Roosevelt championed a canal through Panama rather than Nicaragua, his predecessor’s preference. The project embodied his vision of American hemispheric supremacy, later formalized as the Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine. On November 18, 1901, Secretary of State John Hay and British ambassador Sir Julian Pauncefote signed a treaty granting the United States sole rights to build and manage a canal. The French canal company offered to sell its Panama assets for $40 million, a venture supported by politicians, lobbyists, and engineers.

When volcanic eruptions struck Martinique and Nicaragua in spring 1902, safety concerns about the Nicaraguan route intensified. Supporters of the Panama option broadcast the volcano’s impact. Senators argued over what would be the best option, acknowledging that rejecting Panama would allow rivals to build there. The Senate then voted 42 to 34 for Panama on a contingency that included the French company sale.

Colombia opposed the project on financial grounds, demanding more money for the land than the United States was offering. When Colombia rejected the terms of a treaty for the canal zone, Roosevelt supported Panamanian independence by sending warships. Panama declared independence in a bloodless revolution. Roosevelt later defended his actions, claiming he simply refrained from suppressing earlier rebellions.

By winter 1903, Roosevelt craved escape from Washington. He kept a bird list and on March 14 established Pelican Island, Florida, as the nation’s first wildlife refuge. He announced a two-week western trip to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Yosemite. He reconnected with old ranching friends and visited the Grand Canyon for the first time. Standing before the canyon, he urged the crowd to preserve it, insisting it should be left as it was. He also reinforced his “Square Deal” concept, extending it to fair treatment of Indigenous Americans.

Approaching the 1904 election, Roosevelt felt insecure about reaching the presidency through succession. His potential rival, Mark Hanna, died in February. At the Republican convention in Chicago, the delegates lacked enthusiasm until Roosevelt engineered the rescue of a kidnapped American expat, Ion Hanford Perdicaris, captured in Morocco. Roosevelt instructed a blunt ultimatum to be sent to Morocco demanding Perdicaris’s release. Convention chairman Joseph G. Cannon read it aloud, and the hall erupted. Roosevelt won the nomination unanimously, with Charles W. Fairbanks chosen as vice president. On November 8, Roosevelt won a landslide victory. That night, he stunned the nation by pledging not to seek a third term.

Roosevelt’s public inauguration occurred March 4, 1905. He wore a ring from Hay containing Abraham Lincoln’s hair and delivered a brief but powerful address on America’s global responsibilities. The inaugural parade featured Rough Riders, coal miners, and Indigenous American chiefs led by Geronimo. Weeks later, Roosevelt gave his niece Eleanor away at her wedding to his cousin Franklin Roosevelt, though the president dominated the event. Roosevelt traveled to San Antonio for a Rough Riders reunion to receive a break from public life. Edith purchased Pine Knot, a rustic Virginia cabin where the family enjoyed simple getaways without servants.

Following Japan’s surprise attack on Russian forces at Port Arthur on February 8, 1904, Roosevelt privately favored Japan but recognized that total Japanese victory could threaten American interests. He decided a mediated peace served America best. After Russia’s crushing defeat at Tsushima in May 1905, both sides agreed to peace talks.

William Howard Taft had succeeded Root as secretary of war. Roosevelt sent a goodwill delegation to East Asia led by Taft and including Alice, who became a sensation, dubbed Alice in Plunderland for her many gifts. She became romantically involved with Ohio Congressman Nicholas Longworth III.

On August 5, Roosevelt hosted the Russian and Japanese delegations aboard the USS Mayflower before they departed for Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Japan presented 12 demands; four became sticking points: Sakhalin Island, war indemnities, interned warships, and Russian naval limits. When negotiations stalled, the Russian delegate disobeyed orders to abandon talks, and a compromise was eventually reached. The Treaty of Portsmouth was signed September 5. Roosevelt received the 1906 Nobel Peace Prize, directing the prize money toward an industrial peace committee and later to war relief.

Alice became engaged to Longworth. Their wedding on February 17, 1906, was a major social event with lavish gifts from world leaders. Alice enjoyed the elaborate East Room ceremony but later claimed Edith told her she had always been trouble, though this story was disputed. The couple honeymooned in Cuba, which Alice found disappointing.

In spring 1906, British author H. G. Wells visited the White House while writing The Future in America, finding Roosevelt intellectually open and passionately committed to the nation’s future.

In November 1906, Roosevelt and Edith traveled to Panama to inspect canal work, the first foreign trip by a sitting president. Choosing the rainy season to see conditions at their worst, he toured the massive excavation and clambered onto a 95-ton Bucyrus steam shovel as reporters looked on. Back in Washington, he vigorously defended the project against corruption charges, denouncing slanderers and invoking a favorite cartoon depicting a farmer reading the president’s message as a reminder of whom he served.

On December 16, 1907, at Hampton Roads, he sent off the Great White Fleet—16 white-hulled battleships under Rear Admiral Robley D. Evans—on a 14-month world tour. Triggered partly by anti-immigrant tensions in California and recognizing Pacific vulnerabilities, Roosevelt framed the voyage as one of goodwill and intensive training that would promote American greatness.

In a 1905 letter to British statesman George Trevelyan, Roosevelt reflected on his choice against a third term. Despite continued popular pressure and a 1907 New York Times survey registering extraordinary support, he stood firm and prepared William Howard Taft as successor. At the 1908 Republican convention in Chicago, delegates chanted four years more for Roosevelt, but Taft won on the first ballot and defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan. Roosevelt expressed confidence Taft would carry forward his policies, a belief that foreshadowed later clashes between them.

Journalist William Bayard Hale, shadowing Roosevelt in 1908, highlighted his tireless energy and frequent laughter. Writer and Harvard friend Owen Wister cataloged his achievements: the world cruise of the fleet, the Panama Canal’s advancement, peace between Russia and Japan, resolution of the coal strike, forest conservation, and regulation of corporations and unions.

On February 22, 1909, Roosevelt welcomed the Great White Fleet home, though its Admiral Evans didn’t complete the voyage due to illness. The fleet’s triumphant return capped Roosevelt’s presidency and signaled America’s emergence as a global naval power.