prowess. For Roosevelt, this made a U.S.-controlled canal an absolute necessity.

Roosevelt submitted a report to Congress in 1902 proposing a canal be constructed through the Colombian province of Panama, including purchasing the French company's assets and concessions from the failed French effort to construct a canal through Panama. The bill stated if arrangements could not be agreed between the United States and Colombia within "a reasonable time," the President would be authorized to seek an agreement for an alternate route through Nicaragua, favored by many. (Arguments at the time for the proposed Panama route included that it would be shorter, straighter, take less time to transit, would require fewer locks, had better harbors, already had a railroad -- since 1855, and would cost less to run.)