That was President Theodore Roosevelt. However a little back story on the Canal is that the US government actually covertly started and funded the Panamanian Revolution which separated Panama from Columbia and in the end the US forced Panama into giving up the land that would eventually be the Panama Canal however the US covered their tracks and formed an agreement with France to make it seem as if France had bought the land so it was all legit on the international scene then France handed it over to the US who completed the construction of the canal.
