Roosevelt Defends His Acquisition of the Panama Canal Zone (1913)
By far the most important action I took in foreign affairs during the time I was President related to the Panama Canal. Here again there was much accusation about my having acted in an “unconstitutional” manner—a position which can be upheld only if Jefferson’s action in acquiring Louisiana be also treated as unconstitutional; and at different stages of the affair believers in a do-nothing policy denounced me as having “usurped authority”—which meant, that when nobody else could or would exercise efficient authority, I exercised it.
During the nearly four hundred years that had elapsed since Balboa crossed the Isthmus, there had been a good deal of talk about building an Isthmus Canal, and there had been various discussions on the subject and negotiations about it in Washington for the previous half-century. So far it had all resulted merely in conversation; and the time had come when unless somebody was prepared to act with decision we would have to resign ourselves to at least half a century of further conversation. . . .
When we submitted to Colombia the Hay-Herran Treaty [authorizing the United States to build and control a canal through its territory in Panama], it had been settled that the time for delay, the time for permitting any government of antisocial character, or of imperfect development, to bar the work, had passed. The United States had assumed in connection with the canal certain responsibilities not only to its own people, but to the civilized world which imperatively demanded that there should be no further delay in beginning the work. The Hay-Herran Treaty, if it erred at all, erred in being overgenerous toward Colombia. . . .
Use the excerpt to answer the question.
How does Roosevelt describe his actions with regard to the Panama Canal?
A.
calculated but insufficient
B.
reckless but legal
C.
cautious and careful
D.
bold and decisive