Roosevelt's Panamanian Photoshoot

Presidential diplomacy now routinely involves hundreds of trips on Air Force One - but, until Theodore Roosevelt travelled to inspect the Panama Canal on 9th November, 1906, no serving US President had ever ventured abroad. It was the biggest infrastructure project a President had ever undertaken, costing hundreds of millions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives. To reassure Americans he was at the helm, Roosevelt was photographed sitting atop a steam shovel, wearing a pristine white suit. In this episode, Arion, Rebecca and Olly reveal the most recent President to remain ‘at home’ throughout his Presidency; consider whether Roosevelt had ADHD; and explain why one of George H W Bush’s foreign trips inadvertently inspired the Japanese to create a new word for vomiting.  Further Reading: • ‘7 Little-Known Legacies of Teddy Roosevelt’ (HISTORY, 2020): https://www.history.com/news/teddy-roosevelt-legacies • ‘The Panama Canal’s Forgotten Casualties’ (The Conversation, 2018): https://theconversation.com/the-panama-canals-forgotten-casualties-93536 • ‘George H.W. Bush Vomits’ (January 8, 1992): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_KVL-wtpgg For bonus material and to support the show, visit Patreon.com/Retrospectors We'll be back tomorrow! Follow us wherever you get your podcasts: podfollow.com/Retrospectors The Retrospectors are Olly Mann, Rebecca Messina & Arion McNicoll, with Matt Hill. Theme Music: Pass The Peas. Announcer: Bob Ravelli. Graphic Design: Terry Saunders. Edit Producer: Emma Corsham. Copyright: Rethink Audio / Olly Mann 2021. #1900s #Politics #Person #White #Panama #US Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices