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I took the Canal Zone and let Congress debate; and while the debate goes on, the canal does also.

So everything that ever happened, we knew about in Panama.

I was right about one of the most significant issues in modern American history. I was the only one who was right about one of the most significant issues in modern American history.

When President Teddy Roosevelt posed for the cameras astride a massive steam shovel during construction of the Panama Canal in 1906, it was more than a simple photo op. Though the scene was clearly staged, it symbolized a crucial moment in American history.

The extra curricular activity in which I was most engaged - debating - helped shape my interests in public policy.

If you get involved in a controversy, then that becomes the mesmerizing event that people remember you by.

I cite these events because I think they underline two very disturbing phenomena - the loss of U.S. international credibility, the growing U.S. international isolation.

I almost became a political journalist, having worked as a reporter at the time of Watergate. The proximity to those events motivated me, when I wound up doing philosophy, to try to use it to move the public debate.

Most of the memorable events I have myself been exercised in; and, for the satisfaction of the public, will briefly relate the circumstances of my adventures, and scenes of life, from my first movement to this country until this day.