Postcard:President Roosevelt passing through the Canal Zone.

"The canal," Theodore Roosevelt claimed, "was by far the most important action I took in foreign affairs during the time I was President. When nobody could or would exercise efficient authority, I exercised it." Such bombast was typical of President Roosevelt's desire to make America a world power. Journeying to the Panama Canal Zone in 1906, Roosevelt became the first president ever to travel outside the country during his presidency. Celebrating the triumph of American determination and technological know-how, this postcard shows Roosevelt on a 95-ton (86-metric-ton) Bucyrus steam shovel developed to complete "the greatest engineering feat in the world." However, creation of the Panama Canal involved more than just engineering. When, after years of planning, the Colombian government refused to accept the American offer to purchase the Canal Zone in 1903, Roosevelt sent the U.S.S. Nashville to help revolutionaries in the isthmus secede from Colombia. The newly formed nation of Panama accepted the United States' offer of $10 million plus annual fees of $250,000 for exclusive control of the Canal Zone. Construction began in 1904, the canal opened 10 years later, and for the next 81 years the canal remained in American control, a potent symbol of the country's international power.