TR2

[narrator] Theodore Roosevelt had been
the greatest political force behind

the Spanish-American War.

He saw American emergence as a world
power not only necessary for survival,

but a duty.

He felt Americans had a responsibility
to civilize the rest of the world.

[Douglas Brinkley] He made the country
realize that we, now in a

post-Spanish-American War era, had a
global responsibility.

We were no longer a country being born,

that we were now a world leader,
and with that came a new kind of

global responsibility.

[narrator] Roosevelt, more than anybody,
believed America needed a canal through

the Central American isthmus owned by
Colombia.

The thought was, this canal was
gonna be a way to protect both seas of

America, that any moment if the East
Coast was attacked, the West Coast fleet

could quickly come to its aid.

[gunfire]

Now, Roosevelt believed this
canal, the Panama Canal, would be a

very good thing for the United States,

but he believed that it would also be
a very good thing for the world.

[narrator] The Colombian government
didn't exactly agree with Roosevelt,

at least not at the price he was offering.

So, once again, Roosevelt took unorthodox
measures.

He backed a local revolution
and helped create the nation of Panama

in exchange for the right to build a canal
there.

He was criticized very heavily
for his high-handed role in dealing with

the government of an independent American
republic, for basically giving them the

back of his hand and for fomenting
revolution.

But he never apologized.

He used to say, "I didn't
steal the Panama Canal, I built it."

[explosions]

[narrator] It was the largest engineering
project ever undertaken.

[dramatic music]

But when it was completed, it became one
of the wonders of the world.

[Brands] When it opened, Roosevelt
believed that that was his major

contribution to world civilization.

He never changed his mind about that.

[narrator] But America was not the only
one infiltrating Latin America.

Increasingly, European powers were
moving into the region,

ostensibly or the purpose of forcing
debtor nations to repay their loans.

Roosevelt found their presence a strategic
threat.

Without consulting Congress or asking
permission from Latin America,

Roosevelt invoked the Monroe Doctrine,
and stated that the U.S. was now in

charge of the Western Hemisphere.

Roosevelt announced that
henceforth the United States

would consider that it held a "police
power," that was the term he used,

to enforce good behavior on the countries
of the Western Hemisphere.

This was simply his way of saying, if
somebody has to clean up the neighborhood,

it's going to be the United States.

[crowd cheering]

[narrator] It was a bold position to take,
and Roosevelt backed it up with what he

called "Big Stick Diplomacy."

I mean, his famous quote is
"Speak softly and carry a big stick."

Meaning you don't have to yell
at people abroad, but at every minute you

have to be militarily prepared. "The big
stick" is your arsenal, it is your navy.

And this was a way of intimidating other
countries and realizing that we were

going to fight for American rights.

If you sacked a consulate somewhere,
or if you intercepted and impressed

an American ship, there were going to be
consequences.